David Ackles David Ackles 1968 us, folk rock

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David Ackles - David Ackles (1968 us, folk rock)

Along with Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Harry Nilsson, and some others, David Ackles helped widen the definition of contemporary singer-songwriters in the late 1960s. This was a group of performers open to incorporation of many non-rock pop and theatrical influences into their work, and not based in folk-rock, like so many of the other early singer-songwriters were. Nor were they conventional rock or pop singers. Somehow, nonetheless, they recorded albums that were marketed to the rock audience. Of all the names mentioned above, David Ackles is certainly the most obscure, even if his quartet of albums won him a cult audience that included Elton John and Elvis Costello.

David Ackles, his self-titled 1968 Elektra debut, was an unusual effort even by the label's own high standards for introducing original talents. Ackles's dark, brooding songs and low croon-rumble of a voice delivered cerebral lyrics painting the everyday adventures of misfits and their struggles to find meaning and spirituality. What could have been overblown in other hands was given a stately dignity by the stoicism, vacillating between determination and resignation, of Ackles's vocals and observations. Far more than any of his subsequent albums, the record's arrangements were tailored for rock ears, with ethereal psychedelic-tinged guitar and organ that weren't too unlike those heard on other Elektra LPs of the time, such as Tim Buckley's early releases.

Ackles's path to a record deal was about as strange as it could be for a late-1960s underground rock artist. Unlike virtually every other such performer of the era, David had virtually nothing in the way of either a folk or rock resume, or even professional experience as a solo live performer. Already in his early thirties, his principal background was in musical theater. He had met David Anderle in the theater department of the University of Southern California, where the two Davids had gone to school together. Years later, Anderle was working at Elektra Records' west coast office, and Ackles did some demos for his old friend.

It's still unclear whether the original intention was for Ackles to write songs for others, or to record him as a solo artist from the start. Before his death in 1999, Ackles told author Mark Brend (in the book American Troubadours), "My intention was to have lots of other, much better singers record my songs...I believe the truth is that [Elektra president] Jac Holzman couldn't interest any other singers on his label in recording my stuff, so was forced into offering that chance to me." To the recollection of Ackles's widow, Janice Vogel Ackles, "David Anderle called him and said he wanted David to write some songs 'cause he remembered how talented he was, or something to that effect. I think David Ackles's understanding initially was that they were interested in him as a songwriter, and then when he did some demos, everybody said, 'Well, I don't know who else is gonna sing this material. I think it's really your stuff, and you should do it.' I remember David Ackles telling me that once he submitted the material, he didn't think he was going to record it. He thought that they were going to farm it out to other people, so it came as a big surprise to him."

When Ackles first played his songs for Elektra, "I probably had some trepidation, 'cause David was very much involved in musical comedy music, which I hated," Anderle admits. "Then 'Road to Cairo,' 'Down River,' and these things just knocked me out. I realized he was writing those kind of songs, instead of the little musical comedy things he was writing in college. When David played the songs, I believe Russ Miller and I took him into the studio and cut some demos with him. Russ was running Jac's publishing company at the time. We played the demos for Jac, and Jac certainly gave the okay to proceed [with the album]." Anderle, not even a producer at the time (though he'd go on to produce many albums over the next couple of decades, including Judy Collins's Who Knows Where the Time Goes), and Miller would be co-producers for David Ackles.

The album's backing was supplied by musicians who had been in the Electric Flag and Iron Butterfly; guitarist Doug Hastings had been in the Daily Flash and, briefly, Buffalo Springfield. (Most of them would go on to play in the late-1960s Elektra rock band Rhinoceros.)"I remember what a bitch it was making that first album," says Anderle.


by Richie Unterberger

Tracks

1. The Road To Cairo - 0:00

2. When Love Is Gone - 5:18

3. Sonny Come Home - 8:40

4. Blue Ribbons - 11:42

5. What A Happy Day - 16:23

6. Down River - 18:41

7. Laissez-Faire - 22:40

8. Lotus Man - 24:19

9. His Name Is Andrew - 27:11

10.Be My Friend - 33:24

All songs composed by David Ackles

Musicians
*David Ackles – Piano, Vocals
*Michael Fonfara – Organ
*Douglas Hastings – Guitar
*John Keliehor – Percussion
*Jerry Penrod – Bass
*Danny Weis – Guitar