Mark David Chapman once stated that he targeted John Lennon because he thought he was "phony and insincere." Perhaps his insanity would've been soothed by the music of Jimmy Campbell. While watching contemporaries like the Beatles achieve massive success in an era where anything from Liverpool or London was rabidly consumed by the record buying public, Campbell never found his place in the pop music glitterati. He started with the Merseybeat boom as part of the Kirkbys, whose singles included It's A Crime, an upbeat riff rocker in the vein of the Stones's Satisfaction. His musical path reflected the ups and downs of the fickle pop singles game, from Merseybeat to psychedelia. Another project of Campbell's, the 23rd Turnoff, produced the song Michel Angelo, a haunting admonition for the folly of dreaming rather than doing, a cautionary tale it turns out. It is apparently one of Will Seargent's favorite songs, and rightly so.
The death of his mother is a crushing blow to his state of mind, and his first soo lp, Son Of Anastasia is not exactly an upbeat affair.
His second solo LP, Half Baked is a work of staggering heartbreak and beauty. It was released in 1970 on the Vertigo label in the U.S. and features Billy Kinsley and Tony Crane of the Merseybeats, Pete Clarke of the Escorts and Joey Molland of Badfinger. The orchestral arrangements are reminiscent of Nick drakes Five Leaves Left. Dylan and Lennon are evoked on the tracks "Green Eyed American Actress" and "don't Leave Me Now," but the overall sound is wholly his own. Campbell sings of missed opportunities, cheating girlfriends, loneliness and love unreturned. Yet, there is an acceptance of his situation, an almost wry glee expressed by his lot in the songs. Campbell seems to be sincerely singing his life. None of the disparity that Chapman saw in Lennon's multi millionaire reality versus his professional everyman persona. Campbell presented his heartbreak to the world eloquently in these beautifully crafted songs. It really is a crime that his work is not better known, especially the Half Baked material. EBay seems to be your best bet of tracking it down.
For every sacred cow, there is a sacrificial lamb. It almost seems that with each success of John Lennon's, Campbell suffered another professional setback. Yet his music survives him, and is ripe for reappraisal.
http://rapidshare.com/files/297641932/JIMMY_CAMPBELL_-_Half_Baked__1970__www.lajso-lajsosoundltd.blogspot.com.rar
