The Story of John Nightly
By Tot Taylor
A novel about the rise and fall of a 70s musical prodigy
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About the book
The Story of John Nightly is a novel about the nature of creativity, specifically at a heightened level - the level of genius.
It mixes real and imagined lives in the tale of a young singer-songwriter from the 1970’s. I wanted to write about how something as innocent and life-enhancing as the gift of music can also become destructive.
John Nightly (b. Cambridge 1948) finds his dimension in the world of ‘pop’ music, the art form of his time. In previous decades, he might have been a novelist or poet, a painter or playwright. In previous centuries, a grand chef or gardener, astronomer or plant-hunter, when these occupations were revered as highly as that of ‘Artist’.
John Nightly’s ability is spotted early, his LP Ape Box Metal becoming the third best-selling record of 1970. But success turns out to have side effects and he disappears into a thirty year void of missed opportunities and unfinished projects.
We meet him first as a musical child prodigy in the late fifties, then finding fame in the London music scene of the mid-sixties, supermaxed at various clinics in Los Angeles during the seventies and finally, after too many lost years, in his hideaway on the coast of Cornwall as a cultivator and exporter of exotic plants.
But his past comes back to haunt him via the rediscovery by a superfan of his magnum opus, the Mink Bungalow Requiem - a requiem mass which was to have been his parting shot. Just before his meltdown, John Nightly toured the world with it backed by two symphony orchestras, a thirty-piece rock band, a dance company, three school choirs and sixteen articulated trucks. Meeting this teenage saviour dude, can John Nightly be brought back to life again?
A tangled love story, the recording-studio as creative hub, the music industry as dramatic backdrop, astronomical tables, Methodist hymnals and surfer mags as well as some serious gardening tips also play important parts in this one thousand page novel.
The Story of John Nightly is a work of pure fiction.
As a long time follower of Tot Taylor and his music I am looking forward to reading the big book. There is just one Q that pops up: will there be a soundtrack to the book? Mikael
Thanks Mikael. The novel includes references to approx ten songs by John Nightly including his teenybop hit 'Zigging & Zagging' and his masterwork 'Mink Bungalow Requiem'. In order to make the novel absolutely real, yes, the songs had to all be written and also roughly recorded in demo form during the fifteen year novel-writing process. The main themes of the orchestral mass were also written and recorded. Hopefully at some point there will be a record. It won't be by me, but after the book is published I'll be turning my attention to that. The songs include his 'teenage madrigal' as mentioned in the book, and his more elaborate late 60s/early 70s love song poems, when he was at the very peak of his creativity prior to his breakdown. Thank you for asking! Tot Taylor
Any subliminal reason for the name John Nightly ?
David, Yes. There's a subliminal reason for every name, place and every event in the novel. I wanted John Nightly to be 'Everyman' - anyone can be the receptacle of a very special gift for music - so a simple name. And not a name which would not suggest any background, nature or character. As it says in the novel, without his musical gift he is really just an empty vessel, an 'ordinary' person. But...a 'night time person' as opposed to his longtime nurse/manager and collaborator John Daly who meets John Nightly in Cambridge mid-60's but is still there to watch over him in 2006, the year of his timely demise. Thank you for asking, Tot
I love the idea of "The Story of John Nightly". How did you come up with it?
James, I kept encountering people in unexpected situations who had had important careers in music, in some cases they had been influential figures but were now making a living cleaning, stacking shelves, driving mini-cabs, working on building sites. I began to wonder what might have happened to several specific people who had been influential to me. Many of them had survived and were living quiet lives (see my blog piece on MEDIUM for more on that). https://medium.com/@tottaylor1/tot-taylor-the-story-of-john-nightly-unbound-1743265f720#.h549tskel But 'quiet' doesn't always mean 'retirement' and it doesn't mean that they were 'old' either - some music people have had enough by the time they reach 25! I had a feeling that their quiet lives might prove to be just as fascinating as their lives in the spotlight, featuring as it would memory, impressions and no doubt false memory and inventions too. I liked the idea of writing something of length where the characters would be coming in and out of focus over a period of several generations. thanks for asking ! Tot
I pledged for a couple of books for bands I manage after reading the excerpts. 'John Nightly' read very 'real' than other rock star novels. Guessing it is part based on your experience ?
The novel is not based on my experience, no. I went to great lengths not to 'recount' stories but to create situations or 'scenes' as with a film in order to let the characters create themselves and 'play out' the scenes. The lead character is much older than myself and so due to the speed of change in his active era making music - say 1966-1972 - events which would have happened to John Nightly would have been very different to people operating say from around 1980 to the present. I then made a conscious decision that he would die during the course of the story (2006) which would give me more of an opportunity to look at very recent times past (2000-2006) and the 'new feeling' around making music (and growing exotics!)
I own a promo copy of the first 170 pages or so, and I spotted a reference to PART 1 OF 7. Were you considering publishing the story in several instalments ? Or does the story fall naturally into 7 parts now that you are aiming to publish a single 1000 page hardback edition?
I made 'proper' demo copies of the book all the way along - during the fifteen years of writing it. For some reason I seemed to have to have the story in my hands to really see what it was doing (I also got into the very bad habit of getting up crazily early in the morning so that I could speed read my own novel right from the beginning and try to understand the rhythm of it before getting to the new section I was supposed to be writing that day ! So, no, it never was planned to be issued in seven parts, but yes, there are seven distinct 'sections', 'moods' or 'feelings' to it (see the comment in the novel about 'The Planets'. The sections have been carefully 'toned' shall we say. You'll see all kinds of 'allegorical' references all the way through as well - i. e. places, people, groupings, the way each group behaves, place names (first few pages take place in Carnaby Street) like so much of life in 1966! - the final few pages we find the family back in that kitchen in Carn Point... 'Good' forces in the novel tend to have 'vegetation' names, and 'bad' forces...well...you'll see. Thanks so much for asking Ian !! It makes me think !! take care, Tot
Hello Tot, Are there any readings planned? Or any other pre-events? Cheers, Anthony
Anthony, thank you for that. We're planning three launch events, they are listed as options in the Pledges. There will be readings also at festivals in the late summer and autumn - Unbound will keep you posted, Thanks for asking, Tot