Vashti Bunyan Just Another Diamond Day

Some music actually feels therapeutic, medicine for the soul. Welcome the gentle dream poetry of Vashti Bunyan harking from an innocent age when youth's imagination was ignited by the illuminescence of Carnaby Street, sparking a common desire for a better life of individuality, transported from the citadel of political oppression to a clandestine countryside of freedom and self-expression.

Such are the 18 lullabies and folk ballads (4 previously unreleased) of such sweet simplicity captured here and accompanied by a 12 page booklet of lyrics and notes for Just Another Diamond Day, a commentary of a pilgrimage out of a swinging London to an alternative lifestyle of Hebridean crofts and rustic austerity. As a reflection of Vashti's own herstory, clip-clopping tempos never raise above an idle trot as we trundle along winding country lanes in search of peace and happiness. Pastoral tranquility is our travelling companion perched pillion on the driver's bench of an old green Gypsy vardo delivery van. En route her songs are inspired by observations of nature, including pets and garden friends (Glow Worms and Timothy Grub), a childhood fascination shared by Woodstock folk diva Melanie in her homage to the famous Milne bug, Alexander Beetle. One such lullaby, Lilly Pond, is based on the melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star carried by the same pure vocal quality and Celtic folk sensibilities as that of Sally Oldfield on her early recording Children of the Sun with brother Michael.

You might say that Celtic folk is "British bluegrass". Well, here it is complete with banjo picking and fiddly-dee provided by some of the greatest popularists of that particular folk heritage; [producer] Joe [Boyd] invited Robin Williamson of [the] Incredible String Band, Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention to accompany on some tracks. It is no coincidence that Joe Boyd was the pre-eminent producer of the British folk-rock boom. Born in the USA he began by writing liner notes before landing a job with Elektra Records that involved moving to London in the mid-60's where he founded the UFO Club leading to production of Powerhouse (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Paul Jones), The Soft Machine and Pink Floyd. As the chairman of Witchseason, he produced the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention and John McLaughlin's old sparring partner, bassist Danny Thompson. Subsequent credits have included work with Richard Thompson, R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, Billy Bragg and in the world music scene with such artists as the legendary Pakastani Khyal maestros Salamat and Nazakat Ali.

Vashti's removal from and return to folk was a demi-decade voyage of self discovery kicking off with an induction of lonely busking and Soho nightclubs before "being discovered" and brought to the attention of Rolling Stone and Marianne Faithfull manager and producer, bad-boy Andrew Loog Oldham. Hence, her debut recording of Jagger and Richards' Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind, backed by a B-side of the self-penned I Want To Be Alone, and media claims of "The new Marianne Faithfull". In his jobbing musician days in London back in the mid-60's, one of the gigs John McLaughlin is supposed to have landed is that recording session that launched Vashti Bunyan onto the pop scene. Another gig was for Faithfull's Is This What I Get For Loving You?.

Happiness led to despair as Vashti was adopted by label Immediate but her material was deemed too poetic and non-ideal for pop songs. Her only outing was featuring on label co-artist Twice As Much's single Coldest Night of the Year but this remained unreleased for three years until inclusion on their album That's All. Other recordings never saw the light of day.

Unfortunately I have no recollection of John McLaughlin at the sessions for the recording of "Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind". It was only recently - through the Internet - that I even knew he was there that day - and I was hugely surprised and pleased.

I do remember Big Jim Sullivan and Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins being there - however there were so many musicians in the studio the song had to be recorded in shifts. For someone of 19 only used to playing guitar and singing by herself and knowing nobody - this was an overwhelming experience and never forgotten. I don't know about "Coldest Night Of The Year" as that was quite a while later, end of 66 I think ... Reading over what i wrote last message - I should have added that the experience was overwhelmingly WONDERFUL!

Thus the impetus for the pilgrimage to a promised land, in this case from the south of England northwards, past the west of Glasgow, via Bonny Prince Charlie's land of Skye, on to the Outer Hebridean Isle of Berneray and a new life. A journey made in a horse-drawn van with Bess, a hand-drawn horse, and documented in song on Just Another Diamond Day. Understand, the songs were the dreaming in verges of grimy roads. Future adventures around a European tour punctuated island life and further fed the idyll that led to this recording being made with Joe Boyd.

The result is a dream-like reflection on passing landscapes and life's company. Vashti's delicacy of tone and the observational content of her song writing is more of a Joni Mitchell trait than the pop-oriented material sung by Marianne Faithfull. There is a sensitive intelligence underpinning her lyrics and the song arrangements are the antithesis of Phil Spector's "Wall Of Sound" still in vogue for the UK pop scene at the time.

So, the world of pop was not for Vashti. A more attuned soul, she sought satisfaction from an aestheticism when the world around her was still in the infancy of non-materialism. Just Another Diamond Day serves as a testimonial of one woman's tenacity and self-belief. Redolent of a once widespread ideal, this album is a priceless reminder that individuals have options, so as to live their lives as they choose. Buy, listen, learn. Buy. Listen. Live.