Customer Reviews

Beginning Doves

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It seems an odd thing to say, perhaps, but the further back I go into Marc Bolan's career, the more I love his work. One would think the earlier material would be the weaker, especially as "Doves" starts with his earliest recorded demos--after all, how good of a song can one write when one is 16? But in Marc's case, the results are startling. Not fully polished yet perhaps, and sometimes obviously an attempt to imitate others' sound, but also beautifully fresh, endearingly enthusiastic, and youthfully imaginative. Such wide-eyed optimism, such childlike confidence!

It's interesting when I compare his career to Bowie's--one can say they both hit their commercial peak in 1972 (not considering "Tonight"), but otherwise they seemed to be moving in opposite directions. Marc's commercial stuff is great fun--as pop songs, they're top of their line: but I think I prefer his early work. Not that it's not poppy itself; Marc was always pop--but after '72, commercial interest (not necessarily tied to money) turned his head a bit.

This album is a collection of singles and demos from '66-'67, and I was more than pleasantly surprised by their quality. At first, that is, I was pleasantly surprised. After several listens, I forgot all about being surprised, because I was too busy being amazed. Not a bad song on here, no matter how amateurish. (Well, maybe there's one mediocre one.) I knew that Marc Bolan started off with an interest in rock n' roll (and blues, etc), and went hippie-folk-acoustic out of necessity as much as anything else--but upon getting this record, I still expected it to sound more like Tyrannosaurus Rex. Instead, it starts off very classic rock n' roll, Chuck Berry and such--but already with Marc's unmistakable warbly vocals (at their very warbliest), and already with his poetic imagery in the lyrics. Beautiful, vibrant, full of lively spirit and fairy tale dreaminess. One of my very favorite CDs of his now, in fact. And it provides an intriguing link between the Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex sounds, being at times an amalgam of the two.

And at 14 bucks for 37 tracks, how can you let this great album pass you by?

Marc Bolan must hold the world record for posthumous releases (a recent search on ...yielded "148 results"!), which makes this 37-track collection all the more fascinating. Some of this material was slated for release while Bolan was still alive, but he apparently felt that these stripped-down, pre-T. Rex numbers might tarnish his "glitter guitar god" image at the time, and suppressed it. Indeed, anyone expecting Bolan's electric warrior persona or even his folky Hobbit troubadour side is in for an eye-opener on this CD, because "Beginning Of Doves" is Bolan's Mississippi Delta Blues album! As weird as that sounds, it actually works...with Bolan's trademark vibrato and spare acoustic accompaniment, at times you almost feel he's eerily channeling Bessie Smith or Robert Johnson. Of course,song titles like "The Perfumed Garden Of Gulliver Smith" don't exactly conjure up images of Highway 61, so you're still very much in Bolan territory here. Amazingly, there are 37 tracks crammed on one disc, and none of them sound "unfinished"! Initially, it's all a bit "samey", so it does demand patient listening to appreciate; avid music fans may be reminded of early Captain Beefheart (when he was basically channeling Howlin' Wolf) and let's not forget Beck's stripped-down Delta-style independent label experiments of the mid 90's! Of most interest to Bolan fans; a cautious recommendation if you're only familiar with "Bang A Gong".

I first got into Marc Bolan in the early 70s, being a big fan of Electric Warrior and a giant fan of The Slider. As years went by, the pressures of daily life pushed music into the background for me. As I moved into my late 50s, my early love of music pushed back to the fore since I now had the time and money to enjoy it. I started re-purchasing a lot of my old favorites on CD and MP3. I also started going deeper into the careers of some of my favorites. I was amazed as one of the other reviewers stated at how much music Bolan has had released posthumously. This album gives a glimpse of his formative years and is a must for all true fans of Marc Bolan, Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex.

The Beginning Of Doves is a wonderful collection of songs left by Marc Bolan at the beginning of his career. All the recondings come from 1966-67 just before the first Tyrannosaurus Rex album was released. It brings loads of great surprises and offers a deeper insight into the early music of this 20th century genius!!! This remastered version also delivers excellent sound quality and complete artwork. If you are a Marc Bolan fan, don't hesitate pickin' this one up.