Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Beverly Glenn-Copeland LP Transgressive Records

Beverly Glenn-Copeland began his recording career with two self-titled LPs of poetic folk-jazz near the beginning of the 1970s. Following the stripped-down Beverly Copeland, recorded and released in a miniscule pressing by CBC Radio Canada in 1970, Beverly Glenn-Copeland was issued by GRT in 1971. The album was recorded with an impressive cast of notable jazz musicians, including flutist Jeremy Steig, guitarist Lenny Breau, drummer Terry Clarke, and bassist/percussionist Don Thompson. Much stronger than the artist’s first record, Beverly Glenn-Copeland is a strange, mystical work filled with captivating vocal performances and intriguing songwriting. It’s easy to imagine Glenn-Copeland’s music eliciting comparisons to Tim Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and maybe Laura Nyro when these albums first appeared, but with half a century of hindsight, his early music makes more sense in the context of the freak-folk underground and the rediscovery of other obscure gems like Linda Perhacs‘ Parallelograms. Opening song “Color of Anyhow” is warm, majestic, and inviting, but “Ghost House” immediately switches the mood to something more curious and, indeed, haunting. The first half of the song is delicate, almost an ambient lullaby, then the second is an arresting gale of commanding vocals and rapturous guitar, flute, and drums. “Complainin’ Blues” is a more rollicking, locomotive shuffle with percolating organ licks. Two songs from the first record — the abstract, operatic “Swords of Gold” and the more comforting, uplifting “Song from Beads” — are given more fleshed-out re-readings. The brief, distorted “My Old Rag or the Hysterical Virgin” manages to out-weird the likes of Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and other 21st century freak-folkies. Finally, “Erzili” is an expansion on the vibes of “Ghost House,” beginning with lyrics of being possessed and dancing on rainbows, then progressing into a faster, more intricate instrumental section with freewheeling flute solos. Over the years, Beverly Glenn-Copeland has come to rival 1986’s Keyboard Fantasies as the artist’s most beloved work, and while the two albums sound vastly different, they’re both singular, bewildering experiences. -All Music Guide