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The Album Review Club - Week #141 - (page 1860) - JPEG Raw - Gary Clark Jr.
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
mancity2012_eamo
Well-Known Member
I don’t know Jackie Levin or Doll by Doll…
But am still looking forward to it.
But am still looking forward to it.
OB1
Well-Known Member
Heard of them but never listened to them.Yes, but have you heard of them or just worked it out? I think a few will have heard of the main man, he has been mentioned but the band themselves are pretty obscure
journolud
Well-Known Member
Doll by Doll- Gypsy Blood
We can probably all name an album that we would consider to be “lost classics”, in fact I think there have been one or two on this thread already. That runs the risk though of getting the bewildered and bemused response of those who don't get it, or worse... So there is a temptation to keep it to yourself and the curiosity to know if anyone else will see it or hear it the same way as you.
Anyway, I’m not going to make the claim for Gypsy Blood as a lost classic. Try British rock’s lost masterpiece instead, as described in the link below, assuming you have subscribed to the Telegraph or are sufficiently interested to take out the free trial…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture...c/3664428/British-rocks-lost-masterpiece.html
For a more accessible fan view see below.
https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/204/
I wish I could say I was there at the time with Doll by Doll and their legendarily uncompromising live shows. I wasn’t though, I came to them by the time the show was more or less over and sort of by accident when I picked up a copy of a single from their third eponymous album for 10p from Sifter’s, not because I’d heard of them but because well, it was only 10p and I liked the sleeve. That single was the magnificent Main Travelled Roads but we’re not here about that.
Gypsy Blood was their second album. I’m not sure even now how it should be categorised. Doll by Doll were around in the days of punk but this isn’t punk. I like the term Caledonian Soul, coined, unless anyone tells me different by Van Morrison (although he is Irish, duh) for his backing band on the It’s Too Late to Stop it Now tour. I don’t think this is Caledonian Soul though, although Doll by Doll are Scottish and they’ve got soul or passion or whatever you might want to call it. Whatever it is it swoops and soars. The lyrics hint at mysticism but an earthy kind of mysticism and there are moments the music goes in unexpected directions that can be startling and uplifting.
It would be too easy to say that Doll by Doll were Jackie Leven’s band. Essentially they were but I don’t think they would have been what they were without the other three members, particularly guitarist Jo Shaw. This was kind of borne out by their fourth album Grand Passion, a Jackie Leven solo album by any other name.
I won’t do a track by track run down, suffice to say that the first two, Teenage Lightning and Gypsy Blood, both great songs by the way, are short and to the point and perfect for making sure you are paying attention. By the third song, Stripshow the album really starts to unwind and show what the band are about. Next up The Human Face just takes off and well, it either gets you or it doesn’t. After that Hey Sweetheart is almost a “traditional” song and offers a little breather.
Side two opens with Binary Fiction,the first of two Jo Shaw tracks, the rest having being written by Leven or credited to the band. It’s followed by Hell Games, another classic, Forbidden Worlds and Highland Rain. The latter’s closing chords sound a bit like a door closing but it’s not the end, neither is Endgame, Jo Shaw’s second and an enigmatic song before Leven sees us out with a little whimsy on When a Man Dies. Oh, I did do a track by track rundown. Sort of
By the time of their third album Leven was getting frustrated with the lack of recognition and the original band split up. The third had edged towards a more commercial sound anyway and this was more evident on their fourth Grand Passion which had some good songs on it but ironically lacked the passion of the first two albums in particular.
I did get to see Doll by Doll as they toured Grand Passion; they played the Gallery in Manchester which was a pretty small venue near the old Free Trade Hall. I remember (the title of their first album by the way ie Remember) that the gig felt like it was of a band or performer out of time with a whiff of faded grandeur.
After a fairly lengthy hiatus Jackie Leven returned to launch a prolific solo career to much critical acclaim but again a very limited public response. I was lucky enough to see him once. A couple of obituaries following his untimely death at the age of 61 here. His story is interesting.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/nov/15/jackie-leven
Jackie Leven: Musician whose songs were peopled by loners and lost lovers | The Independent | The Independent
And a little more on Doll by Doll
Doll By Doll – Nostalgia Central
We can probably all name an album that we would consider to be “lost classics”, in fact I think there have been one or two on this thread already. That runs the risk though of getting the bewildered and bemused response of those who don't get it, or worse... So there is a temptation to keep it to yourself and the curiosity to know if anyone else will see it or hear it the same way as you.
