Jess Roden
The Jess Roden official website has posted the following announcement:
“… there’s a major (and, we believe, really exciting) announcement due… very shortly… and this has, essentially, been the other aspect of ‘background work’ that’s been ongoing throughout most of this year so far….”
In the light of this I would like to speculate on what it is likely to be.
One could argue that the release of the recent Cherry Red compilation offered more of a tease than satisfaction – but it just might have provided that extra momentum deep within the machine that is the music industry to provide the will to address the entire Roden canon.
Could it be that we will finally witness an in-depth collection worthy of this amazing artist?
There can be no doubt that a career that has thus far spanned 4 decades, deserves to be addressed in greater depth than a single CD. My own article concerning a fantasy boxed set proves that, even with the luxury of four CD’s, one struggles with what to leave out.
If you also factor in the mouthwatering prospect that in such a long career there have to be some undiscovered gems along the way, plus the lack of CD re-release of much of Jess’s work, then you are looking at a very expansive collection indeed.
So, if there really is to be a release of this magnitude, what might be on it? It seems reasonable to assume there wouldn’t be a complete revisiting of the recent compilation – but what might have lain undisturbed in the vaults for so long? Are there tapes that can be cleaned up and made ready for release? Live recordings spring to mind, or perhaps outtakes that never made original tracklistings. Remember, before the advent of CD, a mere 4 or 5 a side was enough for the product. Could there be unreleased tracks just waiting for an airing? Comments are welcome!
But whatever the news is, there’s something in the wind, and I sense the time is right for a release worthy of England’s golden voice.
Kev Moore
