BLAIR PACKHAM: Could've Been King

Blair Packham

Could've Been King

© 2004 Blare! Music Inc. (776127232227)

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Smart mix of roots rock, Americana and pop from "one of Canada's best unsung pop songwriters" (Ron Sexsmith)

tracks

1 Could've Been King
2 Coming Undone
3 Happy Go Lucy
4 The Opportunists
5 Crystal Clear
6 Mister Bitter
7 One-Hit Wonder
8 Somebody Else
9 Little Fish
10 Hard, Cold World
11 I'll Think of You Fondly

notes

Blair Packham, acclaimed by critics and fellow artists (including Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry, Barenaked Ladies, and Craig Northey of Vancouver's late, lamented popsters Odds) as "one of Canada's best unsung pop songwriters", has just released his sophomore recording, "Could've Been King".

(For those yawning "Canada?! So what?", remember, this is the country that brought you Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, Sarah Harmer, Leonard Cohen, Sarah McLachlan, Blue Rodeo, the Arcade Fire, Andy Kim, the Be Good Tanyas, Gordon Lightfoot, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Alanis Morissette and many, many more. Not bad for a bunch of fur traders and some snowmobiles, eh?)

At 44 years old, the time had come, in Blair Packham's case, to look back at a four-year period coping with that scourge of many a creative person: writer's block.

"For a long time I made notes, jotted down ideas, but I was really blocked. I couldn't finish a song. It was torture," he says. "But when my dad died after a long illness, the songs seemed to pour out. This---my 'midlife-crisis collection'---was the result." The post-block songs are indeed lyric-driven, and the ups and downs of his recent life have given him much to write about.

The Toronto Star said this: "No song provides more convincing evidence of Packham's mastery as a songwriter than the CD's centerpiece, the starkly acoustic "Little Fish," a deceptively pretty ballad, lullaby-like in form and delivery, yet imparting the realization of ultimate futility, an elegy worthy of Beckett or Eliot."

The album is rich with imagery: Bobby "Boris" Pickett reprising his only hit (remember "Monster Mash"?) in a parking lot; a blonde starlet, breasts spilling out of her dress at a press conference. It's also got an unaccountably cheery song about impending insanity ("Coming Undone"), and a Dylanesque denunciation of our shitty world and the people like you and me who inhabit it ("Hard Cold World").

And then there's the wry little salute to the committed listener who stays to the end ("Last").

Larry LeBlanc, Billboard Magazine says
"'One Hit Wonder' alone is worth the cost of the entire Blair Packham album or any number of albums." (Of course, Larry got his copy for free.)

One way or another, Could've Been King is finding an audience. Like Blair Packham's other work, it's smart, bright, pure pop music for now-grownup people.

reviews

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  • Great CD!
    author: www.GreatIndieMusic.com

    Great vocals. Very well done. Keep up the good work!

  • Fantastic
    author: Erik Solarski

    Fantastic album, perfectly crafted pop tunes. Could've been king, Coming undone and One hit wonder are definite highlights. Definetly a must have.

  • Sublime piece of work
    author: Ralph Chapman

    This disc is fantastic with nary a duff track. Dynamic, moving, and sonically challenging, "Could've Been King" deserves a huge freakin' audience. Buy.

  • It is WONDERFUL.
    author: Jane Siberry

    Very warm and catchy...Like you?

  • Something for everyone who likes real music.
    author: Chris Swinney

    A bit of the blues, maybe a little folk but mainly just great melodic rock! There is no padding, nothing is throw-away and Blair's lyrics are a treat in themselves. The voice sings for itself, whether it's the beautiful ballad, "Crystal Clear" or the rocking Deep Purple-ish "Happy Go Lucy". The incredibly catchy "One Hit Wonder" should be a huge hit if there is any justice. It's very easy to get to the "Last" track on this album as there's so much great stuff along the way - well done Mr.Packham!

  • Quality Songs
    author: Alan Thomson

    This is really good stuff,story songs,quiet and loud,sad and humourous,backed up with a good voice and class musicians.Every song on the cd is worth hearing and I find myself singing some of them out of the blue which is fun!

  • author: Jason MacNeil

    An ample amount of care went into this clever and great album.

  • An outright pop music classic for Dr. Demento
    author: Larry LeBlanc

    'One Hit Wonder' alone is worth the cost of the entire Blair Packham album or any number of albums.

  • author: CD Baby

    Like taking the best of Beatles pop, roots rock, blues and country Americana, stirring it up with a big dose of pop, Blair Packham takes the common and mundane and turns it into an insightful, storytelling song that speaks to the ears of your ears and the thinker behind your thoughts. Like a painter who can find the smallest detail in a landscape, he brings his work to a finer point. Fans of Van Morrison, Marc Cohn, Elvis Costello, Jason White, and Ron Sexsmith will find a bounty of indulgences.

  • author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby

    Like taking the best of Beatles pop, roots rock, blues and country Americana, stirring it up with a big dose of pop, Blair Packham takes the common and mundane and turns it into an insightful, storytelling song that speaks to the ears of your ears and the thinker behind your thoughts. Like a painter who can find the smallest detail in a landscape, he brings his work to a finer point. Fans of Van Morrison, Marc Cohn, Elvis Costello, Jason White, and Ron Sexsmith will find a bounty of indulgences.

  • I guess I'm all grown up!
    author: Nick Evans Mowery

    Great lyrics, great recording- very inspiring to the fellow songwriter!

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