- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 1107
Mick Jagger (left) aged 8, on a family holiday with his younger brother Chris in 1951.-Photo: NSF- Music Magazine
‘Story of Mick Jagger's brother - from charity shop clothes to new tell-all book’- Via The Mirror
Rolling Stones'Mick Jagger's younger brother Chris - who worked as a cabbie and wears charity shop clothes -opened up about his life in his new book, Talking To Myself’
‘He's the Jagger who drives second-hand cars and buys his clothes from charity shops, worked as a cabbie, rehearses his music in a barn and performs it in the back-rooms of pubs.
The Jagger who travelled the world sleeping under the stars, not in the penthouse suites of five-star hotels and once lived in a council B&B while his elder brother owned a string of mansions.
But Chris Jagger has managed to do one thing Sir Mick is yet to get round to: write a book about his fascinating life.
The 73-year-old musician, writer and former actor has made a dozen albums, shared a stage with Pierce Brosnan, been on a journalistic mission to Tibet, made blues documentaries for TV and written lyrics for two Rolling Stones albums.
So he has a story worth telling.
Bridging the divide ... brothers Chris and Mick Jagger together.- Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald
And unlike Mick, who returned the £1million advance for his autobiography because he found the past too difficult to face, Chris embraces his history.
He tells of the close relationship the siblings had growing up in the 1950s, and what it felt like to be in London at the centre of the Swinging Sixties.
I tell him how jealous I was reading about the constant stream of A-listers he was introduced to back then, but life has left him unimpressed with fame.
“Sure, I got the introductions to people like John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, which is all very well,” he replies in the distinctive adenoidal voice his brother is famed for.
“But then when you open your mouth if you haven’t got much to say, they’ll soon walk away.” The people who most impressed him were those who showed humility and a genuine interest in others outside their own level of fame.
“Someone like Marlon Brando listened to you. I told him a story about being in India and some crazed buffalo coming at me, and a bit later on he said, ‘You can act.’ I said ‘How do you know? You’ve never seen me’, and he said, ‘You just did it. Acting is only telling stories.’
“I’d watch Pete Townshend go to the edge of the stage and chat with the fans. He would listen and talk.
“It’s famous people who are generous with their time who are the most impressive.
“Those who just say ‘Hi’ and walk on, no matter what they’ve done, just aren’t.”
Chris and his wife of 40 years Kari-Ann live in a farmhouse near Glastonbury in Somerset.
She teaches yoga in the barn in which he and his band rehearsed his latest album, Mixing Up The Medicine, out this month. Kari-Ann, a Mary Quant model in the 1960s, also appeared on the cover of Roxy Music’s 1972 debut album. Between them they have five grown-up sons (two from her previous marriage, one from his, and two together) and 14 grandchildren.
We talk a week after the death of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and Chris is still in shock.
“Charlie was a lovely guy who I knew for many years.
“I loved him and hearing of his death was so sad. He was the bedrock on which the band was based and it won’t be the same again. It makes you realise we are all getting old and counting down the years. But things move on. I’ve got lots of grandchildren so you just hope for the future and show them things.
