Bill Nelson

[lorch <@JHMAIL.HCF.JHU.EDU:lorch@JHUNIX.BITNET>]

IED writes:
     
>   Here is an important bit of news for anyone interested in Bill
>Nelson: He has just released a completely new four-CD box set called
>_Demonstrations_of_Affection_. The box contains _Nudity_, _Details_,
>_Chimes_and_Rings_ and _Heartbreakland_. And get this: all four are
>_vocal_ albums.
     
     
Oh, my, my heart just about stopped beating.  *FOUR* new Bill Nelson cds?
I've been trying (to no avail) to find Simplex, but this is much better.
     
>   In the brief liner notes Nelson explains that the four collections
>of tracks (the box contains no fewer than 68 new, full-fledged songs in
>total--plus a t-shirt) were all recorded in 1989, in direct reaction
>to an unexpected emotional crisis (unspecified, but judging from the
>lyrics, obviously a stormy romance, probably abortive).
     
There was an article in Musician magazine almost a year ago, I believe it
was May of '89, on Bill Nelson.  It mentioned that he was having problems
in his marriage to Jan (of "Portrait of Jan" fame), and I believe it said
he was having a blockage because of it.  I guess he got over it.
     
I agree with you that his best work is "Getting the Holy Ghost Across",
along with the "Living for the Spangled Moment" ep.  A reasonable facsimile
of this masterpiece can be obtained domestically by purchasing "On a Blue
Wing".  Not all the music, but it's close.  Only on vinyl, though.
     
     
Four of his instrumental albums were released originally as a boxed set,
the name of which unfortunately escapes me.  They were "Chamber of Dreams",
"A Catalogue of Obsessions", "Pavillions of the Heart and Soul", and "The
Summer of God's Piano".  Wonderful albums all.
     
>And there is also an Enigma CD
>called _Simplex_, which IED assumes is an altered, abridged version
>of _Duplex_, though he has not found a copy so he can't say for sure.
     
     
I think that "Simplex" is a new album, as there is a cut from it on "the
Strangest Things" sampler, (which I looked at in a store but did not buy).
     
Thanks for making my day, Andrew!
     
--
John Lorch                      UUCP:   mimsy!aplcen!jhunix!lorch
Johns Hopkins University        ARPA:   lorch@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
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