FULIGIN@UMass.BITNET (Peter E. Lee) (09/27/86)
I reviewed the new Bill Nelson ("Getting The Holy Ghost Across") when it
first came out - about 4 months ago. Unfortunately, partly through
Mr. Nelson's belief that it would do better in this country when college
was in session, they held off releasing it domestically until about a month
ago. It must've been frustrating for those without good import record
dealers in their area! (Or those facing the import ban - when the record
was first released as an import, it quickly became one of our top ten
records, much to his domestic record label's chagrin. They told us not to
play it, but we ignored them...) Anyway, because of nervous record company
executives in the US, the project was further maimed before release here.
The company (CBS, as I recall) felt that the title "Getting The Holy Ghost
Across" and the cover (a 16th century painting by Cirvelli (sp?) would offend
born again christians in this country, so they made him come up with a new
title ("On A Blue Wing") and a new cover. Finally, they decided that two of
the songs that he had left as outtakes would be more appealing to american
audiences than two that were on the original LP, so they changed the
running order and substituted songs. Despite all of these indignities the
LP is possibly Mr. Nelson's finest. Unlike much of his previous work, he
employs other musicians to play with him which adds a more full, warm
texture to the pieces. The eight minute "Contemplation" is awe-inspiring
(it was brutally cut to 3 and 6 minute versions for the US promo single,
avoid this if possible. You can actually hear where they must have spliced
the tape!) and the UK single "Wildest Dreams" also stands out. The whole
LP has a textural richness that reminds me alot of Japan/David Sylvian work
(Nelson and Sylvian are frequent collaborators so I guess it makes sense).
The only real problem I find is that at times the album is TOO slick and
accessable, but I have that problem with Kate sometimes too so it's probably
not going to get in the way of other LH readers' enjoyment... On the whole
I would highly recommend it to fans of intricate, dense, intelligent music
and of Nelson's other solo work in particular. If you can find the import,
I would recommend spending the extra couple 'o bucks to get the whole concept
as the artist intended, but "On A Blue Wing" is hardly horrible. For those
who are completists, and especially those with the import of the LP who want
the two tracks added to the domestic copy, Nelson has just released a limited
edition mini-album for the price of a twelve inch called "Living For The
Spangled Moment" containing the 7 tracks that didn't make it onto the "real"
album. Most of it was, in my opinion, wisely omitted in the first place, but
A couple of pieces, including the title track, really shine...
-Peter E. Lee
Fuligin%UMass.bitnet@WISCVM.ARPA
---
"I saw everything in you my love.
It seems that's all I ever saw..." - Peter Blegvad, "How Beautiful You Are"FULIGIN@UMass.BITNET (Peter E. Lee) (10/19/86)
Well since Doug doesn't remember seeing my original posting about this,
and nobody else bothered to reply, I will assume that the message didn't
make it through...
In an earlier posting I stated that the domestic version of Bill Nelson's
"Getting The Holy Ghost Across" (the US version is called "On A Blue Wing")
had been plagued by closed-minded/paranoid record company executives and that
the final product had been significantly changed for US release without the
support of the artist. IED seems to believe that I made this up, so I will
back up my statements. The following information is gleaned from 3 sources,
1) Melody Maker of 5 or 6 months ago (when the LP was first released in the
UK), 2) direct communication between the music director at the radio station
at which I work and CBS records (Bill Nelson's domestic record label), and
3) a rather lenghty interview in Rockpool in which Mr. Nelson either directly
states or at least affirms all of the following :
1) The big-wigs at CBS decided that the title "Getting The Holy Ghost
Across" and the cover (a 16th century painting by Cirvelli that hangs in
England's national gallery) would offend born again Christians in this
country. They ordered him to change both.
2) He submitted a painting of himself as the new cover. It was based on a
Self portrait by Cocteau, and featured the artist's name in stars. The
company thought that these looked like hexagrams and decided it would be
taken as un-christian. They asked for another cover.
3) He submitted the current cover, along with the new title.
4) The executives listened to the album and decided that two of the songs
that were outtakes would have more appeal to American audiences than two
that were there. They exchanged songs and changed the running order.
5) The artist states in the interview that there is a unifying theme and
concept to GTHGA, but that the above-mentioned changes have removed them
from the American release.
Based on this information, I reccomended (and still do recommend) that
people who don't mind spending the extra couple 'a bucks buy the import, so
that they can get the original concept as envisioned by the artist.
My opinion of "Living For The Spangled Moment" (the mini-LP of those
songs that didn't make the final cut of GTHGA) has risen considerably with
repeated listenings. If you spot it and like Bill Nelson, I'd say it's well
worth the price of a 12" for the 7 songs...
Riding the crystal elevator in the palace of God dept. store,
-Peter
Fuligin%Umass.bitnet@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
---
"You broke the code,
But not the spell.
So what's the difference?
Who can tell?"
-Bill Nelson