“My father was a teacher. He was all about bettering himself...”- Continue to read
Chris Jagger Connects All His Musical Voices on New Memoir & Album, Releases
“Talking to Myself” and “Mixing Up the Medicine”
‘It’s Chris Jagger’s turn to lift the lid on one of the most colourful and exotic periods in British cultural history as he unrolls an insider’s tale of growing up among the bombsites and ration books of post-war Dartford, weaving through the glittery underground of late 1960s countercultural London, spending months in India before most trod that path, the highs and lows of acting and film work, and pursuing his own unique musical adventures that have resulted in a number of albums and gigs across the world. Ultimately though it’s the beguiling story of a close-knit family and deep brotherly ties, which endure from both sides of the spectrum.-- Buy ‘Talking to Myself’ HERE
‘Mixing Up the Medicine showcases all the many musical faces of Chris Jagger and his childhood friend Hart, and their assorted “band of brothers” (musicians), including drummer Dylan Howe, Olly Blanchflower on double bass, and producer John Porter (BB King, Elvis Costello, The Smiths). “Like most of my albums, it’s a bit of a mishmash,” says Jagger, “So that’s why I called it Mixing Up the Medicines.”- Mixing Up the Medicine --See also: SongWriter
Ode to lifelong fraternal bonds: The touching, telling and loving words on brotherhood
Photo: Maverick Magazine
Chris Jagger released Hey Brother on July 16th 2021 through BMG. Taken from his forthcoming new studio album Mixing Up The Medicine – scheduled for release on September 10th – Hey Brother is a comforting bluesy lament and charming ode to lifelong fraternal bonds.
Chris explains, “I just sat down at the piano and it appeared, it’s very simple. Charlie (Hart) thought this was a worthy idea – it’s great to have someone to bounce off. It could be about Mick or anyone’s brother, anyone’s friend. It’s that thing of evoking a feeling of connection and kinship. When we recorded it, Charlie wanted a singer-songwriter, John Lennon-y feel so we cut it live with him trying to imitate my amateur piano playing.”
Enjoy listening to Hey Brother HERE
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 2074
Mother Earth as Healer and Teacher
Rhythms of Nature Ushering in a Better World
Goddess Gaia
‘Quite simply, Gaia is life. She is all, the very soul of the earth. She is a goddess who, by all accounts, inhabits the planet,
offering life and nourishment to all her children.
In the ancient civilizations, she was revered as mother, nurturer and giver of life. It’s she who created and sustained us,
and to whom we returned upon death.'-Greeting Goddess Gaia Image via Mystic Investigations
‘Earth Is A Mother Who Never Dies’- A saying from the Diné (or Navajo) people
"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.
"Teach your children what we have taught our children -- that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
"This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself ..."-- Chief Seattle
The indigenous people’s understanding of and respect for Land is telling and timely
Photo: alternativedaily
'We become teachers for the reasons of the heart.
But many of us lose heart as time goes by.
How can we take heart, alone and together,
So we can give heart to our students and our world,
Which is what good teachers do?'-THE HEART OF A TEACHER
The Time is Now to Explore the Benefits of Nature-Based Education in Our Teaching Models
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 906
In a beautiful but harrowing poem entitled “How to Create an Enemy,” Sam Keen, an American philosopher and educator,
reminds us of the brutality of war:
“When your icon of the enemy is complete
you will be able to kill without guilt,
slaughter without shame.”-How to Create an Enemy
Truth in every word, I must say - Dehumanizing and humiliating others is a very dangerous game.
It is like a boomerang, which is designed to return to the thrower, lest we forget!
…’that once you can’t love another human being
you have no place in the world.’-Mirror Image - Louise Glück
The Time is Now, as the Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, has reminded us, to “make hope and history rhyme”.
Mr. President, empowered by your faith and example of your life journey, you have been given a mandate to battle for the common good
To heal the wounded and divided America and build a better world
Only humility, seeking forgiveness and repentance will end America’s permanent wars
These are the values to unleash Revival, Healing and Transformation
Photo:Crossroads Initiative
Dear President Biden,
I do know and appreciate how busy your days are. Therefore, without further ado, please allow me to put my cards on the table straight away.
In my heart of hearts, I believe you are a very different president from your predecessors. I first formulated my opinions about you, all those years ago, in 1986, when I heard your most passionate speech against aparthied in South Africa:
- Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and the Rise of COVID-19
- This is the surest path to no more Afghan-like debacles
- The spectacular defeat of western pseudo-values: The Afghan Debacle
- The IPCC Report- I Refuse to give up Hope: Earth Is A Mother that Never Dies
- A sad day for humanity: The passing of ‘Maestro of humanity’, Dr. Gino Strada