Reviews
Artist:Jackie Leven
Venue:The Rock
Town:Maltby
Date:29/02/08
Jackie Leven abandoned the conventional approach to showbiz by refusing to go through the 'ridiculous' process of doing an encore at The Rock in Maltby tonight, announcing instead that this was going to be his last song, pointing out that we had all 'done a good job' and then thanked the audience for their part in what was essentially a 'good ritual'. 'Sure it's about entertainment' he added, 'but it's also a good ritual'. I know what he means. As an audience member, my personal opinion is that if we have to go through the tiresome encore ritual, then we should only demand one if it is truly deserved. Judging by tonight's performance, we should really be demanding encores from Jackie Leven until a week next Thursday at least.
I buy Jackie Leven. I get it. When I first encountered him a few years ago, wearing a pair of brown brogue shoes, ankle socks, khaki shorts, a duffel coat and a thick scarf at the Beverley Festival, I knew we were dealing with someone slightly more eccentric than your usual visitor from the 'Kingdom of Fife'. I'd heard his records and had become a fan long before I discovered the man himself. Those records continue to be filed under the autonomous category of 'Jackie Leven', quite simply because there is no other category for this particular collection of songs to find themselves in.
As a raconteur, I believe everything he tells me from the stage, whether it's a simple mundane tale of being inspired to write songs whilst watching Columbo on TV with his dogs Basil and Ronnie by his side, to the highly implausible tale of drinking Lord Olivier under the table with a 'Scottish-style cognac', whilst collaborating on the lyrics of a potential blues song. Once you are aware of Jackie's colourful past, which includes near death experiences from a random attacker and drug addiction to the fact that a former girlfriend ran off with the Dalai Lama's bodyguard, then anything is possible.
As a performer, Leven has the ability to fill any room he plays with sound. His only requirement as a solo performer is a straight backed chair, together with a couple of direct inputs for his guitar, a microphone for singing into and another one to hover somewhere above his left foot, for the metronome he creates to beat away throughout each song. His larger than life personality is matched measure for measure by his large frame. You wouldn't want to mess with this man.
Opening tonight with a couple of songs from his last album 'Elegy For Johnny Cash', "Museum of Childhood" and the title song, with its droning guitar and unambiguous lyrics, Leven's statement of intent was to tell it like it is. The rockier aspect of Leven's recorded output somehow makes the transition to acoustic performance rather well and loses none of its power.
"Kings Of Infinite Space" from Jackie's latest studio offering 'Oh What A Blow That Phantom Dealt Me' reveals a more soulful Leven. The Billy Paul 'Me and Mrs Jones' coda was begging to be crooned, even before Jackie started to. You feel that if Leven's hand was forced and that he had to settle into a distinctive style, then it wouldn't be too far removed from sweet soul music.
Jackie's contribution to the Kevin Coyne tribute album 'Whispers From The Offing' was a self-penned tribute song called "Here Come The Urban Ravens", which also appears on the 'Phantom' album. The notion of Coyne returning as the collective soul of Ravens appeals enormously to an avid Coyne fan. Even though Leven's song was crucial to the album, I couldn't help pondering upon which of Coyne's songs Jackie would have covered had they not allowed him to provide an original song. Dog Latin perhaps? Eastbourne Ladies? Surely not Good Boy?
Although it's always a pleasure to hear new material by any artist, it's important to be reminded of the songs that brought you here in the first place. "Single Father" from the 'Defending Ancient Springs' era, tells of the relationship between father and son, unpretentiously washing away all the sentimentality found in other songs on the subject. 'Father and Son' and 'The Cat's In The Cradle' spring to mind. Here we have an outpouring of rhetoric, which serves to point out some of the latent anguish of losing the custody of a child. He doesn't like to talk about such personal matters but confesses that it's good to share these small and important things in the form of a good song and a true song, especially when he feels safe. Jackie Leven felt safe tonight.
Another older song, this time from the excellent 'Forbidden Songs From The Dying West' album, was probably the moist poignant moment of the evening. Needing no introduction, "Men In Prison" became both lament and lullaby at the same time with its melancholy air and which managed to bring the Rock audience to silence. 'Are these songs okay?' asked Leven. The room nodded in unison.
So prolific as a songwriter and recording artist that Leven often has too much material for his record company to logistically deal with. This does not faze Leven too much, who instead of bottling it, opts to record under a pseudonym. Two albums exist under the guise of Sir Vincent Lone, 'Songs For Lonely Americans' and 'When The Bridegroom Comes (Songs For Women)' from which Leven's cover of an old and obscure Donovan song comes. "Ballad Of Geraldine" continues to bear the hallmark of early Dylan, even in the hands of Jackie Leven, but becomes distinctively Jackie's own.
So as we drew to the close of the performance, with that last song "A Little Voice In Space" and with no encore, Jackie left his audience aching for more (always a good thing) and disappeared into the night. 'When shall we meet again?' he enquired. Soon I hope.
Allan Wilkinson