Kevin Gilbert
Personnel
Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Programming and
Sequencing, Percussion, Drum Programming: Kevin Gilbert
Drums, Percussion, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals: Nick
D'Virgilio
Drums: Brian MacLeod
Backing Vocals: Robert Ferris, Jennifer Gross, Skyler Jett, Clay
Toven, Sandy Sawyer, Jon Rubin,
Tommy Dunbar
Additional Guitar: Tommy Dunbar, Russ Parish, David Levita, Bill
Bottrell
Horns: The Le Petomane Ensemble
1. Parade
2. The City of the Sun
3. Suit Fugue (Dance of the A&R men)
4. Imagemaker
5. Water Under the Bridge
6. The Best Laid Plans
7. Certifiable No.1 Smash
8. Staring Into Nothing
9. Fun
10. From Here to There
11. Ghetto of Beautiful Things
12. A Long Day's Life
13. The Way Back Home
14. Johnny's Last Song
Home page:
http://www.kevingilbert.com/
I have never heard such a difficult album to review and I'm not
really going to try to, as I know that any review I do will not
do this album justice it deserves. So what follows is just a
short flavour in order to try and encourage you to find out more
and most importantly buy this album
In 1996, aged 29 Kevin Gilbert died of asphyxiation, to the world,
if known at all, it was as the keyboardist on Sheryl Crow's album
`Tuesday Night Music Club.' However, hidden in the background was
a tortured musical and lyrical genius.
This was Kevin's masterwork gradually recorded over many years
using various odd studio time left over from his paying day job.
The results of which were found scattered in studio draws and
bins with quality ranging from full 24 track masters to cassette
tapes. The scope and the quality of the piece has been talked
about in reverent tones since Kevin's death with a few incomplete
bootlegs surfacing. As an act of love for Kevin, Spocks Beard's
Nick D'Virgilio and ex-manager Jon Rubin finally completed the
job Kevin had started over a decade ago. The story of how this
fresh sounding album was, in some cases, literally rescued from
the trash can would I'm sure would make an book in itself and
there are some interesting articles on the rescue and re-mastering
process available on the official site.
Compiled from these tapes and rough studio guidelines of the
correct running order The Shaming of the True is the story of the
rise and collapse of rock star Johnny Virgil.
We start the album with Kevin as his alto ego Johnny Virgil,
perhaps sitting in his bedroom, strumming his acoustic guitar
singing a song full of hope and ambition. We are then taken on
his journey into the deep dark cynical underbelly of the American
entertainment industry where Johnny soon finds that in order to
succeed his earlier high musical ideals are soon sacrificed for
the quick buck. Lyrically the album is a work of pure dark X-rated
genius. Musically very varied with influences ranging from The
Who (The Best Laid Plans), The Tubes (Certifiable No.1 Smash), 80s
Gabriel (The Way Back Home) right through to the trip-hop of Fun.
Suit Fugue (Dance of the A&R men) is a particularly inventive
piece where Johnny's various answer machine messages are
overdubbed to make a verbal musical fugue.
Shaming of the True is perhaps Kevin's own story of his
frustrations and bitter fight for success on his own terms. I
would suggest you read this article about his death and his
relationship with Sheryl Crow, which may give some insight into
the background surrounding this work. http://www.thedebster.com/gilbert/secrets.html
In order to entice you further to investigate this masterwork -
those of you into the current prog scene will undoubtedly know
the work of Spocks Beard. Kevin at the beginning of their carreer
was almost considered the sixth member of the band. A great
friend, influence and producer of their first two albums. The
track 'The Great Nothing' on their latest album 'V' is said to
have been inspired by Kevin's story.
Spock's drummer Nick D'Virgilio is even said to be the lead
vocalist on one of Shaming's tracks after he had to give up
trying to rescue Kevin's original recording. I'm still not 100%
sure today which one it is which just shows the understanding
Nick, who also worked in Kevin's touring band, had of Kevin
making him the perfect choice to produce and piece together this
whole work.
One can only wonder what Spock's would have been now with Kevin a
full member of the band perhaps acting as a Lennon against Morse's
McCartney…
Ian
Oakley January 2001
At present The Shaming of the True is only available to buy on-line
via either the official site or Radiant Records: http://www.radiantrecords.com/
Other recommended Kevin Gilbert site:-
http://www.shadowself.com/main.html