Back in the early 1960s when most of us listened to The Beatles ,The Shadows , and Bob Dylan , if you had mentioned the name Gilbert O'Sullivan you would have got no reply and a blank expression from most music lovers .
However at this time in his career Gilbert was very hard at work trying to get a break into the business . He knew he had talent and as a young lad he had determinatuion on his side . He believed in himself and pushed hard for a break .
Before he started to write songs Gilbert played the drums and every morning he would regularly show up at the same music publisher asking to see the manager .
This went on for months until finally the manager got sick of the sight of him sitting outside his office and invited him to come inside .
After Gilbert had played a few of tunes he had paved his way to stardom .
Gilbert got the break he was looking for and recorded his first single in 1967 entitled "Disappear" .
This was followed by a song entitled "Nothing Rhymed" that shot him straight into the big time in 1970 .
Now people everywhere began to hear the immaculate voice of Gilbert O'Sullivan .
At this stage he was joined by Gordon Mills who became Gilberts manager and they teamed up a string of hits together that included Alone Again , Clair , No Matter How I Tried , and Get Down , among many others .
In the 1980s Gilbert and his manager had a parting of company over millions of pounds that where still owed in royalties to Gilbert .
A battle was fought in the courts and only recently while on tour in Australia Gilbert told the audience that he recently had won the case .
During the twenty years it took to settle the case his manager had died and Gilbert was now back on track with his songs and career .
His latest album entitled "Irlish" has just been released in New York and Japan . Gilbert has taken his show on the road performing his new songs as well as his well known hits .
Early on in the begining of the 21st Century Gilbert has reinvented himself .
Althought it took him 30 years to arrive he said better late than never .
Accompaning him on his tours are his wife and daughter as well as his brother Kevin .
I was very lucky to be invited to his dressing room for a chat and a photos session .
Gilbery is living in Jersy these days quite happy and settled . His msic is as always fantastic .
On the new album Irlish there are some vibrant and challenging lyrics that keep in touch with the themes of
todays youth .
Songs like Say Goodbye sees Gilbert singing in Japenese open up a side not many have seen before with his multilingual skills .
Then there are numbers like Water Music that do not have any instruments apart form Gilberts voice .
The song was concieved with aspects of healing and
emotional release attatched to it.
My personal favourite is a number called Have It . Its progressive and bears all the hallmark of Gilbert O'Sullivan himself .
After talking with Gilbert about his music I asked him about Clare oneof his biggest hits in the seventies .
He had said that everyone on Jersy thought it was about his daughter . But Gilbert had to expalin that it was about his managers daughter . Back them he used to babysit Clare while his manager went to dinner with his wife .
So now every person from Jersy to here know the truth about Clare and who she really is .
Gilbert spoke quite openly about his thoughts on Irishness and in particular being an exile . He expressed a great
empathy about living outside Ireland and touched on those emotional issues about travelling as a musician around the world .
Some of his albums include Himself , Back To Front , UI'm A Writer Not A Fighter , Songs In The Loop , In The Key Of G , Rythmn and Rhyme and Irlish .
As far as I'm concerned there is no other like Gilbert O'Sullivan . He has always been a personal mentor and thank God for his special talent for it has made the world for me a much better place to live in .
By Doctor Write
Originally Posted On Site: 2008-08-13 03:10:48
Last Login: 01.06.09
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