The story of David Ackles, who never recovered from putting out “the best album ever made”.

Picked up in the great singer-songwriter sweep of the late 60s and signed to Elektra Records, David Ackles made four albums which went over the heads of the record-buying public, attracted over-the-top reviews and earned the undying devotion of fans like Elvis Costello and Elton John. Now Mark Brend’s book brings together an appreciation of his work with an account of his career before and after the three period when he was going to be the next big thing, taking in…….the night he found himself supporting his biggest fan Elton John at the Troubadour in Los Angeles….his year in Berkshire planning and recording “American Gothic”, an album about his distant homeland…how two different record companies took him to their hearts but had no earthly clue how to promote him…why it is that rock fans who boast of their eclectic tastes can’t deal with anything which sounds like musical theatre…will he ever join the pantheon in which we have installed Nick Drake, Judee Sill and the other late musicians we are pleased to call a “lost genius”?Buy Down River: In Search of David Ackles: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Down-River-Search-David-Ackles/dp/1916829228Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like "Rock On", "Whistle Test" and VH-1.Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.