Vashti Bunyan may be known today as a lost and then very found folk singer/songwriter, the author of "Just Another Diamond Day, arguably one of the best folk albums of the 1960s and the solid late-career offering "Lookaftering" but there was a time, back in 1965, when she had dreams of making it big as a pop star. Those years and the very beginnings of her recording career are now available in a collection called "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" - Singles and Demos 1964-1967. The two disc set is a treat, but it’s strictly for those who are already familiar with and enthralled by the melancholy melodies and sweet simplicity of Bunyan. Some of the tracks, most of which are under the two minute mark, crackle and squeak but that just adds to the overall "lost treasure" feeling of the collection.
Disc #1, which covers the years 1965-1967, documents the pop aspirations of the U.K. singer. Young Vashti was taken under the wings of Andrew Loog Oldham, the legendary manager of the Rolling Stones. He set her up with an orchestra and handed her a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards-penned song for her to record and release as a single. That song, "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" soars with 60s production values that almost threaten to drown Bunyan's signature wispy delivery.
Some of the other "pop" tunes quickly make it clear that this girl with the guitar was not meant for the mainstream. "I Want to Be Alone" finds Bunyan cooing "set me free / let me be alone" since isolation was not exactly the mantra for the “come on get together” 60s movement. Many of these songs, especially the demo for "Winter is Blue" which would later turn up on “Just Another Diamond Day”, put her firmly on the path to folkville. Most of the tunes though, especially a bouncy guitar number called, "Train Song" definitely deserve to be not only heard but cherished.
Disc #2 gives us a chance to hear Vashti Bunyan's first studio recordings. The 1964 tape was found by her brother in an attic a few years back. These tracks, recorded after a trip to New York, are surprisingly clear and very much in a folk vein. Bunyan speaks the title of each song before delivering a set of songs with names like "Autumn Leaves", "Girl's Song in Winter" and "I Don't Know What Love is". They're all charming in the sense that they are the thoughts and concerns of a young woman who was just starting to seriously develop her craft - think of them as blueprints for "Just Another Diamond Day". |