Jimmy Campbell — “Forever Grateful”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 30, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

996) Jimmy Campbell — “Forever Grateful”

This blog o’ mine gives me great joy, as when I played as my 22nd song “Michel Angelo”, by Jimmy Campbell (see #22, 648, 736-38) and his band at the time the 23rd Turnoff. I called the song “[o]ne of the most gorgeous songs I have ever heard.” It is certainly the greatest ever pop psych ballad I have ever heard. But the blog also can give me great sadness, as when today, I focus again on Jimmy and how his talents were left to wither by cruel fate and an indifferent public. As dpnewbold comments, “This guy is so under-rated it hurts.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI-KHv7u4qE) Yes, it does.

“Forever Grateful” is such a gentle, vulnerable, fragile and wonderful song, it makes my heart ache. Spencer Leigh writes in Jimmy’s obituary that “he once told me, ‘A lot of my songs are cries for help and I suppose that’s why they didn’t make the grade.’” (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-campbell-436273.html) “Lend a helping hand to me, and I’ll be forever grateful.” I think it fits.

Matty Loughlin-Day aptly states that:

[Jimmy Campbell is a] songwriter who, for this writer’s money, could go toe-to-toe with any of the more celebrated prodigies from the region, yet who’s name is frequently met with blank faces or a shrug of the shoulders. A writer who, in a sane universe, would be esteemed alongside . . . yes, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Jimmy Campbell is arguably the archetypal lost son of Liverpool. A talent that was never quite reciprocated by the buying public and the victim of some cruel twists of fate, his is a name that is for one reason or another, never quite mentioned when discussing the plethora of musical talent that the city has produced. . . . [H]is songs entice immediately and gradually work their way into the sub-conscious.

https://www.getintothis.co.uk/2019/06/lost-liverpool-25-jimmy-campbell-the-greatest-songwriter-youve-never-heard-of/

Mark Johnston seconds the thought:

Campbell should rightfully be considered closer to a Merseyside Bob Dylan than the sullen working class Nick Drake he is often painted as. He could have been the Poet Laureate of England! How is it that one day of the greatest sonic creations in his fascinating and flawless back catalogue should be gathering dust for the past thirty-three years?

liner notes to the CD reissue of Rocking Horse’s Yes It Is

And Richie Unterberger poignantly sums things up:

[Jimmy was] perhaps the most unheralded talent to come out of the Liverpool ’60s rock scene, as he was a songwriter capable of both spinning out engaging Merseybeat and — unlike almost every other artist from the city, with the notable exception of the Beatles — making the transition to quality, dreamy psychedelia. . . . It seems as if Campbell needed just a bit more encouragement, and his groups just a little more studio time, to develop into a notable British psychedelic group that could combine solid pop melodies, sophisticated lyrics and arrangements, and touches of English whimsy. Unfortunately they didn’t get that chance . . . .

Campbell’s slightly moody yet catchy melodies, as well as his drolly understated lyrics, mark him as perhaps the best ’60s Liverpool rock songwriter never to have a chart record . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-dream-of-michelangelo-mw0000351105, https://www.allmusic.com/album/son-of-anastasia-mw0000811484

To give a touch of Jimmy Campbell’s early and later history, Matty Loughlin-Day writes that:

Campbell’s first band, The Panthers, were formed in 1962 and were at the heart of all things Merseybeat. Legend has it that at one gig, John Lennon stood in front of the band, keen to suss out local competition; one must assume he was impressed, as before long, the band were able to add ‘supported The Beatles’ to their CV. Convinced by Cavern-legend Bob Wooler to change their name to The Kirkbys (in homage to their home suburb) and looked after by Brian Epstein’s secretary Beryl Adams, Campbell et al toured across Western Europe and recorded a handful of songs, including the Rolling Stones-esque stomper It’s a Crime . . . [see #648]. . . . [I]nitial singles found success in, of all places, Finland. . . . [but a]t home, the singles fared less impressively, and a second name change soon followed.  The Kirbys became the 23rd Turnoff, again based in local geography, named after the M6 junction required for Kirkby. . . .

With a short European tour in 1972 backing Chuck Berry . . . and fortunes truly fading, Campbell decided he’d had enough. . . . [A]pparently rejuvenated and able to muster the strength to record a fourth solo album during the 80’s, Campbell, on completing it, went to the pub to celebrate, only to return home to find his house ransacked and the only master tapes of the album gone, along with a range of equipment. The guy, it seemed, could just not catch a break. . . .

By all accounts, a life of hard-living took its toll and he sadly passed away in 2007 after battling emphysema.

https://www.getintothis.co.uk/2019/06/lost-liverpool-25-jimmy-campbell-the-greatest-songwriter-youve-never-heard-of/

Mark Johnston talks about Half Baked, the album from which today’s song is selected:

It would be Dick Leahy, A&R for Fontana, who had originally helped sign Jimmy Campbell to a three record deal with Philips, and who then approached Olav Wyper about releasing the second album on Philips’ subsidiary Vertito. Vertigo was established in 1969 as Philips’ answer to EMI’s Harvest Records and Decca’s Deram progressive subsidiaries. . . . The label change would provide Jimmy with the best opportunity in his career to be heard by a larger audience. . . . The recording would begin in January of 1970 . . . with a solid all-star backing band featuring . . . drummer . . . Pete Clarke, along with Merseybeats [see #725] Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley. . . . Half Baked would be a mix of Jimmy’s very personal songs, many inspired by [his then pregnant wife] Yvonne . . . with lush orchestral arrangements . . . . [It] would be chosen as the inaugural release for the Vertigo label in the U.S.A. The album failed to chart, but it did find fans in New York City, most notably with the Ramones. Although Jimmy played one solos spot at the Marquee . . . there were no tours established to promote the album. The album’s sales suffered, in part, due to the reluctance and inability to get Jimmy on a promotional tour . . . . An appearance performing the melodramatic single “Don’t Leave Me Now”, on the Simon Dee show, fell through when Dee was sacked the day of the broadcast. Dee felt the single was one of the strongest tracks he had ever heard. Such was Jimmy’s luck, as the prime time televised appearance would have given the biggest boost yet to his career. . . . . With the lack of commercial success and the departure of Olav Wyper to RCA . . . the new management of Vertigo saw no compelling reason to pursue a follow-up release with Jimmy.

liner notes to the CD reissue of Half Baked

Live in the studio:

Here is a cover by Ex Norwegian:

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