Nigel Lived

That Murray Head’s Judas managed to out-belt Ian Gillan’s Jesus on the original studio LP of Jesus Christ Superstar (itself, an album well worth checking out even if the mere thought of Andrew Lloyd Webber is enough to bring you out in hives) showed the London-born singer was a talent to be reckoned with. Head is probably best known for singing One Night In Bangkok, the hit song from another musical, 1984’s Chess, which is as shame as he was possessed with a blue-eyed soul rasp up there in the rarified company of Steve Winwood and Joe Cocker.

In fitting with the times, his 1972 solo debut Nigel Lived was a concept LP (the inner sleeve featured extracts from ‘Nigel’’s diary). Although the central story about a singer who moves to London full of hopes and dreams before failure and disillusionment lead him to heroin addiction might not have easily leant itself to a successful West End/Broadway adaptation.

Head’s voice is on sky-scraping form throughout and the shifting musical backdrop assembled as Nigel’s fortunes change is as impressive as it is audacious. Cat Stevens-like folk pop gives way to funk, gospely jams, high speed rockers, church music, prog, smokey jazz, ornate post-Sgt Pepper chamber psych and even a brace of steel drums. Most out there of all, eight-minute closer Junk is an experimental suite relaying the terrors of opiate dependency. Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat it ain’t.