In all seriousness, I was a teenager in Middlesbrough (not the most culturally diverse scene in the world) and I had this slightly boho uncle (OK work-shy). He used to have thousands of old albums and 78s that he'd 'acquired' and he also played guitar. On a Saturday afternoon I'd visit cos he lived near a girl I fancied, and he'd play me all sorts of old Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James and Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown records. It was OK, but I found it all soooo turgid. not much dynamic there. I liked my pop with a twist anyway; when my mates were all listening to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, I'd be off hunting old early Roxy Music B-sides.
Anyway, this went on for a while until he played me 'Are You Experienced'. That was it I think. The movementgoing on, especially the drums. The constant bristling and shifting. Then it was Traffic. Jim Capaldi, say no more.
Then finally the point at which I thought I should be listening to jazz per se, rather than music which had a jazz feel, was when I heard Cream.
Ginger Baker was guilty. En route for a couple of Cream albums I stopped by this great second hand store in 'boro where the woman would let you browse for hours.
I had read this interview previously with Baker in which he cited Elvin Jones as a great influence. I couldn't find any albums by Jones, 'cos in my jazz naievety I thought he would be a leader of a band. So no luck. Off I went.
In town later I browsed the jazz section of the local HMV in which I saw Ornette Coleman's 'Something Else' and on it the name Billy Higgins, he had also been mentioned in the Baker interview. So I bought it. I was hooked by how 'sprawling' it sounded. Yet it all made sense, and it all resolved perfectly. How do they do that? I wondered.
Shortly after at the aforementioned secondhand store, I happened upon 'Out To Lunch'; quite a common entry point it seems (possibly due to it's legendary status but near 'unlistenability', for the uninitiated). I took it without hesitation, partly because the cover looked so damn cool.
I'm sure this format will be familiar to so many jazz fans. But it was an exciting time.