Review: Wayward, Just Another Life To Live, by Vashti Bunyan.

I stayed up late last night until about 2.00 in order to finish reading an autobiography called Wayward, Just Another Life To Live by Vashti Bunyan. I had seen an advert on the internet that it had been published and you could buy signed copies, so I ordered one and it arrived on Monday. I have been a fan of Vashti for about fifteen years, ever since I first heard her album Just Another Diamond Day which I am listening to at this very moment. The music is perfect for a spring morning with the weather getting warmer. I already knew that Vashti had led an unusual life, so knew it would be a good read. It is a very attractive book just to look at with the dust jacket having a beautiful photo of Vashti gazing wistfully at the camera. Inside, the pages are tastefully illustrated with photos and drawings by Vashti herself. She seems to have had quite a middle-class childhood. Her father was a dentist and part-time inventor, and her mother had an interest in music which was never fulfilled, which seems very similar to Nick Drake’s mother Molly. Vashti attended Ruskin School of Art in Oxford where she was befriended by Michael Palin & Terry Jones. 

It seems to me that people from these sorts of backgrounds often have fortunate chance meetings with people at parties. Vashti met an agent who introduced her to Andrew Loog Oldham the manager of the Rolling Stones. She made a single of a Jagger/ Richards song with one of her own compositions on the flip side. It didn’t get anywhere. She was compared to another Andrew Oldham prodigy Marianne Faithfull which irked her, and she told friends that Marianne didn’t write her own songs. (That isn’t quite true because Marianne co-wrote Sister Morphine, Broken English and others, but Vashti wouldn’t have known that at the time) When I wrote a piece about Vashti a few years ago I also said that she reminded me of Marianne, (sorry Vashti). This period seems to have been quite an unhappy time in her life. You get the feeling that a lot of events were too painful to write about, or they are just hinted at, such as when she mentions ‘the little ghosts of lost babies’. Her mental health declined, and she had a bad experience with LSD which seems to be a similar story to another singer who disappeared for decades Shelagh Macdonald.

She met Robert Lewis when he was hitch-hiking, and they eventually got together. Through a friend of Robert’s, they knew Donovan who had plans to start a commune on The Isle Of Skye. Donovan lent them £100 towards the cost of a horse called Bess and a wagon which was made from an old baker’s van.  Together with a dog called Blue they set off on their epic adventure to walk from London to the north of Scotland. Along the way they picked up another dog, a crazy Afghan hound called May. The journey took nearly two years, with stops along the way. This is the best part of the book in my opinion with vivid descriptions of the people they met, and their trials and tribulations, bad weather, accidents, hospitality, and inhospitality. Their horse Bess is the star of the story for me. 

It was on the journey that she wrote the songs that became Just Another Diamond Day. I did know about their journey previously, but reading the book dispelled any romantic ideas I had about it. It was often a very hard life, but I think it was good for Vashti because being so close to nature, having to survive from day to day, and having animals and later children to look after stopped her from dwelling on her own problems. On a trip south she met the famous music producer Joe Boyd and a year later recorded her album. It featured Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band. He was into Scientology and in one amusing episode she found Robin had wired Robert Lewis up to an E- Meter. She got to know the ISB very well indeed because later she lived at Glen Row cottages in Scotland which they owned. I see that Mike Heron of ISB is thanked in the acknowledgements. Also on the album were Simon Nicol and Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention who Vashti says she had never heard of. Robert Kirby famous for working with Nick Drake also arranged some tracks. Joe also arranged a song writing session for her and Nick Drake which ended in failure because of them both being so introverted.

The album flopped as usual, due to no marketing. Vashti had other priorities by then because she was expecting her first child. She gave up all interest in music making and three decades went by. Then in 2000 the album was re-released to rave reviews and was championed by the likes of Devendra Banhart among others. Live performances followed, and two more albums to critical acclaim, and now this wonderful book has been published. I enjoyed it immensely. I think that part of the reason I liked it so much is because it reminds me of a time when lots of us were young idealists who would have liked to have lived a nomadic existence or lived in a commune away from society. We never did, but can live it vicariously through those who had the courage to try. Thank you very much Vashti Bunyan for telling us your brave and fascinating story.

The Unthanks - The Bay Of Fundy (Official Video)

Love on the Left Bank.

