ROY BUDD PLAYS THE MUSIC OF GILBERT O'SULLIVAN/BUDD 'N' BOSSA
Roy Budd

Note: The following was composed for a Roy Budd compilation CD intended for release in July 2007 that was ultimately never issued.

Composer Roy Budd (1947-1993) got his first job scoring a film by compiling a sampler of cover tunes by other composers like Mancini, Goldsmith and Schifrin and calling it his own. He convinced the film's producers that the work was his and he got the job.

In the end, he wound up composing a highly melodic and idiosyncratic score of his own for the film, Soldier Blue (1970), and indeed went on to distinguish himself as a composer of brilliant economy in Get Carter (1971), jazz-fueled adrenalin in Fear Is The Key (1972) and epic majesty in Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger (1977) and many others.

While Budd, a prodigious pianist of impeccable taste, would occasionally record tunes of his own on records made under his name, his reputation as a composer came almost exclusively from the work he did for films.

His commercial work, on the other hand, often focused on "cover tunes," or other people's music. Most of these records often had some sort of hook or theme – no doubt suggested by Pye's musical director, trend architect and analyst, Tony Hatch – that framed Budd's musical gifts in a popular context.

Two of the best examples are presented here.

First up are the twelve tracks that constitute the vastly under-appreciated and too-little known album, Roy Budd Plays The Music Of Gilbert O'Sullivan (1973). This magnificent tribute to one of music's most gifted and melodic composers finds Budd reflecting on compositions that quite easily could have poured from his own heart and mind.

Gilbert O'Sullivan's music garnered much attention in the early 1970s and spawned several UK number ones and ultimately the huge hit "Alone Again (Naturally)," which spent six weeks at number one on the US charts in 1972. His gift for crafting melodically-clever songs in the Tin Pan Alley tradition led to countless cover versions and a number of tribute albums like Roy Budd's simpatico treatment heard here.

The music is provocatively electric, which may suggest amplification, but rather reveals how voltage can be used for sheer sensitivity. Budd's masterful touch illuminates all of the joy and charm at the heart of Gilbert O'Sullivan's intoxicating music.

Next up are the dozen tracks that make up the sublime and hard-to-find album, Budd 'N' Bossa (1970). This special little treat was issued a good half decade after the bossa nova tsunami hit shores above the equator. It was probably dismissed as a result and relegated to the buried treasure washed up on some forgotten beach.

The shame in that is this album is a singular achievement in Roy Budd's jazz credibility. While it would have been easy to go down easy avenue, the pianist makes a remarkably warm and beautiful statement that mixes improvisation and creativity with form and function and ultimately comes off as both breezy and substantial.

There's no grandstanding here, just beautiful playing and one of the few such albums by a non-Brazilian that doesn’t feel phony, phoned in or like the soloist was just cashing in. It feels real; a reflection of the way Budd invested himself in his music, whether it was his or not.

It’s the same thing that convinced Soldier Blue's producers of Roy Budd's musical gifts. The man has the unique talent of spinning a cover tune into something of his own. That's what you hear here too.

Douglas Payne
June 2007