Jackie Leven
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Jackie Leven, born 1950 in Fife, Scotland is a Scottish songwriter and folk music musician.
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[edit] Biography
A contemporary of fellow Fifer, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Jackie Leven made his first forays into the music business in the late 1960s under the pseudonym "John St Field" and recorded one album Control in 1971.
In the following years he travelled, but enthusiastic about Punk he formed the band Doll by Doll in 1978 who, despite having a unique and powerful live act, never broke through to the mainstream. They released four albums between 1979 and 1982. Blending LSD visions, folk, blues, celtic, psychedelic and punk influences the band, who featured Leven as main songwriter, often explored the darker side of human nature (Butcher Boy/Sleeping Partners/The Palace of Love) contrasted by the tough almost macho tenderness of Stripshow/Chances/Janice/Highland Rain/Hey Sweetheart.
After Doll by Doll disintegrated in 1983 Leven embarked on his solo career. However following a vicious and unprovoked attack in the street during the recording of his first solo album in 1984, Jackie was left unable to speak for nearly two years -- the after effects of near strangulation. During that time he slid into heroin addiction. Despite that he, with fellow ex-Doll by Doll's Joe Shaw and David Macintosh plus ex-Sex Pistol Glenn Matlock, released a single Big Tears under the name "Concrete Bulletproof Invisible" which was a Melody Maker single of the week in 1988. He eventually cured himself of his addiction though a mixture of acupuncture and psychic healing, this led him to form the CORE trust, which favours a holistic approach to the treatment of heroin addiction.
In 1994 his solo career started in earnest with the release of the album The Mystery of Love is Greater than the Mystery of Death, which earned much critical praise. Since then he has been extremely prolific, releasing another 11 official solo albums and a number of fanclub only releases, including a joint album with crime writer Ian Rankin Jackie Leven Said, featuring the keyboards of Michael Cosgrave. His most recent release, in 2005, is the album Elegy for Johnny Cash.
[edit] Discography
[edit] As John St Field
- Control (Cooking Vinyl, 1971)
[edit] As a member of Doll by Doll
- Remember (Automatic, 1979)
- Gypsy Blood (Automatic, 1979)
- Doll By Doll (Magnet, 1980)
- Grand Passion (Magnet, 1982)
- Revenge of Memory (Live at The Sheffield Limits Club 1980) (Haunted Valley, 2005)
[edit] As a solo artist
- The Mystery of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery of Death (Cooking Vinyl, 1994)
- Forbidden Songs of The Dying West (Cooking Vinyl, 1995)
- The Argyll Cycle (Cooking Vinyl, 1996)
- For Peace Comes Dropping Slow (Haunted Valley, 1997)
- Fairytales For Hardmen (Cooking Vinyl, 1997)
- Saint Judas: When I Went Out To Kill Myself (Haunted Valley, 1998)
- Man Bleeds In Glasgow (Haunted Valley, 1999) - as Jackie Leven and the Celtic Soulmen
- Night Lilies (Cooking Vinyl, 1998)
- The Wanderer (Haunted Valley, 1999)
- Greek Notebook (Haunted Valley, 1999)
- Munich Blues (Haunted Valley, 2000)
- Defending Ancient Springs (Cooking Vinyl, 2000)
- Creatures of Light And Darkness (Cooking Vinyl, 2000)
- Deep In The Heart of Nowhere (Haunted Valley, 2001)
- Shining Brother, Shining Sister (Cooking Vinyl, 2001)
- Greetings From Milford (Haunted Valley, 2002) - with The Stornoway Girls
- Men In Prison (Live from Bergen Prison) (Haunted Valley, 2003)
- For Peace Comes Dropping Slow (Cooking Vinyl, 2004)
- Songs For Lonely Americans (Glitterhouse, 2004) - as 'Sir Vincent Lone'
- Jackie Leven Said (Cooking Vinyl, 2005) - with Ian Rankin
- Elegy For Johnny Cash (Cooking Vinyl, 2005)
