POETRY

COMMANDMENT

Forgive me, for I Keep sinning effortlessly, In my own image.

Seems I can’t get past One of those first Commandments — No gods before me.

I make forms of clay And each one is about me — Models of myself.

Great Expectations. The latest reality. My little golems.

I pinch their nostrils, Take a breath, and blow …

And they worship me.

— David Stoller

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tion company and insisted he change his name back and that they record together. “That’s when we recorded One Year at Abbey Road Studios,” recalls Blunstone.

Giving the lion’s share of the credits for his debut solo album’s lustrous, spare orchestration to Argent and White, Blunstone’s subtly smoked and caramelly vocals were the rich, sensual, cakey layers to his Zombie-mates frothy icing. “Rod wanted something different, something like Bartok when it came to the strings,” Blunstone said. “That string sound was so sympathetic to my voice. And yet it was radically different than anything that we had done previously.”

Along with Argent’s string arrangements for Blunstone were those executed by Chris Gunning and Tony Visconti.

Pointing to the haunted strings of “Misty Roses” from songwriter Tim Hardin’s catalog or “Say You Don’t Mind,” from Moody Blues-Wings man, Denny Laine, are both One Year tracks that Blunstone was bowled over at their first listen.

“Phenomenal,” he says, in awe of his work. “It was very brave to turn what was essentially a folk song and a pop blues song into supple tunes that ended up having these strident string parts. The Denny Laine song, which we tried as a rock song, didn’t work, so we gave it a 21-piece orchestra’s backing. They played the Hardin tune for me on piano, and I had no idea what they were talking about regarding such soft strings, as they were doing it. We were all taking a chance. Even more so than taking those chances, I wanted One Year to explore the most simple backgrounds, the ones least intrusive to my voice—a stark string quartet, an acoustic guitar, nothing too lush. That sound was so special to me, my voice and the songs of One Year, from start to finish. Even now, with The Zombies, when we tour, I can do the ‘big rock voice,’” Blunstone says with a laugh. “But a sparse backing and my voice at its quietest is so comfortable for me. The point is, I like the whole lot.” n