ALWAYSBACK

6695 - NIKKI SUDDEN - Treasure Island (2004)

NIKKI SUDDEN
''TREASURE ISLAND''
OCTOBER 5 2004
61:51

1 /Looking for a Friend/3:56
2 /Break Up/4:30
3 /Stay Bruised/5:43
4 /Kitchen Blues/3:24
5 /Wooden Floor/5:06
6 /Russian River/5:11
7 /House of Cards/4:31
8 /High and Lonesome/3:34
9 /Fall Any Further/3:33
10 /Sanctified/3:32
11 /When the Lord/4:29
12 /Never Let Me Go/3:08
13 /Treasure Island/4:04
14 /Highway Girl/7:10
All Tracks By Sudden

John Clifford Barry /Bass, Handclapping, Main Personnel, Vocals (Background)
Darrell Bath /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Elanor Clucas /Vocals (Background)
B.J. Cole /Pedal Steel
Stephane Doucerain /Drums, Handclapping, Percussion
Richard Evatt /Handclapping
Justin Farrow /Guitar (Acoustic)
Hazel Fermor /Vocals (Background)
Ann Marie Hill /Vocals (Background)
Claire Seline Hill /Vocals (Background)
Dave Kusworth /Guitar (Electric)
Marie Thérèse McCormack /Vocals (Background)
Ian McLagan /Guest Artist, Organ (Hammond), Piano
Terry Miles /Organ (Hammond), Piano
Carl Eugene Picôt /Vocals (Background)
John A. Rivers /Mellotron, Organ (Hammond)
Nikki Sudden /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Mick Taylor /Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Anthony Thistlethwaite /Mandolin, Saxophone
Glenn Tranter /Guitar (12 String)

REVIEW
By Thom Jurek
Nikki Sudden must have been in seventh heaven when the Faces' keyboard boss Ian McLagan agreed to play piano and organ on select tracks from his 2004 garage-and-burn outing with the Last Bandits (John Clifford Barry on bass and Stephane Doucerain on drums), Treasure Island. Given his total Faces and Rolling Stones worship, Sudden must have been beside himself with joy. But Mac isn't the only legendary guest on the set. Along with old mates Dave Kusworth and Anthony Thistlewaite, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and pedal steel ace B.J. Cole also lend a hand on the set. While it's true that Sudden gets little to no notice on American shores for his rootsy swagger and roll that takes the entirety of rock's grand yesteryear into its arms and wrings fresh life out of it with drunken joy and pathos, Sudden has made his share of fine recordings, and Treasure Island may his finest since Kusworth founded the Jacobites. There's the trashy swamp of "Kitchen Blues" with Taylor on guitars and the raggedly elegant balladry of "Stay Bruised," which Sudden himself deems "one of the hottest romantic numbers you'll ever hear." There's the sexed up wail of "Wooden Floor" with Mac on B-3 and Cole on steel and the spooky, Thislewaite mandolin-drenched darkness of "Russian River," the Last Bandits shambolic blues stroll in "High and Lonesome," and the faux-"Sweet Jane" doo wop Phil Spector-ism of "Fall Any Further" with Marie-Therese McCormack & the Girls crooning the chorus. What it adds up to is a rock & roll album of truly brilliant proportions -- you know, the kind people just don't make anymore. This one should be on the shelf between A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse and Goats Head Soup. Yeah!

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.