Anyway, I’m not going to make the claim for Gypsy Blood as a lost classic. Try British rock’s lost masterpiece instead, as described in the link below, assuming you have subscribed to the Telegraph or are sufficiently interested to take out the free trial…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture...c/3664428/British-rocks-lost-masterpiece.html
For a more accessible fan view see below.
https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/204/
I wish I could say I was there at the time with Doll by Doll and their legendarily uncompromising live shows. I wasn’t though, I came to them by the time the show was more or less over and sort of by accident when I picked up a copy of a single from their third eponymous album for 10p from Sifter’s, not because I’d heard of them but because well, it was only 10p and I liked the sleeve. That single was the magnificent Main Travelled Roads but we’re not here about that.
Gypsy Blood was their second album. I’m not sure even now how it should be categorised. Doll by Doll were around in the days of punk but this isn’t punk. I like the term Caledonian Soul, coined, unless anyone tells me different by Van Morrison (although he is Irish, duh) for his backing band on the It’s Too Late to Stop it Now tour. I don’t think this is Caledonian Soul though, although Doll by Doll are Scottish and they’ve got soul or passion or whatever you might want to call it. Whatever it is it swoops and soars. The lyrics hint at mysticism but an earthy kind of mysticism and there are moments the music goes in unexpected directions that can be startling and uplifting.
It would be too easy to say that Doll by Doll were Jackie Leven’s band. Essentially they were but I don’t think they would have been what they were without the other three members, particularly guitarist Jo Shaw. This was kind of borne out by their fourth album Grand Passion, a Jackie Leven solo album by any other name.
I won’t do a track by track run down, suffice to say that the first two, Teenage Lightning and Gypsy Blood, both great songs by the way, are short and to the point and perfect for making sure you are paying attention. By the third song, Stripshow the album really starts to unwind and show what the band are about. Next up The Human Face just takes off and well, it either gets you or it doesn’t. After that Hey Sweetheart is almost a “traditional” song and offers a little breather.
Side two opens with Binary Fiction,the first of two Jo Shaw tracks, the rest having being written by Leven or credited to the band. It’s followed by Hell Games, another classic, Forbidden Worlds and Highland Rain. The latter’s closing chords sound a bit like a door closing but it’s not the end, neither is Endgame, Jo Shaw’s second and an enigmatic song before Leven sees us out with a little whimsy on When a Man Dies. Oh, I did do a track by track rundown. Sort of
By the time of their third album Leven was getting frustrated with the lack of recognition and the original band split up. The third had edged towards a more commercial sound anyway and this was more evident on their fourth Grand Passion which had some good songs on it but ironically lacked the passion of the first two albums in particular.
I did get to see Doll by Doll as they toured Grand Passion; they played the Gallery in Manchester which was a pretty small venue near the old Free Trade Hall. I remember (the title of their first album by the way ie Remember) that the gig felt like it was of a band or performer out of time with a whiff of faded grandeur.
After a fairly lengthy hiatus Jackie Leven returned to launch a prolific solo career to much critical acclaim but again a very limited public response. I was lucky enough to see him once. A couple of obituaries following his untimely death at the age of 61 here. His story is interesting.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/nov/15/jackie-leven
Jackie Leven: Musician whose songs were peopled by loners and lost lovers | The Independent | The Independent
And a little more on Doll by Doll
Doll By Doll – Nostalgia Central
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
I just listened to Human Face, straight away I really liked it, never heard of this band but really like the singer and the complexity of the song.
This guy puts me in mind of Arthur Lee, pre Forever Changes. Now listening to Stripshow, this couldve been on Love's Four Sail.
I think Jackie is a great singer on first hearing.
Great pick Journo !
This guy puts me in mind of Arthur Lee, pre Forever Changes. Now listening to Stripshow, this couldve been on Love's Four Sail.
I think Jackie is a great singer on first hearing.
Great pick Journo !
FogBlueInSanFran
Well-Known Member
Sadly not on Spotify in the US nor is the entire record on YouTube that I could find but I’m gonna try to piece it together!
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
I found it on Apple music.Sadly not on Spotify in the US nor is the entire record on YouTube that I could find but I’m gonna try to piece it together!
Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2014
- Messages
- 21,494
I have never heard of Jackie Leven, but do know his relation Loch quite well. It also bides in Fife.Jackie Leven returned to launch a prolific solo career to much critical acclaim
Look forward to listening something new mate. Ashamed to admit as a scot, I have never heard of them.
BlueHammer85
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2010
- Messages
- 36,005
Sadly not on Spotify in the US nor is the entire record on YouTube that I could find but I’m gonna try to piece it together!
oh not again!