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Blue
In The Air
The
greatest song ever written, as of today.
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2007
Starsailor
Probably
the most cited and least heard "masterpiece" in "rock,"
apart from
the occasional appearance of the original Song To The Siren
on compilations.
If it seems perverse
that a particularly watery British rock group could take the
name (and the typography) of this record and become so successful
with music which is essentially its polar opposite, then that
may be because Starsailor is not easy to get hold of
- long-term legal disputes between Herb Cohen and the Zappa
estate mean that the Straight Records catalogue (which also
includes such things as An Evening With Wild Man Fischer
and Beefheart's Lick My Decals Off, Baby) has been unavailable
for a generation; the rare sighting of an unsatisfactory late
eighties CD pressing of Starsailor can command ludicrous
prices (in the summer, I saw a water-damaged copy retailing
in Camden MVE for GBP40!).
Yet it remains an unrepeatable masterpiece; Buckley taking
his voice into post-Coltrane free space, improvising, yodelling
and howling over fiery accompaniment from his trusted band
(Lee Underwood on guitar, Buzz and Bunk Gardner on horns,
etc.), even, on the title track, relying on his own multitracked
vocal explorations and helping to invent Diamanda Galas in
the process.
Let's hope the bureaucracy gets sorted out in sufficient time
for a proper CD reissue to be made available before I qualify
for my pension. I mean, if Allen Klein can sort out the Cameo-Parkway
dilemma.
©
2007 The Blue
In The Air
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