Nikki Sudden: a rooster/shag-haired rock 'n' roll dandy, equal parts Marc Bolan, Ronnie Wood, and Johnny Thunders; co-founder (with late sibling Epic Soundtracks) of '70s avant-punks Swell Maps; a member of the debauched Kevn Kinney/Pete Buck "rolling asunder revue"; and a much-loved folk/glam/rock troubadour, both solo and with the Jacobites.
This is the vinyl edition of his widely acclaimed new solo album, featuring among others Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Ian McLagan (The Faces), Dave Kusworth (Jacobites-partner, Tenderhooks and Bounty Hunters), Darrel Bath (Ian Hunter, Crybabys, Dogs D’Amour) and Anthony Thistletwaite (Waterboys). Check Nikkis website for lots of more info and history behind this rock´n roll classic.
The past couple of years have seen a Sudden groundswell thanks to the Secretly Canadian label's reissuing of his '80s output. Ten albums were given the expanded/remastered treatment, most notably 1985's unabashedly brilliant Jacobites’ Robespierre's Velvet Basement, and the '89 solo gem Groove. The year 2001 also saw the release of a best-of/rarities compilation, The Last Bandit. But Treasure Island is quite possibly the best album he has ever recorded! Sudden describes his boozy-but-literate music as close to English rock ‘n’ roll classics such as Stones, Faces and T. Rex. And that is indeed what you’ll get here!
Nikki recorded and mixed Treasure Island at WSRS Studios, Leamington Spa, England with engineer John Rivers in the period between July 2002 and November 2003. It was released on CD this summer, and now we go for a deluxe DOUBLE LP vinyl issue!
The album starts with “Looking For A Friend”, the oldest number on the album, whose chorus dates from 1975, “Break Up” (“Every album should have at least one country song”, as Nikki says) and the great love song “Stay Bruised”, who was going to be the title of the album in the first place, though Nikki finally decided to go for the Robert Louis Stevenson style. “Kitchen Blues” is lirically inspired by Sylvester Weaver’s Devil Blues and an article by Stephen Calt called “The Idioms of Robert Johnson”, so you know what you can get! It also features the superb guitar of Mick Taylor. “Russian River” hit a chord with Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki and the song was taken up for the soundtrack of the film “Honey Baby”. Then comes “House of Cards”... With an amazing solo by Mick Taylor which has to be one of the best things he’s ever played -even himself was impressed!!. “High & Lonesome” has a Jimmy-Reed influence, while “Fall Any Further” is a soulful song in an Isley Brothers style, also influenced in conception by Martha & The Vandellas’ Dancing In The Street & Wild One. “Sanctified” is a rewriting of Nikki’s old classic “Paying My Way”, with a title coming from an unreleased T. Rex song. “When The Lord” is Nikki’s first “gospel” number, with a 20-piece choir of 14-15 year olds, and all we can say is... he should have recorded this before!! “Never Let Me Go” is pure Marc Bolan. And there´s still more... All in all, the best Nikki Sudden album ever!!
