McIpedia
An Unsung Partnership
Back in the dim and distant 1970's (1971 to be precise) I heard a singer hitherto unknown to me called Pete Atkin. Annie Nightingale, long-revered Radio One DJ, brought Atkin to my notice. She played the title track of Atkin's second album 'Driving Through Mythical America', an uptempo allegory of a journey through the life and times of the United States. The album's 11 tracks were driven by top class instrumentalists and session men of the day such as Chris Spedding (previously axeman with Pete Brown's Battered ornaments, later to find solo chart success with 'Motor Bikin'), legendary jazz drummer Kenny Clare and saxophonist Alan Wakeman (cousin of Rick) who later recorded with Soft Machine.
So taken was I by this album that I sought out his previous LP, 'Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger' issued, as was 'America' in the U.K. on Philips. The standard of songs on that debut commercially released album was equally as good as the 2nd. I make such a specification because Atkin had issued 2 privately pressed albums prior to 'Stranger' - 'While The Music Lasts' (1967, 160 copies) and 'The Party's moving On' (1969, 99 copies).
I then saved up several week's pocket money and bought another copy of the 1st LP and sent it to my hero (then and now), John Peel, at the BBC. Peel and his producer John Walters had already had Atkin in for a session in August 1970 but the arrival of the 2nd album resurrected their interest and Atkin went on to do another 10 sessions for Peel's programmes.
Atkin certainly had a way with a tune, wistful, gentle and with beautiful melodies and chord progressions, which perfectly complemented the brilliant and heartfelt lyrics provided, (on 12 of the 14 tracks) by master wordsmith Clive James. Check out, if you will, from the first album, 'Sunrise', 'Touch Has A Memory', 'The Luck Of The Draw'. 'Laughing Boy' and 'All I Ever Did'. Inexplicably (though presumably for lack of space), the lyrics to some of the best numbers were not reproduced on the sleeve. I was therefore obliged to write them out myself on a separate sheet of paper which I kept as an insert in the LP sleeve.
On 'Mythical America', the title track stands out, along with 'The Flowers And the Wine', 'Practical Man' and 'Thief In The Night'. This last track, with its many musical references, garnered substantial airtime on the BBC's 'Sounds Of The Seventies' shows, none more so than on Peel's programmes. Later songs in a similar vein are 'Session Man's Blues' and 'National Steel', both on the 1974 album 'Secret Drinker'.
Clive James's polymath abilities brought him national renown in the following years. He has suffered poor health for some time now, indeed he said in 2012 that a form of cancer (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) had 'beaten him' and that he was 'nearing the end' - his (seemingly inevitable) premature passing will be a tragic loss to many facets of cultural and social life in the UK and elsewhere. Check out CliveJames.com for further info.
Pete Atkin spent many years in the 1990's gathering great acclaim as a radio producer (both as BBC in-house and as freelance) but over the last few years has made occasional live appearances and indeed is working on the recording of some new material. Check out PeteAtkin.com for further info.