Tonight, I have been reading a wonderful book called Love on the Left Bank by a Dutch photo-journalist called Ed Van Der Elsken. It is a 2020 hardback facsimile of the first edition which was published in 1956. When I say ‘reading’ I really mean ‘looking at’ because there is very little dialogue, but it is crammed with splendid black and white photographs of the bohemian subterraneans who haunted the Left Bank of Paris in the early 1950’s, a time and place which has always fascinated me. I bought the book because the main protagonist in this story is Vali Myers  the mysterious femme fatale heroine of this semi-biographical roman à clef, and I wanted to find out more about her.  As you may know, I am a big fan of Patti Smith and first came across the name of Vali Myers in a recent interview with Patti in The Guardian. This is what Patti said about Vali Myers. ‘When I was a young girl, I found pictures of her in a book called Love on the Left Bank. She was one of the early beautiful gypsy beatnik girls. Living in rural south Jersey, I aspired to look like that or be free like that, to go from Parisian Cafe to cafe, writing poetry. I was living in the Chelsea Hotel with actor/playwright Sam Shepard and one day Vali Myers walked in with a baby fox on her shoulder, which matched her wild red hair. I was amazed. Vali had tattoos all over her face, so I asked her if she would give me a tattoo of a small lightning bolt on my knee in honour of Crazy Horse, which she did with a big sewing needle in ink. To this day, it’s on the inside of my left knee, so I think of her every time I look at it.’

My natural curiosity took over, and I wanted to find out more about this exotic foxy lady who I had never heard of, so I googled her name. I found out that Vali was born in Canterbury, Sydney Australia on August 2^nd, 1930. She left home at 14 and became famous as an artist, dancer, bohemian and muse. She became the leading dancer for the Melbourne Modern Ballet before moving to post-war Paris aged 19. It wasn’t as romantic as she imagined because she ended up living on the streets of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Quarter. She would dance for hours in bars for money to get by. It was in this bohemian atmosphere that she and her friends first met Ed van der Elsken. Vali was beat before beatniks and hip before hippies. She was decades ahead of her time. With her looks and fashion sense she was like a forerunner of the Punks and Goths. She mixed with writers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams who based the character of Carol in his play Orpheus Descending on her. 

She became hooked on opium and would smoke it late at night with Jean Cocteau. Other acquaintances included Salvador Dalí and Django Reinhardt. Her artwork came to the attention of George Plimpton, editor of The Paris Review, who publicised her in his magazine, and bought many of her early works. Vali married Rudi Rappold, an Austrian from Vienna, and in an attempt to cure her addictions moved to Positano in Southern Italy. The marriage didn’t work out, but in 1971 she met Italian artist Gianni Menichetti who moved in and together they developed the property into a successful wildlife sanctuary. Animals, especially owls, ravens and foxes were always a great source of inspiration for her pen & ink drawings and watercolour paintings. At Positano she had many famous visitors such as Marianne Faithfull and Donovan. He was so captivated by Vali that he flew her to London to dance on stage at the Royal Albert Hall to his song The Summer Day Reflection Song which is in the 1968 film Dope. 

Her art fetched high prices which is why she made frequent trips to New York and stayed in the Chelsea Hotel. Her legend grew when American film-makers Sheldon Rochlin and Flame Schon made a documentary called Vali: The Witch of Positano which became a cult classic in America. Mick Jagger bought several of her works. Due to ill health she returned to Melbourne in 1993 after being away from Australia for 44 years and opened a studio in the Nicholas Building; only returning to Positano occasionally. Vali Myers died in Melbourne on 12 February 2003 shortly after being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 72. Hers was certainly a life lived. Her whole life was a work of art. Her positive attitude is shown by what Vali said to a newspaper only a month before she died, 

‘I've had 72 absolutely flaming years. It [the illness] doesn't bother me at all, because, you know, love, when you've lived like I have, you've done it all. I put all my effort into living; any dope can drop dead. I'm in the hospital now, and I guess I'll kick the bucket here. Every beetle does it, every bird, everybody. You come into the world and then you go’.

PS: Last night I found a video on YouTube of Beeswing by Richard Thompson which is made of photos of Vali and her art. I think it is great. I have shared it below if you want to see it.

Vali Myers montage set to "Beeswing"

Van Morrison, Pacific High Studios '71.

