annette peacock I'm the One (CD, £12.95)

Classic album from 1972 finally gets a proper release via Light In The Attic. Check this 4/5 review in The Guardian last year (as well as a full page 'Buried Treasure' review in Mojo) “Annette Peacock, the avant garde American composer, collaborator with Salvador Dalí, friend of Albert Ayler and Moog-synth pioneer, brought this seismically influential session out in 1972 – its synth-warped banshee vocals, morphed jazz ballads, Motown grooving and squelchy electronics were to touch many jazz and pop artists in that decade, most David Bowie and Mick Ronson. Early on, Peacock's spacey, harmonically drifting pieces were regularly interpreted by her second husband, the jazz pianist Paul Bley – but she's since been covered by everyone from Busta Rhymes to Pat Metheny and Marilyn Crispell. Peacock has finally reacquired I'm The One's rights from Sony-BMG, and reissued this long-unavailable classic. And for all the familiarity of computer-assisted vocals now, nothing prepares you for the howl of her searingly high notes spiralling up out of spooky organ chords and soul-brass riffs on the title track, or against the rolling blues groove of Pony, or the dark and prowling one of Blood. Elvis's Love Me Tender is the only cover, a blend of soft, lyrical intimacy and fierce exhortation. The underpinnings are as 1970s soul/blues-rooted as any classic-pop listener could wish, but the uncompromising, sound-manipulating focus still sounds contemporary Remastered from original tapes Liner notes by Mikey ‘IQ’ Jones Never-before-seen archive photos Expanded gatefold LP with 180-gram vinyl housed in a deluxe Stoughton “Tip-On” jacket with spot UV gloss LP hand-numbered and limited to 1,000 copies (SRD will get less than 100) LP includes 18″ × 24″ poster “I’m the one, you don’t have to look any further. I’m the one. I’m here, right here for you,” oozes jazz, rock, and electronic music pioneer Annette Peacock on the leadoff title track of her solo debut LP. The album’s wide range of vocal emotions and diverse sonic palette (featuring Robert Moog’s early modular synthesizers, which the singer actually transmitted her voice through to wild effect) places it firmly at the forefront of the pop avant-garde. Originally released by RCA Victor in 1972 to widespread critical acclaim, I’m The One found itself amongst good company. Both Lou Reed and David Bowie had recently signed to the label—Bowie in particular was enamored with Annette—and artists ranging from ex-husband and jazz great Paul Bley, along with notable Brazilian percussionists Airto Moreira and Dom Um Romao, guested on the album itself. Writing and arranging I’m The One’s nine passionate tracks—bar a unique cover of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender”— the disc grooves easily from free jazz freak-outs and rough and rugged blues-funk to gently pulsing synthesized bliss. The second release on our Future Days Recordings imprint, I’m The One is returning to better record shops on CD and LP formats, re-mastered from the original tapes with an insert containing beautiful unseen photos from the vaults of Sony Music and extensive liner notes from NYC-based writer and musician, Mikey ‘IQ’ Jones. An extension of Annette’s late 1960s work with her Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show combo, I’m The One is filled with strength and power, as well as a tender, sensual, and seductive side, born of a life surrounded with music and culture. Composing by age four, Peacock’s mother was a professional violinist. By the early 1960s, Annette had also collaborated with first husband, jazz bassist Gary Peacock and toured with legendary saxophone player Albert Ayler. Studying under Zen macrobiotics educator Michio Kushi and a confidant to Timothy Leary at the Millbrook psychedelic center, Peacock later worked, post-I’m The One, with rock stalwarts like guitarists Mick Ronson and Chris Spedding, Yes/King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, as well as surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Light years ahead of her early 1970s contemporaries in terms of individuality and uncompromising vision, the album makes today’s major label computer generated fabrications an embarrassment to listeners worldwide. Still to this day, Annette remains a passionate advocate, an enigma caught between the peace and love vibrations of a hippy counterculture and the more worldly intelligence of the modern age. Her records continue to influence and inspire, and with I’m The One finally back on the shelves, countless new jacks on the scene can scope its liner notes and bear witness to its brilliance. TRACKLIST: 1. I'm The One 2. 7 Days 3. Pony 4. Been & Gone 5. Blood 6. One Way 7. Love Me Tender 8. Gesture Without Plot 9. Did You Hear Me Mommy