Total Pageviews

Monday, January 14, 2019

Annette Peacock - "I'm The One" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 2016/1972 (Light in the Attic)


I I have heard of Annette Peacock's name through the ECM Jazz world as well as with the David Bowie world.  The first time I heard Peacock's music is through Mick Ronson's two solo albums where he recorded her "I'm The One," "Seven Days" (as a bonus cut on a Japanese issued CD), and to my surprise Peacock's arrangement of Elvis' "Love Me Tender."  I didn't realize that until I heard "I'm The One" album for the first time a few days ago.   In many ways, the missing link between Bowie and Mick Ronson, and also long-term keyboard player Mike Garson is on this album as well.  Perhaps he was the bridge between her and Bowie/Ronson.

One hear traces of future Bowie music in her work.  Specifically "Young Americans" era Bowie, but also even on his later work from the end of the century "Hours" he borrows a section from "I'm The One."  Peacock's album is pretty amazing, due to the mixture of her version of soul, experimentation with the Moog, and singing that is borderline Yoko Ono range.   Her husband Paul Bley and others add a jazzy quality that redefines the border of the music categories that are on this album.  Her version of "Love Me Tender" is a minimal take of the song, and again, Ronson basically borrowed his version on her vision of the song. 

To my ears, this is very much the sound of New York City in the 1970s, where the song format is stretched into other possibilities, and it still sounds fresh with its mixture of Sly Stone funk, and the sound of the Moog coming in and out of the mix.  A remarkable album. 

No comments:

Post a Comment