Today I have been enjoying listening to a new Van Morrison 2CD set which arrived recently. I was searching on the internet for info about Van’s forthcoming 43^rd studio album when I stumbled across it. This recording was made on September 5^th, 1971, at Pacific High Studios for broadcast on KSAN-FM radio. I don’t know why it has only emerged as an album now, but I am pleased it has because I think it is a great recording with Van at the peak of his powers and sounding like he was enjoying this session. I was a bit dubious about ordering it because I had never heard of the label called London Calling. I think they specialise in releasing radio recordings. 

I feared it might be a badly produced bootleg product. When I opened the package, I was pleased to find an attractive double CD with nicely designed artwork and a little booklet of sleeve notes with some nice photos of Van & Janet Morrison and a contemporary interview with Van from the NME. (I did have a little bit of trouble initially removing CD from the centre piece though). Judging by what the interviewer says about meeting Van I don’t think Van would approve of this release. I expect a lot of long-time Van fans will already possess a bootleg of this session, but if you haven’t then I heartily recommend it. The band are excellent. With Ronnie Montrose on guitars, Mark Jordan on piano & organ, Bill Church on bass, Bill Atwood on trumpet and trombone, Jack Schroer on saxophones, Rick Schlosser on drums and percussion, and Janet Morrison and Ellen Schroer on backing vocals. This was the beginning of the band who would eventually evolve into the Caledonia Soul Orchestra which I think most fans would agree was the best band of Van’s career.

CD 1 opens with Into The Mystic, which is a great start, followed by I’ve Been Working which always sounds greater performed live. I really like Friday’s Child on this album. It is one of Van’s lesser-known songs from the Them era which was only released on a single in 67 after Van had left the band. The sax playing of Jack and the backing vocals of Janet & Ellen here are wonderful. By the way, Lisa Stansfield does a great version of this song which you can find on YouTube if you want. This is followed by Van singing an intro of Que Sera Sera by Doris Day before launching into a rocking version of Hound Dog with Mark Jordan excelling himself on piano. I think this shows the good humour of this recording. Two great songs follow which I’m sure were inspired by Janet, Ballerina and Tupelo Honey. Then Van announces a new single coming out which is Wild Night, and then his version of Dylan’s classic  Just Like A Woman brings CD 1 to a close.

CD 2 opens with Moonshine Whiskey which is another Van song that I think is better performed live. Jack, Ellen & Janet again sound great here. Dead Or Alive follows, and I see from recent concerts that Van has returned it to the present day set-lists. I think it was his Skiffle Sessions album where I first heard this song, but it is obviously a lot older than that because Woody Guthrie wrote it. You’re My Woman reflects Van’s domestic contentment of the time. These Dreams Of You is followed by Domino which became a big hit single for Van in the USA. Two other songs from the Street Choir album Call Me Up In Dreamland and Blue Money follow, which make me wonder if I was a bit harsh on that album when I reviewed his 70’s songs the other night. Bring It On Home To Me by the great Sam Cooke follows, before a very humorous version of Buona Sera Signorina by Louis Prima brings this most enjoyable performance to a close. If you are one of the fans who prefer Van’s older work and you don’t already have a copy of this recording, then I think this could be just what you need..

Van Morrison's Best Songs Of The 1970's

After the warmth of the sun last week a wintery chill has returned. There have been flurries of snow here for the past few days. I don’t think the cold weather will last long, but while I have been indoors it has given me the opportunity to listen to Van Morrison’s albums from the 1970’s and try and decide on my favourite songs from that decade. I think the 70’s was a bit of a roller-coaster ride for Van because he began the decade with some of the greatest work ever produced in the history of popular music, then had a mid-decade hiatus before returning with some of the finest music of his career. Moondance was released in January 1970 and in my humble opinion is one of the best albums ever made by anybody. There isn’t a bad song on the album. If I had to choose my four favourite songs I would say Into The Mystic, And It Stoned Me, Crazy Love and Brand New Day. All the other songs deserve honourable mentions. Maybe I should have included Moondance, but I have tired of hearing it at almost every Van concert I have attended.

