Well - I know I posted earlier – but I'm still pinching myself, just can't believe it.
So maybe my first post was a bit hasty, now I've had time to gather thoughts a bit more.
John was always one of THE good guys, a genuine believer in music. A true champion of the underdog, and an appreciative fan of the unappreciated. I lost count of the sheer number of types of music he either turned me onto or was instrumental in my appreciation of – folk (traditional and contemporary alike), rock, prog, Indian classical, rock'n'roll, punk, poetry, thrash, trash, jazz, loads of ethnic sounds. Many of those already named in the posts above, sure, and so many many more. I could name names but I'd take up a whole thread.... Anything that inspired or moved him in fact– and he passed all that on to me, inspiring me (= us all) to make the effort, to search out the original sources. The guy almost singlehandedly defined the word eclectic. And so what if not everything he enthused about turned out to be solid gold? – he got criticised (unfairly, I say) for just that. But so do any folks who can make such a virtue out of unpredictability. But in so doing, they open those doors to wider consciousness. Influential is the understatement of the century. JP enriched and guided my own musical explorations like no-one else, period. He was a HERO. And yes, as so many of you Catters say, a thoroughly good bloke. RIP mate. Peace being the keyword.