Arc of a diver --- Steve Winwood --- 1980 (Island)
Although a successful member of many bands including Traffic, the Spencer Davis Group and Blind Faith, Steve Winwood will always be known for two hit singles, "Valerie" (which is forever enshrined now in the disco sampled hit "Call on me") and "While you see a chance", my favourite of the two. It was for this song that I remember buying this album, knowing nothing about Winwood at the time except for his other single (and at the time there was no sign of Eric whatisface on the horizon) and to be honest I think I just listened to that track and more or less glossed over the rest. Of course, I was younger then and quite impatient, and the album had been cheap, having been bought second hand, but it did allow me to listen to the full-length version of the single, so I was happy. But what of the rest of the album? Is it as good as the single, or does it survive merely on the strength of that one track? Time to find out.
It only has seven tracks --- back then, most or many vinyl albums would have a maximum of eight, because that was as much as the technology of the time could fit onto the grooves of the platter that formed the disc of the record: four per side. Of course, sometimes there were more but it always seemed like maybe the sound then wasn't quite right. The result of this was that if a band released an album with more than eight tracks it usually became a double album, though of course as I say that was by no means set in stone, just something I definitely encountered with my first albums from the likes of Supertramp, ELO and Genesis. This album would probably also be seen as not great value, coming in at about thirty-six minutes in total. Compared to albums these days that can run to seventy or more, that's pretty poor, but this was the eighties.
"Arc of a diver" is pretty unique in that Winwood does
everything on it himself. And I mean everything. He plays all instruments, sings lead and backing vocals, produces and mixes the album, and probably went out on the streets flogging it to the public. Well, not the last, but it's the archetypal one-man-show, at a time when most bands were employing big name producers, session men and even orchestras to play on their albums. That single opens the album and it's just fantastic to hear again, opening with a smooth soft sax and keyboard melody before it kicks into an uptempo pop anthem, Winwood's voice completely distinctive and some fine organ in there from him too. The only time he shared any duties seems to have been on writing the lyrics, most of which were co-written by Will Jennings, though Steve writes all the music solo. It was his big breakthrough album, giving him a top ten hit single and sending him on his way to stardom as a solo artiste in his own right.
Great sax solo and some fine guitar too, and it's pretty amazing to think everything we're hearing here is the one guy, but once "While you see a chance" fades out, what are we left with? Well, a sharp funky guitar and bass introduce the title track, with some solid keyboard and horns, a song with a beat that just cries out for handclaps from the audience when played live. Very sharp synth and stabbing organ and it has a nice funk vibe but I can see why I lost interest in my youth. It's nothing like "While you see a chance", and to my younger more naive self this would have been a big letdown. Nice guitar riffs there, Steve, while we're at it. Yeah, when I listened to an album for the first time and had bought it based on a single, I used to expect to hear pretty much the same sort of thing all the way through. Even now, I don't hate but I really don't like "Arc of a diver": it's a complete change of tone and direction into something that I know at the time I would have considered far too disco or dancy for my tastes. And I sort of still can see that point to be honest.
Interesting piece of trivia: this track was co-written with Vivian Stanshall, who is that voice you hear counting off the instruments on the final stages of Mike Oldfield's masterwork, "Tubular bells". Thanks, Wiki! More kind of dancy disco music with a sort of semi-progressive rock feel in "Second hand woman", and I have to admit I'm still not feeling very impressed, though there's a nice reprise of the keyboard riff from "While you see a chance", which is nice, though it doesn't last; it's just thrown in really. Can't say I like this either really. "Slowdown sundown" at least has some nice acoustic guitar and a sort of mediterranean feel about it, great piano and organ combination, and true to its title it's a ballad, perhaps the only one on the album. Certainly the first time anything has caught my attention since the opener.
So that's two out of seven, so far. Not a great ratio, but considering I think I paid two ninety-nine for the album at the time, to get two decent tracks is not the worst of returns. And there are still three tracks to go, so we could be doing better yet, who knows? The song picks up near the end with again a sort of return to the basic organ melody of the opener, then slows back down, and in fairness Winwood's voice is really up there with the greats. Excellent solo on the keys as we head into the last two minutes, and a nice warbly organ outro that puts me in mind of Chris Rea, with soulful sax and guitar taking us into "Spanish dancer".
A great piano line joining the melody and a busy bass pattern with some almost Vangelis touches on the piano, it's a mid-paced groove with a really nice vibe, the tempo picking up a little and again I hear echoes of Rea in there. Sort of violin-like sounds on the keys, nice funky little rhythm building. I'd have to say I like this as well. So that's slightly less than half the album. Not doing too badly after all. "Night train" is the longest track on the album, just shy of eight minutes, but I have to say I don't like the dancy, almost techno feeling of the first minute or so. I think the idea though it to create the impression of a train moving along the tracks, and I can hear this coming through if I look past the disco sound. Nice touches on the guitar, backed with some lush synth, the vocal coming in almost on the second minute, a kind of ABBA feel to it. Then a sort of new wave synth line washes over everything with some dancy piano added in, and a funky riff kept up by the guitar and bass. It's not half bad, to be fair. Will I stick eight minutes of it, that's the question?
Pretty slick guitar solo, have to say, and I'm surprised to note we're already in the sixth minute and heading into the seventh. So, it hasn't been such an ordeal after all. A bit repetitive, if I'm honest, but not so much that you'd notice or get annoyed by it. Good groove all the way through really, and we're already fading out. Yeah, I think I could grow to like this. I certainly don't hate it. That leaves us with just the one track to go, and "Dust" comes across as quite prog rock again, slowing things down with what may be a ballad with some soft piano and swirling synth. Right, well it's not so much a ballad, and if I had to compare this to anything I think it might be mid-seventies Eagles. That's the kind of feeling I get from it. And again I don't hate it. It's not the worst closer I've ever heard, and it has a nice relaxed thing going on, but it just kind of drifts by, not really marking the end of the album but just letting it fade out.
TRACKLISTING
1. While you see a chance
2. Arc of a diver
3. Second hand woman
4. Slowdown sundown
5. Spanish dancer
6. Night train
7. Dust
I can see why twenty-something me was bored with and disappointed by this album. There's little really to rival the opener, his big hit single, and though there are good tracks after it they never quite measure up to the promise of that classic first track. Digging deeper though, and knowing now what I know, it's a pretty amazing album. Created, played and produced by one guy, and yet it catapulted him into the charts and made him a household name for those who did not know of him from the bands he had been involved with. These days of course anyone can do this with a little talent, a synth and YouTube, but back then there was none of this technology, and more to the point no avenues to quick success like that. It's a tribute to the man's talent and probably perseverance that he made this such a successful and chartworthy album.
But it still would not then, nor does it now, tempt me to try other albums by him. Sometimes you just latch on to one or two songs from an artiste and are not interested in the rest of their work, and while I do now have a deeper appreciation for this album, it's still one that will rarely, if ever, get another spin from me. But it's been an interesting trip down a somewhat pitted and badly-lit memory lane, and a reminder of how far personally I believe I have come in my willingness to give music a fair chance. Back then, I wanted it all to basically sound the same, and was dismayed and annoyed when it didn't. As Roger Daltrey once crooned: "Ooh, I know better now..."
Kind of.