In 1998 after a lengthy absence from the music scene Jack collaborated with fellow writer Clive Gardner and recorded and released an acoustic roots music album aptly titled - Low Profile. Described by Belgium's Radio Centraal DJ Psyche Van Het as "A wonderful collection of songs, one of the best and varied of singer/songwriter records." Andy Cheyne writing in Folk Roots magazine described it as "...Somewhere in the manic territory inhabited by Napolean X1V and the legendary Stardust Cowboy.



out there • get out of here • I drink irish • animal life
body on the beach • orphan soul • low profile • jezrealites
young blood • flowers of the field • south of aberdeen
pharisees & thieves • tied & bound • yellow girl in arabesque
dreamin' in colour • crime of passion • snakeman

It is a big beautiful day, like paradise, and I am hunched over the mixing desk in my control room trying to decide whether to buy a barometric equaliser or maybe one of these new boxes nobody knows what to do with yet. Or maybe another Harley Davison,... when suddenly my reverie is disturbed by the big howdy doody now featuring on the TV monitor which is guarding my electric gates. Turning up the sound, I can hear my engineer Paulo, who is trying to persuade some joker with a guitar that nobody who is nobody makes a record at guano studios without a personal RSVP from The Bird. But like greased lightening this guy is over the gates, up the drive and, bursting like agent 007into my control room, he is taking out his axe and telling me his name is Pound... Jack Pound.

Now I am hyped up and madder than a stepped-on frog, But before I can advise him where to disembark, he is singing a song right into my red face - the nerve of this guy! - and waddya know...the song is hot, and the next one is even hotter.
Now I do not get where I am today by being the kind of guy who argues with money, even when it is slapping you in the mouth, so I say to him OK Jack Pound, I am impressed - so you can come in and make a record in my big shiny hi tech state-of-the-nation studio which is equipped with every gizmo under the sun and some more besides........ He is not impressed!. Bird, he says, a little too familiar for my liking, no gizmos...I want minimalist.
I never heard of this word minimalist before so I am telling Paulo to go out and find me a minimaliser tout suite because I like to have everything. But no. It turns out all this guy wants is microphones (1), guitars (1), a couple of musicians and....... that is that.
So here is... mr. jack pound and his music, nothing else.

But before we start making this record, before I push the big red button and shout rolling! I extract from Jack a promise that after all this minimalismo, he colludes with me on a maximalist left field album of strange complicated songs where I get to throw some important switches and try to make some sense out of all this money I am spending

Stay tuned, as the cello said to the souzaphone.

Arthur “Bird” Guano july1998
            

JACK POUND:
VOCALS / GUITARS / BANJO/ HARMONICA
COLIN GIBSON: FENDER BASS / DRUMS
KENNY CRADDOCK: ACCORDION
STEVE COOK: VIOLIN
JO NEWMAN: BACKING VOCALS

Thanks to:
Clive Gardner for waxing lyrical, Psycho Van Hertz for the encouragement and Joanna Gibson for the hospitality.
A HomeGrown production by Bird Guano