KRIS NEEDS remembers the visionary and neglected JACKIE LEVEN.
JACKIE LEVEN (1950-2011)
While
punk ruled in 1977, Jackie Leven appeared out of Maida Vale‘s squatting
community with the psychedelic onslaught and astounding beauty of Doll By Doll,
a band out of time (and often their minds) who released four monumentally intense
albums before splitting in ’82. Born on the18th of June, 1950 in Kirkaldy,
Fife, Jackie’s gypsy roots and highland upbringing continued to underpin the
sweeping soul confessionals and emotive reflections he continued making until
losing his battle with cancer in November.
After
spending the years after ’67 busking through Europe, Jackie landed in the
close-knit Maida Vale squatting community by the mid-70s, forming Doll By Doll
in ’77 with guitarist Jo Shaw, bassist Robin Spreafico and drummer Dave
McIntosh. The group were a shattering experience live, combining early Velvets
apocalypse, West Coast guitar interplay and soul-wrenching ballads, often polarising
audiences to the point of violence. My Zigzag
magazine were first to report on them as they signed to Warner
Brothers-backed Automatic, releasing Remember
in March, ’79, followed by their hallucinogenic life-cycle master-piece Gypsy Blood. Doll By Doll’s self-titled
third album, released in ’90, lightened the mood in a last bid for the greater
acceptance which alluded them, its heart-breaking ‘Main Travelled Roads’ hailed
as Leven’s most moving ballad.
After
releasing his first solo single, 'I Believe That Love is Shining Down On Me' in ’83, Jackie suffered a vicious street attack, suffering
appalling throat injuries and becoming addicted to heroin. After kicking his
habit, he set up the CORE Trust anti-addiction charity, restarting his solo
career in ’94 after signing to Cooking Vinyl, releasing Songs From The Argyll Cycle, the acclaimed The Mystery Of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death, followed
by a string of others up to 2011’s Wayside
Shrines And The Code Of The Travelling Man. To accommodate his
savagely-prolific output, he also made albums available through his Haunted
Valley website. While still exploring the dark side of the human psyche, the
wry humour of Jackie’s stage announcements also helped make him a much-loved
figure touring Europe’s pubs and clubs, a captivating last troubadour
already being missed tremendously.
