Today, Wil Malone is a first-call arranger in the music industry – “The Malone Arranger”, naturally – who has worked with pretty much everyone from Corinne Bailey Rae to Massive Attack via DJ Shadow and The Verve. Back in 1970, however, the tireless Orange Bicycle/ Fickle Pickle mainstay and Morgan Studios operative was the progenitor of a needlessly obscure solo album, dribbled on to the marketplace with minimal fanfare by Fontana, which has since been recognised as a classic of acid-folk – even if no one was calling it that at the time.
Baroque, restrained and wintry, it’s a masterpiece of languorous introspection. Malone surrounds his dry, careworn vocals with a warmly protective cordon of sympathetic cello, flute and oboe, closest in essence to Chris Gunning’s arrangements on Colin Blunstone’s One Year, on the exquisitely forlorn Down Maundies, the shimmering Winter In Boston and One More Flight To Parker.
The 15 “lost” bonus tracks include the staggering LA – harmonic sunshine pop in excelsis – the unnerving Lean On My Gun and the Randy Newman-esque narrative of One Foot In The Gutter. Wil Malone is also the latest album in RC’s series of classic vinyl reissues: snap it up with confidence and salivatory anticipation.
by Marco Rossi
1. Catherine Wheel - 2:11
2. I Could Write A Book - 3:05
3. February Face - 2:16
4. Love In The Afternoon - 2:33
5. Winter In Boston - 2:05
6. Caravan - 3:07
7. Down Maundies - 2:39
8. Suzy - 2:41
9. Tale To Tell - 2:54
10.One More Flight To Parker - 3:01
11.At The Silver Slipper - 3:00
12.How About Then - 2:30
13.Jesus - 3:08
14.Until The End Dreamer - 0:42
15.Jane (Danny Beckerman) - 2:35
16.Until The End Drifter - 0:38
17.L.A. - 3:07
18.Until The End Songbird - 0:49
19.Message To Mary - 2:15
20.Jake And The Wife (Danny Beckerman) - 2:04
21.Madame Le Mar (Danny Beckerman) - 2:12
22.Until The End Angel - 0:40
23.Lean On My Gun - 1:39
24.Do You Remember The Day - 2:52
25.Beautiful Green - 1:32
26.One Foot In The Gutter - 3:19
27.Jesus (Alternative Version) - 3:06
All compositions by Wil Malone except where stated
Bonus Tracks 13-27 Until The End (The Long Lost Album?)
*Wil Malone - Vocals All Instruments (1 to 12)
1970 Orange Bicycle - Orange Bicycle (Japan extra tracks remaster)
1970 Bobak, Jons, Malone - Motherlight
1971 Fickle Pickle - Sinful Skinful
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