John Lennox
Into the Bull's Shoulder
© 2005 John Lennox
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A cross of country jangle and soulful sweeps. A little 70s rock, a little Americana.
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Born in So. Ontario, John Lennox was brought up with one hand on a piano, one hand on a guitar, and the other in the cookie jar. In 1998 Lennox moved to Montreal to attend university. Graduating at the top of his class, Lennox turned down offers from Oxford University and the World Bank in order to pursue his dream of lo-fi recording, perpetual poverty, and a relentless touring schedule that would ultimately end his career, and his life.
Travelling between Chicago, Montreal, and St. John's, Newfoundland, Lennox would frequently collapse in a state of exhaustion and would be forced to stop and recover with loved ones. According to a friend, "He'd sleep for days at a time, waking up only to ask for a couple aspirins and his guitar." Eventually, Lennox was no longer fit to perform and became more interested in recording sunlight than in music, insisting, "the sunlight IS the music." Meanwhile, his records sold in the hundreds of thousands, and though he never did have a #1 hit, he achieved some success with a song, apparently written as a joke, which sparked a dance craze in Riviere-du-Loup: "Check ca, je danse."
Lennox's more "meaningful" work took its cue from golden age Nashville crooners, Otis Redding, George Harrison, Phil Spector, Randy Newman, Nina Simone, and On the Beach-era Neil Young. His sound has been described both as "soulful country" and "countrified soul," and has enjoyed something of a resurgence amongst contemporary mainstream and underground fans alike. Immortalised by the power of song, his story lives on in the hearts and minds of both the establishment and its detractors.