Hux Rec.
Bridget St.John : Jumblequeen (US,1974)***°
Around 1974 there was already a tendency of acoustic songwriters to evolve towards a more rock or later electric approach (Joni Mitchell, John Martyn, Bruce Cockburn). For this 4th album by Bridget, the first on Chrysalis (since John Peel’s record company Dandelion went down), she also had to find a whole different kind of producer in Ten Years After’s Leo Lyons and musicians cooperating with her, like Mike Giles (King Crimson) and Chick Churchill (Ten Years After) on keyboards (who did not always make necessary contributions to for the songs if you ask me), all fine musicians, but most of them did not increase the sensitivity in folk, and with mixed, but often still suitable and fitting, results, but still a bit too much with a deliberate poprock result, with more of a clearly studio-musicians feeling more than always appropriate inspirations to the song. The songs are conscious, sound really fine, but for me do not always come out in an optimal way, musically as well as inspirational, for the reasons already mentioned, although it was well received in its days, the same caution is felt by those who look back. Especially “Want to be with you” keeps the essential core of guitar with voice best, and only has additional cello, and a bit of piano, as well as the titletrack “Jumblequeen”, proving these song didn’t really need much more, especially no fashionable arrangements. “Sweet painted lady”’s pop-rockier arrangements for instance fit well because of the song melody, and fits perfectly smoothly on “Long Long Time”.
My favourite bonus track is “3DB Australia”, with slightly barrelling/wawah-ing amplified guitar ; all three are worth discovering and are recorded professionally.
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