Since There Were Circles

Perhaps best known for writing 1965 hit Elusive Butterfly (made famous in Britain by cardigan-wearing singer Val Doonican), by the early ’70s Baltimore’s Bob Lind had self-sabotaged and drunk himself into musical exile. Indeed, Lind’s alcohol problem was at a level where he even went on to inspire a character by occasional drinking buddy Charles Bukowski. Nevertheless, Lind’s genius was such that he still managed to pull together a band for his 1971 Capitol Records debut that included Gene Clarke, Doug Dillard and The Wrecking Crew’s Carol Kaye. More of a tone with Clarke’s No Other than the baroque folk pop of his own 1966’s Don’t Be Concerned, Since There Were Circles is a masterpiece of hard-bitten, booze-sodden, rueful country rock. Ever tuned in to the US underground, if David Bowie hadn’t heard Lind’s Loser before writing his own Five Years, then the musical similarities between the two songs are uncanny.