James Blunt recently played the Roseland in Portland, Oregon, where several people walked out asking the same question: Why does James Blunt have second billing to Jason Mraz, and where do we get his album? Blunt is a phenom in Europe , where the paparazzi hound his every move, but is less known in the States, where he's on his first North American tour. The luxury of anonymity will not last.
His debut album, "Back to Bedlam," has proven a sensation in the 31 year-old singer/songwriter's native Great Britain . Released in the UK in October 2004, it spent nine weeks at #1 on the nation's album chart and now ranks as the best-selling CD in England for 2005. The album also recently hit #1 on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart. And Blunt was named “Best New Act” at the MTV Europe Video Awards.
Enough stats. Here are ten reasons to go "Back to Bedlam" with James Blunt.
1. Blunt is a reluctant warrior. Though his family has served in one kind of army or another since 995 A.D., Blunt joined the British military to pay off a debt --- and to please his Colonel father. Despite his ambivalence, he rose to the rank of Captain and led a column of 30,000 peacekeeping troops into Pristina (the capital city of Kosovo). He later guarded the Queen, buried the Queen Mother, and came away from his time in Kosovo with a cache of stories, a hankering for places more peaceful, and the guitar that he'd kept strapped to the outside of his tank.
2. Blunt has a wicked sense of humor. Think “The Office” or “Extras,” British humor that only resonates with those who possess a very dark side. A young woman at the Roseland theatre yelled loudly, “I want to have your baby!” Later, Blunt said: “What she really wants is a career.” He sometimes introduces his most serious tunes this way: “And now for a miserable little song...”
3. Blunt can fly. A whiz at science and math, Blunt got his pilot's license at 16, and flies anything with a single engine --- Tiger Moths, Spitfires. It makes the tour bus seem so slow.
4. Blunt, who l earned to ski at eighteen months, says some of his first memories include standing atop his father's skis whizzing down hills in Italy and Switzerland . It's no surprise Blunt performed the cliff jump you see at the end of his music video, “You're Beautiful.” He also had the nerve to ask for a second take when the first one didn't land just right.
5. Blunt is slightly scruffy on stage, with a mop of hair that strays into his eyes, tags hanging on his t-shirts, the obligatory holes in his jeans. Yet he's been named one of Britain 's best dressed, along with Hugh Grant and Beckham. Paul --- his piano player and best bud --- dropped this tidbit; Blunt is second only to Prince Harry in the Posh ranking of most eligible bachelors.
6. Blunt lived with Carrie Fisher in Los Angeles , and recorded “Goodbye, My Lover” in the actresses' bathroom, where she kept an old piano. “She's far too intelligent for this life,” he says of his former landlord. The album's title “Back to Bedlam” is a partial homage to Fisher's chaotic Hollywood home.
7. Blunt is unafraid of heartbreakingly emotional lyrics. Elton John has said Blunt's hit “You're Beautiful” is the modern successor to his own “Your Song.” Blunt's producer Tom Rothrock says James may be Britain 's answer to a couple of other names in his roster, Beck and Elliott Smith.
8. Blunt says he grew up in a music-free house: no CD player, no pop music. But his mother insisted on all the lessons: recorder at three, violin at five, piano at seven. Classical music was next. He didn't pick up the electric guitar until fourteen.
9. Blunt's voice is original, haunting, and addictive. He says he sings like a girl. You must hear the entire album to understand this --- you'll either love this guy or hate him for being able to say the things you always wished you could.
10. I see dozens of singer songwriters come through our studios every year, and within a week, I've forgotten who they are and what they have to sing about. Blunt's lyrics, and voice crawled under my skin to the place I'd wanted itched for the longest time.
--- by Sheila Hamilton, Guest Butler
Sheila Hamilton is a music reviewer and News Director at KINK FM in Portland, Oregon. Diligent googling reveals that she is also a five-time Emmy-winner for her documentary films and investigative TV reporting. Many thanks and a deep bow to Sheila.
To buy "Back to Bedlam" from Amazon.com, click here.
