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John McFee formed San Francisco-based band Clover in the ’60s. Their first, self-titled album on Fantasy came out in 1970. Several years later, they came to realize some key people in the UK pub rock scene were big fans of their music. Nick Lowe, Brinsley Schwarz and also drummer Pete Thomas, who called Clover to see if they would audition for the up and coming Declan MacManus, who would soon change his name to Elvis Costello. Clover got the gig, backing Elvis on My Aim is True and John McFee’s great guitar work is what you hear on all the classic tracks like “Alison” and “The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes”. John also played steel guitar on Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey and St. Dominic’s Preview. The long list of artists he’s contributed guitar, pedal steel and vocals for includes Carlene Carter, Nick Lowe, Emmylou Harris, The Grateful Dead, and Boz Scaggs. In ’79, John McFee was asked to join The Doobie Brothers, replacing Jeff Baxter. He also formed Southern Pacific with Keith Knudsen of the Doobies and Stu Cook of Creedence. In the ’90s that trio became Jackdawg. The release of their fantastic self-titled album was delayed due to the death of their manager. A CD release was temporarily available in 2009, but the album was out-of-print for years. That is, until now. Tune in to my talk with singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, John McFee.

Photo: Courtesy John McFee

The classic Jackdawg album is available on vinyl, CD and also digital through Liberation Hall. Purchase options are here.

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Contact Dave Fey at davefey@me.com or call 314-229-8033