In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter and Sex
In Search of Food Clothing Shelter and Sex is the debut solo album by American singer-songwriter John Buck Wilkin, released on Liberty Records in June 1970. The collection of songs includes compositions penned by Wilkin, covers, and a song co-written with Kris Kristofferson. The release received scarce reviews that mostly favored Wilkin.
In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Sex | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 1970 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 32:12 | |||
Label | Liberty Records | |||
Producer | Don Tweedy | |||
John Buck Wilkin chronology | ||||
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Content
The album was produced by Don Tweedy and recorded at Muscle Shoals.[1] The tracks consist of originals by Wilkin and cover songs. The tunes by Wilkin were inspired by his own life, as well as the artwork of the album: On the pictures inside of the LP Wilkin looks at photographs of his mother, Marijohn, while the songs discuss his path from childhood to his teenage years in Nashville to adulthood in Los Angeles.[2][3] The album featured a version of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" released previous to Janis Joplin's hit single, as well as the song "Apocalypse 1969" co-written with Kirstofferson.[4]
Release and reception
In May 1970, the album single that featured "Apartment Twenty-One" backed with "Boy of the Country" was released.[5] In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Sex was released by Liberty Records in June 1970.[6]
The New Yorker described the album as "very, very good", as the reviewer felt that Wilnkin's lyrics were not "the usual windmills-caverns-and-canyons-of-the-mind acidosis emptiness".[7] The Honolulu Advertiser deemed the collection of songs a "lively outing".[8] The Omaha World-Herald delivered a good review of the album that the publication attributed to his "biographical tunes and his easy going style" that "relies equally on rock and country roots".[9] The Casper Star-Tribune remarked the large amount of session musicians that appeared with Wilkin on the tracks, and that the 50 musicians accounted for "the polished instrumental excellence" of the release that made it "very clearly above average in content".[10] The Winston-Salem Journal favored the album while it praised the biographical nature of the songs deeming Wilkin's experience as "sharable".[3] A later review by Allmusic rated the release with three stars out of five: music critic Richie Unterberger felt that the mixture of folk-rock, pop and country from Wilkin's influences made it "rather strange, and not always comfortable", while he called it an "obscure solo album".[4]
For the underground newspaper East Village Other it was "nicely done", with a sound "complete" with arrangements that the reviewer considered "tastefully done".[11] California State University, Los Angeles's newspaper College Times praised Wilkin's songwriting that the publication considered "full of gentle images and subtle shadings". Meanwhile, they mentioned that his voice is "sensitive" and that it "captures the beauty of human relationships". College Times heavily criticized the instrumentalization of the album which they defined as "totally out of step", and they further elaborated that "horns and violins come in at the wrong places" and that the release represented "how production executives can spoil a very simple and beautiful product".[12]
In 2016, the label Big Pink released a remastered version of the album in South Korea and Japan.[13]
Track listing
All tracks are written by John Buck Wilkin, except where noted:
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Apartment Twenty-One" | 2:45 |
2. | "Faces And Places" (Jane Leichardt) | 3:05 |
3. | "My God And I" | 4:05 |
4. | "Boy Of The Country" | 3:43 |
5. | "Apocalypse 1969" (co-written with Kris Kristofferson) | 4:47 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Me And Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) | 4:47 |
2. | "The Daydream" | 5:17 |
3. | "Mary Jackson" | 2:34 |
4. | "Medley: Long Black Veil / The Nashville Sun" (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin / John Buck Wilkin) | 3:58 |
5. | "Medley: About Time / Nashville Sun Reprise" | 2:06 |
Footnotes
- Tiegel, Eliot 1970, p. 23.
- Schutt, Roger 1970.
- Schertzer, Jim 1970, p. D7.
- Unterberger, Richie 2021.
- Kelly, Michael Brian 1993, p. 649.
- Billboard staff 1970, p. 53.
- Baumgold, Julie 1970, p. 55.
- Harada ,Wayne 1970, p. C-5.
- Smith, Will 1970, p. 21.
- Casper Star-Tribune staff 1970, p. W9.
- Frick, Charlie 1970, p. 16.
- Rogalski, Gene & Lond, Harley 1970, p. 7.
- Wilkin, John Buck 2016.
References
- Baumgold, Julie (September 21, 1970). "Best Bets". The New Yorker. Vol. 3, no. 18. ISSN 0028-7369. Retrieved September 5, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Billboard staff (June 20, 1970). "From the Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 25. Retrieved September 26, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Casper Star-Tribune staff (July 18, 1970). "Record Reviews". Casper Star-Tribune. Vol. 79, no. 199. Casper, Wyoming. Retrieved September 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Frick, Charlie (July 28, 1970). "Untitled". East Village Other. Vol. 5, no. 35. Retrieved September 27, 2023 – via JSTOR. (subscription required)
- Harada ,Wayne (August 20, 1970). "On the Record". The Honolulu Advertiser. Vol. 113, no. 23, 657. Retrieved September 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Kelly, Michael Brian (1993). Liberty Records: A History of the Recording Company and Its Stars, 1955-1971. Vol. 1. ISBN 978-0-899-50740-8.
- Rogalski, Gene; Lond, Harley (July 24, 1970). "Record Reviews: Descants and Breves". College Times. Vol. 45, no. 10. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved September 27, 2023 – via JSTOR. (subscription required)
- Smith, Will (August 28, 1970). "Ten Wheel Drive 'Replies' Briefly". Omaha World-Herald. Vol. 105, no. 294. Retrieved September 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Schertzer, Jim (1970). "Record Backs Up Performance at Love Valley". Winston-Salem Journal. Vol. 69, no. 31. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Retrieved September 26, 2023 – via Newspaper.com.
- Schutt, Roger (1970). In Search of Food Clothing Shelter and Sex (LP). Wilkin, John Buck. Liberty Records. LST-7639.
- Tiegel, Eliot (August 29, 1970). "From the Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 35. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 5, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Unterberger, Richie (2021). "In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter and Sex Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- Wilkin, John Buck (2016). In Search Of Food Clothing Shelter And Sex (CD). Big Pink. 417.