Jackie Leven
| Jackie Leven | |
|---|---|
Jackie Leven in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | John St. Field, Sir Vincent Lone |
| Born |
18 June 1950 Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland |
| Died | 14 November 2011 (aged 61) |
| Genres | Folk, Rock, Celtic Blues |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | Late 1960s – 2011 |
| Labels | Cooking Vinyl |
| Associated acts | Show of Hands |
| Website | jackieleven |
Jackie Leven (18 June 1950 – 14 November 2011) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll. He later recorded as a solo artist, releasing more than twenty albums under his own name or under the pseudonym Sir Vincent Lone.
Leven started his musical career in the late 1960s under the pseudonym "John St Field", and recorded one album, Control, in 1971 which was released only in Spain in 1973.
He formed the band Doll by Doll in 1977. They released four albums between 1979–82. After Doll by Doll disbanded in 1983, Leven began a solo career. He suffered a street assault and near strangulation during the recording of his first solo album in 1984, which left him unable to speak for nearly two years. During this time he became addicted to heroin. He also collaborated with fellow ex-Doll by Doll members Joe Shaw and David Macintosh, plus ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock to release the single "Big Tears" under the band name Concrete Bulletproof Invisible. The record was a Melody Maker single of the week in 1988.
Leven eventually cured himself of his addiction with the help of his wife Carol, through a combination of acupuncture and psychic healing. This led him to form The Core Trust organisation, which favours a holistic approach to the treatment of heroin addiction.
In 1994, Leven's solo career restarted with the release of the mini-album Songs from the Argyll Cycle and the full-length album The Mystery of Love is Greater than the Mystery of Death, now signed to Cooking Vinyl and recording in the folk rock style. After that he released fifteen albums, including a joint album with crime writer Ian Rankin, Jackie Leven Said, with multi-instrumentalist Michael Cosgrave. In addition to his broader commercial releases, he released a number of limited edition, fanclub-only live albums through the Haunted Valley fanzine and website.
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