Customer Reviews

Songs for the Gentle Man

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Among the plethora of singer/songwriters who emerged at the tail end of the 1960s, Bridget St. John tends to be overlooked, partly because she never had a whiff of commercial success despite vigorous marketing by her record label, and possibly because her lyrics are not nearly so personal or revealing as many contemporaries.

Her first album Ask Me No Questions has shown Bridget St. John developing a highly personal style that was quite different from the crisp, small-group sound of, say Linda Perhacs. Her voice was, in contrast to the shrill power of Laura Nyro or the vibrato-filled intensity of Buffy Sainte-Marie, distinctly blurry and exceedingly quiet, whilst her lyrics were not highly personal mysticism, but acute observations of ordinary people's lives.

"Songs for the Gentle Man", Bridget St. John's second album, is more than good, it really is great. The rather distant tone of her first album is softened to give the songs added impact, and the addition of orchestration on a number of tracks adds immeasurable melody and depth to what were already extremely good songs. The most amazing example of this is the string-driven "Seagull Sunday", a desperate, dark lamentation on a failed relationship that is filled with quiet emotional power in its remarkable loud-to-quiet dynamics. Bridget's songs, as shown by the equally impressive "The Pebble and the Man", possess a truly surprising sense of urgency that undoubtedly makes for soul-bearing performance even if one will not think that is the right word to describe the album's tone.

The short pieces "Early Morning Song" and closer "It Seems Very Strange" are truly dark and reflective yet their tone is totally calming, whilst the slower "Making Losing Better" is chilling in the quiet intensity of its guitar work. The lighter tone of the flute-driven opener "A Day A Way", though, loses nothing in quietness and power, whilst for hazy quiet there could never be anything better than the aptly titled "Downderry Daze".

It is a pity such a promising talent faded after making so exceptional an album as "Songs for the Gentle Man". In its hazy quiet is something truly intense and passionate yet so beautiful few listeners are ever likely to grasp it.

Sloppy, Amazon, as usual. You, uh, don't even get the TITLE correct for this record. It is "Songs for the Gentle Man," definite article.

Beyond that, it's a good little record. She sings sort of contralto in the manner of Nico, the singer for the first edition of the Velvet Underground. Moderately hard little guitar parts merge with some interesting John Cale-style string arrangements, as on "Seagull Sunday." This and her '69 record "Ask Me No Questions" are good examples of English folkiedom becoming avant-garde. If Linda Perhacs and Caroline Peyton represent the American slant on such things, Bridget is slightly more muted. Also, she is kind of the female equivalent of Kevin Ayers, but she sings better.