Colin Blunstone - One Year...over ten years

Paula Kelley in a grateful mood:

One year...over ten years


It's funny how things happen and you don't realize their significance until years later. I'm in again on a Saturday night working on a string quartet arrangement. I'm not at all bitter about it, frankly I'd rather be in my cozy apartment listening to great music for inspiration or creating something new to put into the world than just about anything else. Working on a Saturday night's great because everyone else is out doing something and it's likely you'll be distraction-free. (except for god damn MySpace. It's always looming...check meeee...read my mail.....blog on meeeeeee....) Anyway. About ten (or so) years ago when I lived in Boston and was in the Drop Nineteens, I was hanging around Mystery Train records. I'm not sure if it's still there- the Newbury street location, that is. My friend Dave Gibbs worked there and I would stop by often to get edumacated. He'd show me all these wonderful obscure records I'd never listen to if I didn't know. There was one instance in which I snottily started making fun of what I thought was a silly band name/album cover (God, what was it??) and Dave was like, "Actually, that's a great record, it has blah blah on it and blah blah blah...

I think it was that very day, he shoved a record at me- it didn't have it's original sleeve- just plastic covering the white inner sleeve. (Nothing for me to snot at!) I asked what it was and he said "Just listen to it. It's great."

Turns out is was "One Year," a solo record by Colin Blunstone, the lead singer from the Zombies. At that time in my life I had been exposed to the genius that is Odyssey and Oracle, so I was most interested. Upon first listen, though, it seemed a little strange to me. I shelved it for a while. A few months later at a party I asked the host what the music was, "it's fabulous!" It was, in fact, One Year.
Damn! I went back home and listened to it immediately. Fucking brilliant. "Caroline Goodbye" is prefect. If you're on the verge of tears it will render you a veritable Angel Falls. I still thought some of the tunes were a little strange- the strings were dissonant at times and I wasn't used to that. But still, the more "band-like" numbers really did it for me.

Now, more years later still, as I mentioned, I am working on an arrangement. I was stuck for inspiration. My draft was okay, but lacking...oh...the je ne c'est qois. I need it to be different sounding, dissonant, but still palatable.

Now, when Aaron and I moved to LA we put almost our entire music collection on our hard drive and left the physical records and CDs in various relatives' basements. The only collection we didn't completely get into the digital realm were some of the LPs. One Year included. I felt I just HAD to listen to it NOW. When Aaron was on tour and passed through Boston, he grabbed some records to bring back. (Oh please oh please oh pleaseplease ohplease)I dug through the stack of records like a freakin' prarie dog and...le voiila! There it was, thank FUCK! I put it on and nearly cried, it's so perfect. The arrangements are brilliant. I'm not sure who did them- Tony Visconti, maybe? But he gets so much out of a quartet, really rich chords, dissonance that isn't just meant to be jarring. GOD it's GORGEOUS!

So...this has happened to me before. Sometimes you're just not ready for a record. It took me a couple years to think "Exile on Main Street" was a masterpiece. Sloan's "One Chord to Another" also took years to grow on me.

What I really need to say, though, is, Thank you, Dave.
This record has been a significant part of my life. A tiny thing you did really impacted me.


Posted by Paula Kelley.



Paula's music is always gracing our playlist so be sure to check out the latest release "Some Sucker's Life, Part 1" from The Paula Kelley Orchestra. The single "Burnin' For You" is available exclusively on iTunes, featuring two more rare Paula tracks not available on the CD!


www.paulakelley.com