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William R.Strickland Is Only The Name
Of all the albums released by Decca’s progressive imprint, Deram Records, perhaps one of the most obscure, and by equal measure one of the more intriguing, was the album by William R. Strickland, William R. Strickland is Only the Name. To most casual observers, both the artist and his sole album for ‘The Supreme Record Company’ are known mainly due the inclusion of the song Computer Lover on the Decca sampler Wowie Zowie – The World of Progressive Music released in 1969
William R.Strickland Is Only The Name
Of all the albums released by Decca’s progressive imprint,
Deram Records, perhaps one of the most obscure, and by equal measure one of the
more intriguing, was the album by William R. Strickland, William R. Strickland
is Only the Name. To most casual observers, both the artist and his sole album
for ‘The Supreme Record Company’ are known mainly due the inclusion of the song
Computer Lover on the Decca sampler Wowie Zowie – The World of Progressive
Music released in 1969. Joining more familiar names such as John Mayall’s
Bluesbreakers, Genesis, The Moody Blues and the Keef Hartley Band, Strickland’s
material stood out as being darker and more experimental. Computer Lover
demonstrated Strickland’s approach of fusing the art of the singer-songwriter
with that of the more avant-garde, the song featuring one of the earliest uses
of a Moog synthesiser on record.
mood of Strickland’s album well. A Californian singer-songwriter who once
enjoyed the plaudits of no less a figure than Jim Morrison of The Doors,
Strickland made a name for himself as a spontaneous performer on the
scene of the late 1960’s. He once described himself as being “Like a cross
between Willie Nelson and Pink Floyd”, whilst a Californian newspaper described
him as being “A kinky cross between Mark Twain and Lenny Bruce”. Strickland’s
sole album for Deram was unique in every way. The bleakness of material such as
World War 3 ½ and other observational material like You Can Know My Body (But
You’ll Never Know My Soul) and If I Stand Here Much Longer made for a lyrical,
if a somewhat uneasy, listening experience in 1969. Forty years on it remains a
truly unique musical trip. Aside from the music contained within, the record
was notable in that Strickland was only one of a handful of foreign artists to
be signed to Deram Records (the equally innovative Touch being another
example). The album was one of a few to be signed by Deram’s
(part of London Records). Sadly, the exposure of the album via a track from it
being included on Decca sampler LP’s in the
and
record in its own right. Strickland’s career is perhaps one of the hardest to
document of any artist of his generation. A casual search on the World Wide Web
reveals very little about his career and no web sites exist to praise his work
with the exception of the occasional mention on internet blog pages or chat
rooms. Strickland continued to perform in
making many appearances on radio as a live spontaneous improvising performer
and still performs concerts on the West Coast of the
available to download for the first time and it affords the listener the chance
to experience one of the most unusual records to be issued by Deram in the late
1960’s by one of the more elusive artists in music.
Mark Powell
William R.
Strickland - William R. Strickland is Only the Name
