After finding fame as the uber-creative guitarist of Be-Bop Deluxe in the early 1970s, Bill Nelson developed into something of a guitar-slinging journeyman, collaborating with some of music’s most innovative artists during the most pioneering phases of their careers.
From Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra to Harold Budd and Gary Numan, Nelson aided many in exploring new frontiers of sound. However, it wasn’t always plain sailing…
“I always found playing with other musicians nerve-wracking because it’s hard to know exactly what they want,” Nelson told us in our recent interview. “Most times they probably wanted my guitar to sound like whatever it did on my records, but sometimes they wanted a certain style that I wouldn’t naturally gravitate towards.
“I can’t say that I always enjoyed playing on other people’s records because it’s always slightly stressful, but as long as they’re happy with it – and they usually seem to be – I won’t bother referencing it again. I tend to be like that with my own albums once I’ve released them too.”
As fans of 80s glammy new wave band Japan, we were particularly intrigued by Nelson’s memories of his time devising new ideas with Japan’s David Sylvian – then making his expansive second solo album, Gone to Earth.
“From what I remember during the sessions, the songs weren’t finished. In fact, there was no vocal at all and the tracks had ghost-shaped chords so it was literally let’s do six takes and improvise,” remembered Bill. “Then, David would sort through all the takes, edit bits together and build a song around them. It was quite open and free – playing whatever came into my mind.”
This music (in particular the co-written track Answered Prayers) would eventually appear on Sylvian’s double album, and would go on to achieve critical acclaim for its abstract experimentalism. It also featured guitarists B.J. Cole and Robert Fripp as well as Japan’s Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri.
“At that time, I was into a lot of esoteric philosophical stuff, and [David] was very hungry to learn about that. I gave him a list of obscure books, which he sent his girlfriend out to buy from Atlantis Bookshop in Museum Street. I also introduced him to the music of Jon Hassell and they ended up working together.”
But that wasn’t the end of Nelson’s collaboration with Sylvian, returning to work on the reformation of Japan, in all but name, as Rain Tree Crow. Sadly, it didn’t last, as our detailed feature on the project explores.
“It was an interesting project but slightly fraught because they didn’t stay a band and David and Steve Jansen fell out after that. It had a sad side to it because of the tensions within the band, but I remember doing sessions at Pete Townshend’s Eel Pie Studios and gave him a box set of ambient pieces I’d done. Pete got in touch later asking if I’d be interested in working with him on music for a stage production of The Iron Man, but I don’t know what happened.”
