01945 Spring 2020 V2 — email

08 | 01945
Keeping the
beat across
the decades
BY BILL BROTHERTON
Dave Mattacks has played
drums on five albums by Paul
McCartney. He's provided the
beat on two Elton John LPs, and the hit
single "Nikita." He's also worked with
George Harrison, XTC, Cat Stevens,
the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward, Led
Zep's Jimmy Page and countless others.
He's toured with Jethro Tull. He's
recorded with and hit the road with
influential British folk-rock band
Fairport Convention; he's played an
important role in the solo triumphs of
that band's esteemed guitarist/singer/
songwriter, Richard Thompson.
But Mattacks, 71, a Marblehead
resident since 2000, is most animated
and excited when he's talking about
KBMG (Dan King, David Brown (10
years as Billy Joel's guitarist), Mattacks
and Wolf Ginandes), his current outfit
that has steady monthly gigs at Chianti
in Beverly and other North Shore rooms.
"What kind of music do you play?"
asks the well-meaning reporter. Mattacks
ponders the question, cracks a wry smile
and says "good music." Laughter ensues.
We're chatting in the Unitarian
Universalist Church building on
Mugford Street that is home to
the me&thee, the acoustic music
"coffeehouse" in which Mattacks has
played.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud
of what I've done. But I'm not a 'Don't
you know who I used to be' guy.
"When I play at Chianti and other
Paul McCartney, left, and Dave Mattacks ham it up in the studio.
places, someone is likely to come up and
say 'You used to be with so and so. What
are you doing here?' I say, yeah, this is
now, not then. I'm playing music with my
friends. I'm in the studio working with
talented musicians. I'm very busy and
very happy."
As Ian Anderson would say, he's not
living in the past.
And Marblehead is central to his
happiness. Of all the cities and towns in
America, why did Mattacks and his wife,
Caron, decide to call this town home?
"I was always keen on New England,
since my first trip on tour here in 1970."
In the mid '90s, when Mattacks was
working with Mary Chapin Carpenter,
he became friends with her guitarist,
Duke Levine of Boston.
Levine introduced him to Mason
Daring, a Marblehead resident who
found success scoring films. Daring asked
Mattacks if he would like to join him in
the studio. The Mattackses spent "a short
week" in town, staying in Daring's home.
"My wife and I, we'd wake up
looking out at the sea. 'Let's start here,'
I suggested." The couple rented a house
on Pond Street and eventually bought
their own place. Marblehead has been