ALWAYSBACK

6694 - NIKKI SUDDEN - Red Brocade (1999)

NIKKI SUDDEN
''RED BROCADE''
1999
58:08

01 - Scent/3:56
02 - Broken Door/5:51
03 - Countess/3:59
04 - Farewell, My Darling/5:12
05 - Stained Sheets/4:54
06 - Tie You Up/2:36
07 - Miss You So/3:23
08 - Silver Blanket/5:32
09 - Undressed/4:21
10 - Scarred/4:48
11 - Take Me Back Home/3:57
12 - So Many Girls/4:25
13 - Stained/5:14
All Tracks By Sudden

Russ Bassman /Organ
Fred Beethoven /Bass
Paul Brook /Drums, Tambourine
Ellis Clark /Bass, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Handclapping, Percussion, Slide Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Todd Fletcher /Organ, Piano
Anthony Illarde /Drums, Tambourine
Kevin Junior /Guitar (Electric), Handclapping, Vocals (Background)
Dave Kusworth /Guitar (Electric)
Terry Miles /Piano
Eric Remschneider /Strings
John A. Rivers /Contrabass Guitar, Organ (Hammond), Piano
Nikki Sudden /Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Vocals
Kevin Tihista /Handclapping, Vocals (Background)
Tudor Vernon /Organ
Mars Williams /Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)
Brad Yoder /Timpani

REVIEW
By Thom Jurek
Red Brocade feels more like a Jacobites recording than one of his wonderfully shambolic slash-and-burn rock offerings (evidence is in the tracks; Dave Kusworth, Sudden's long-suffering partner in Jacobites plays some guitar here). Not surprisingly, the piano plays a big role in these songs -- check "Broken Door," with Terry Miles' gorgeous keys. In many ways this is a more "orchestral" pastoral work, with strings, acoustic double bass, tenor saxophone (courtesy of Mars Williams playing like a partying Clarence Clemons or Alvin "Red" Tyler, no less), and B-3 organ among the instruments employed here. The slippery midtempo rocker "Countess" uses all of the above, and the use of handclaps is also prominent. Wilco's Jeff Tweedy makes a harmonica appearance on "Silver Blanket," with Sudden's trademark 12-string work eclipsing his scattershot vocal in the tune's introduction. As Kevin Junior's Ron Wood-esque electric guitar enters the picture, Todd Fletcher's piano gives way to a Hammond B-3 and the song breaks wide open into the world as a perfect depiction of why a relationship doesn't work. Sudden, of course, is oblivious and is just trying to get through it; his reverie, sadness, and resignation feel like Ronnie Lane's ghost coming through his voice. Tweedy finishes it all off with a moaning, weeping harmonica solo that puts the cut in the sad rock stratosphere. "Take Me Back Home," which closes the disc, throws off all the grief and sadness and lets it rock. Williams' sax solo and the guitar work are simply over the edge, and the set ends if not on a celebratory note then a wanton one. Red Brocade is one of those forgotten Nikki Sudden records, one that stands as Robespierre's Velvet Basement in his catalog. It's a ragged rock school masterpiece. The great sadness is that -- like so many of Sudden's records -- it languishes as a one-off for yet another fly-by-night indie label that has no idea how to market or promote it, and the fear is that it will soon be deleted like so much of his work. Seek it out, folks -- this one will shake you to the core.

BIOGRAPHY
By Stephen Thoms Erlewine

After the post-punk band Swell Maps dissolved in the early '80s, lead singer Nikki Sudden began a diverse and maddening solo career, during which he performed with a number of different bands and side projects. Sudden released his first solo record, Waiting on Egypt, in 1982, followed closely by The Bible Belt in 1983; both records recalled Swell Maps. In 1984, Sudden formed the Jacobites with drummer Epic Soundtracks (his brother, who was also a member of Swell Maps) and guitarist/vocalist Dave Kusworth, who co-wrote the material with Sudden. The band developed a laid-back pop style driven by acoustic guitars and a rolling rhythm section reminiscent of the Velvet Underground. the Jacobites released four albums and three EPs between 1984 and 1986, when Kusworth left the band. Sudden continued using the Jacobites' name, releasing Texas on the Creation label in 1986. During the late '80s, Sudden ditched the Jacobites and began making music that strongly recalled early Rolling Stones. While none of his albums ever attracted a large audience, Sudden remained a cult favorite throughout his career. High-profile guests began appearing on his albums, with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy lending a hand on 1999's Red Brocade, and the Faces' keyboardist Ian McLagan playing on the 2004 release Treasure Island. On March 26, 2006, Sudden passed away after a gig in New York City. He was working on a new album, The Truth Doesn't Matter, which was released in October of that year. In the spring of 2011, the Easy Action imprint released Playing with Fire, a carefully curated compilation of unreleased songs recorded and left off his last two studio albums; the collection featured liner notes by Sudden's bassist and friend, John Barry.