Thursday 13 August 2015

1978: Jamie Defrates is eminently magnificent as the Son of Dust




And another songwriting masterpiece, as one may amply surmise upon an initial glance at the gorgeous cover, which recalls the Spirits I posted long ago.  Will the gems ever end??  Here is the info, first up.

The first track, the magic carpet ride, sounds like a perfect imitation of Comus' first album, with the soprano backup singing accentuating his very emotional and thrilling ride:





(With regards to those lyrics, I do find the gratuitous drug references irritating, but as we all know they were really the zeitgeist in those bad old 60s / 70s days.)

Whereas the title track shows off his progressive credentials with chamber instrumentation adding colour to some very crafty songwriting in, again, a very emotional outpouring:






Then, a song called Saturated, setting aside the somewhat contorted Joe Cocker-like singing, is absolute pop bliss:






On a simple bed of C major chords: F to E minor to D minor, he constructs a mini-masterpiece of the jaded rocker's life.  It took me a few listens to make out the lyrics, but they are really charming:

"Woke up, but I knocked it down.  
Hoarse, like an old bullfrog.
Worryin' like an aging clown.  
As I laughed, about it all.
I'm a certain kind of breed, 
yeah, don't care much for booze;
don't know 'bout LA, 
or those New York City dues.
I'm Saturated--  and I think most people are--
just want to get some kind of relief, 
and that's why we all take it so far--
some want to be famous, 
and some want to be so small;
some want to be left alone, 
and others just want to break your heart...
Saturated, saturated-- 
And I think most people are...."

A paean or rather an apology for alcoholism, or any other excess...  I don't know what you all think.  But I am firmly of the opinion this song SHOULD HAVE BEEN a hit on FM radio back in those late seventies instead of dying a slow death on an obscure LP even collectors are not aware of following almost 40 years in a comatose state.  It don't make no sense to me... 
Oh, and by the way, when it comes to music, Mr. Defrates, I'm not saturated at all...

And before leaving the subject of saturated, am I the only one who wishes the 'media' would just ignore the Donald Trump issue, as it once again proves to most people modern democracies are not just stupefying but stupidified, almost crafty illusions, like reality tv: Donald is going to make George W. sound like Ben Franklin soon, and he already has made Ronnie Reagan seem like Abe Lincoln.  Then pollsters tell us most of the population refuses to vote.  I wonder why?
What is going to happen to our modern democracies?  Is there really chance for better anymore?  But let us remember even the Athenian golden age was only a few hundred years or even less depending on how it's counted before the state was conquered by Donald...  sorry, I meant, Alexander... the Great...


Back to business: Jamie, I love this record and I love your songwriting-- I pray everyone who loves classic rock could hear what an astounding work you made here.

5 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Good stuff, but when I download it I can just listen tracks 1,2 and 9 ? Don' t you think there is a problem with the file ?
    Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. try this upload, let me know if it works:
      http://depositfiles.com/files/eq1eye0tn

      Delete
  2. hello, great discovery, thanks !
    Is there a chance for a re-up of the "Spirits" album you mention in this post ?
    Thanks !
    Jacques

    ReplyDelete
  3. from
    http://prognotfrog.blogspot.com.br/2013/09/best-us-rock-record-fair-yates-and.html
    reup:
    https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/c0ds75

    ReplyDelete