Later that same year in November Van released Van Morrison, His Band, & The Street Choir. Although it is a very worthy album, I don’t feel that it has stood the test of time as well as Moondance and many other Van albums. This opinion alone shows what a great body of work Van has produced. I wish the album had been called Virgo Clowns because I always thought the title was a bit unimaginative and unwieldy. Domino was the hit single in the USA, but I think my favourite songs are I’ll Be Your Lover Too, and If I Ever Needed Someone. Although I don't think it is one of Van's best albums, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it, nothing could be further from the truth. I think of Moondance, Street Choir and Tupelo Honey as a trilogy of Janet Planet inspired albums because Janet was muse, editor, and contributor during this period and had input with sleeve notes and as a backing singer. I think I rate Tupelo Honey alongside Street Choir as another very enjoyable album which isn’t one of Van’s greatest albums, although It does contain one of his best songs which is the title track Tupelo Honey. Wild Night is another song well worth mentioning.

St Dominic’s Preview released in July 72 was a much stronger album which I would rate in Van’s top ten albums of all time. Jackie Wilson Says is a great soul pop song. Listen To The Lion is a tour de force, one of his best ever songs which I wish he would return to the live set-list again soon because I have only seen Van sing this song once. I think I actually prefer the version on It’s Too Late To Stop Now which I consider as the greatest live album ever made. The title song St Dominic’s Preview is also a classic masterpiece which I have been fortunate to see performed live on several occasions. Redwood Tree always reminds me of a later song Enlightenment. I have always been fond of Hard Nose The Highway. It is a very underrated album and Warm Love is one of his best songs in my view. Another song which I really like that isn’t mentioned very often is Wild Children. It is very evocative and nostalgic. A song that I have grown to like even more as I have got older and jazzier in my tastes is Autumn Song which is just perfect for certain moods. Veedon Fleece came out in 1974 and I must confess that I was one of the people who didn’t like it at first. I thought it was boring and samey. Over the years though I have come to realise what a great album it is, almost comparable to Astral Weeks. How do you decide on favourite songs? because of the consistency of mood and greatness there is no song which really stands above the others. Therefore, I am going to cheat and class Comfort You / Come Here My Love / Country Fair as one song because I feel that they flow effortlessly into each other. I will also put Fair Play and Streets Of Arklow forward for consideration as well.

Van took a sabbatical from recording for nearly three years. It was only his stunning performance of Caravan in the film The Last Waltz which kept him in the public eye. When he did return in 1977 with A Period Of Transition it was a bit of a disappointment for most people including me. I have warmed to the album in recent years, and it does compare favourably with some subsequent offerings. I know a lot of people love this album, but I don’t consider it among his best work. After the disappointing reception for and sales of A Period Of Transition I think Van felt he needed to come out with a commercial hit album next. This he achieved with Wavelength which was popular with the public and me. He also got another great new band together which I think he had struggled to find after the demise of the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. This album coincided with my first ever Van gig in early 79 which might be why this album has good memories for me. I don’t rate it as one of his greatest albums though. Personal favourite songs for me are Checkin’It Out, Santa Fe /Beautiful Obsession, Lifetimes and Take It Where You Find It.

Van had a lucky break in 1979 when Pee Wee Ellis was suggested to him to work on Into The Music. It was the beginning of one of the most fruitful periods of his career. The success of the pop orientated Wavelength gave Van the confidence to be more adventurous on the next album and express his interest in the healing power of music, which he was to follow all through the following decade. Van has made some great albums since 1979, but I think Into The Music from that year is the last album where I can honestly say that I liked every single track on first listening to it. The last four tracks Angelou, And The Healing Has Begun, All In The Game and You Know What They’re Writing About are among the best of his entire career, and the other songs are excellent as well.

So, what are my favourite ten Van songs of the 1970’s? I hope I haven’t forgotten a great song, but I would say in reverse order

Equal 10^th….Comfort You / Come Here My Love /Country Fair

9^th….Tupelo Honey

8^th….And It Stoned Me

7^th….Streets Of Arklow

6^th….Crazy Love

5^th….All In The Game

4^th….St Dominic’s Preview

3^rd….And The Healing Has Begun

2^nd….Listen To The Lion

In 1^st  place, Congratulations to INTO THE MYSTIC, Van Morrison’s best song of the 1970’s.

Coming soon, Van Morrison’s best songs of the 1960’s!

Van Morrison - Into The Mystic - 10/6/1979