Straight Outta Caledonia

Singer, songwriter, ace guitarist, raconteur, storyteller, and all-around wildman Jackie Leven left this earth in November of 2011. A man of many reinventions, he went from folk troubadour to post-punk hero with Doll by Doll, and became a junkie after a street assault robbed him of his mellifluous baritone and falsetto voice for years. After quitting drugs, he co-founded the CORE Trust addicts college with Princess Diana (still in operation), then regained his voice and became a solo artist and itinerant traveler. Leven lived a life bigger than most peoples dreams. Though he never achieved widespread fame or fortune, he was mythical in physical stature (a giant, really), with a creative vision who left behind a slate of gloriously strange, emotionally resonant songs and albums with titles such as Forbidden Songs of the Dying West, The Mystery of Love Is Greater Than the Mystery of Death, Fairytales for Hard Men, and Defending Ancient Springs. Novelist Ian Rankin, who cut an album and toured with Leven, claims him as one of Scotlands greatest songwriters -- ever. Straight Outta Caledonia: The Songs of Jackie Leven is, remarkably, his first best-of compilation -- not that he ever had a hit. Its ten tracks are drawn from solo albums cut during his last 20 years. Levens provocative and insightful soul is evidenced in opener The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ, a bouncy little rocker. The lyric goes beneath the New Testament narrative -- in first person -- to portray the human being whose destiny was chosen without his consent. Levens brilliance as a composer flits through Caledonian soul, folk, girl group pop, power chords, and bagpipes. Some Ancient Misty Morning traverses Celtic country, pop, R&B, and Scottish folk, audaciously describing the death of love as a force that shakes the heavens. Single Father relates an autobiographical tale: He was a single parent at 15. He delivers it without pathos to a shuffling skiffle beat under a breezy melody that belies his difficulties. Poortoun describes the harsh price toxic masculinity extracts in tender, direct language buoyed by fluid, romantically fingerpicked acoustic guitars and keys. Irresistible Romance proves a contrast with blue-eyed soul full of horns, sweeping strings, shuffling breaks, and four-part harmonies. Here Leven observes the glory of nature, grey cities, ragged children, young accountants, drunks in bars, and endless, sometimes aimless travelers. He understands implicitly that he is part and parcel of it all. The title track, from an album called Songs for Lonely Americans (under the pseudonym Sir Vincent Lone) is a bumping 1980s rocker that revels in the joy of bygone times amid sweeping choruses, clattering drums, and beefy guitars. Straight Outta Caledonia may or may not contain Levens best songs -- fans will argue that subjective view forever, but they all stand among his best. This is a stellar introduction that could just as easily have included 30 tracks. While fans will dig it as a playlist, this is an introduction for those looking to encounter a truly singular and monumental body of work. ~ Thom Jurek