The Legendary Stardust Cowboy — For Sarah, Raquel, and David- An Anthology
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy(aka Texas born ‘n’ bred Norman Carl Odam) stands as one of the more early artist’s to be labelled with the ‘Outsider Music’ tag. And he’s also credited with helping define the Psychobilly genre( a mix between punk rock & Rockabilly, with often horror Sci-Fi themed lyrics & themes). This 2011(reissued in 2013) doubled CD set releases takes in a selection of the work from this quirky ‘n’ distinctive artists 40 + years career.
The projects name comes from Odam’s joint interest in both outer space & the American western, and I guess you’d say his sound is odd/ quirky mix of: rock ‘n’ roll, outside pop, up-beat country, with sprinkles of the avant- garde
He put out his first single "Paralyzed” in 1968- it was originally released on his own label(Psycho-Suave) with a pressing of 500 copies. The track soon gained local popularity, which saw the it getting re-released on Mercury Records, and this led to it making it into the Billboard Top 200…..from this point onwards The Legendary Stardust Cowboy was on the ‘odd’ musical map, and still at the (now age) of 66 he tours from time to time.
This collection opens with “Paralyzed”, which of course was his first ever release, and it still stands as one of his greatest & strangest moments. The tracks is built around a rapid ‘n’ careering acoustic guitar, which is sped along by frantic drumming, with the whole thing been topped off with Odam’s unintelligible ranting, growling, and snarling vocals. Even today the track still sounds wonderful odd & manic.
Track four is taken is by his second single (also from 1968), and this came in the form of “I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship)"- this track was is a lot less animalistic & manic in it’s attack, but it’s still a great slice of pop tinged odd-ness. It's built around a wonky strummed acoustic guitar, stumbling drums, Odam’s slurred Texas vocals, and radom UFO sounding organ stabs.
The rest of the compilation takes in a selection of tracks from through-out his career, and these move from great examples of his odd/ quirky genius. Onto slightly more grating, odd-for-odd's sake, and frankly tiresome fare- you couldn’t really say it’s a wholly consistent collection, but it’s a great insight to this truly one off artists.
A few of my favourite moments come in the form of: “Down In Wrecking Yard”, which is a stumbling ‘n’ wonky breed of strummed acoustic guitar ‘n’ stark drumming, warbling & slightly off tune trumpet hits, and Odam’s wavering & surreal vocals. “Kiss & Run”, which was Odam’s attempt of big ‘n’ bold orchestra 60’s pop/ country song - with his off-kilter ‘n’ wonky vocals adding in the tracks odd-ness/weird-ness. “Crack Of Dawn” with it’s wavering clip-clop mix of acrostic guitar & stripped percussion, topped off with over-egger harmonica playing & of course Odam’s distinctive vocals. “My Underwear Froze To The Washing Line”, with it’s off kilter ‘n’ wonky strutting psychobilly vibe, and lyrics about ‘frozen underwear, & plugging it into the electric socket…to defrost it!’.
The set comes with a 16 page booklet which takes in liner notes, a interview with Odam, single cover pictures, Odam in his cowboy get-up, and mostly bizarre of all pictures of Sarah Ferguson and Raquel Welch (who are both fans of the project!), and one of Odam with David Bowie(who is another big fan of the project, and apparently Mr Bowie named the Ziggy Stardust character after The Legendary Stardust Cowboy)!.
All told it’s a well put together & often rewarding collection, and if you’re a genreal fan of any type of sonic odd-ness, outside music, or weird pop this really is well worth picking-up. As I said early on not all of it is great & consistent, but there’s enough here to make it worthy of purchase for any fan of strange/ off-kilter music.