O Lucky Man!

Inspiring and Haunting

The film is a classic, but the music is an integral part of the film and as a result is memorable and unforgettable. One comes back to this classic for any number of reasons. Most recently, I thought of it when Helen Mirren won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She is marvelous in "The Queen", of course, but she was unforgettable in "O Lucky Man," in a part that fit both her and the era. She was recently on "60 Minutes" talking about her career, and I couldn't help thinking of her wild and wonderfully anarchic personality. Lindsey Anderson, the director, did a wonderful job, but what makes this film stand out is the integration of the film and the music, the film actors and the musicians. They are all there on stage, as it were. The music is used to punctuate and comment of the film. The caustic, cynical view of Alan Price makes the scenes of the film work far more effectively than they would without the striking voice and passion of the musicians. This album is an heirloom, an icon, a treasure. August 7, 2007

"When no one can tempt you with heaven or hell- You'll be a lucky man!"

"O Lucky Man!" (1973), directed by Lindsay Anderson (with Ralph Richardson, Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren) is a constant source of joy when I watch it again and again. Off I go with Mick Travis (McDowell) in his crazy surreal journey up and down, back and forth, "around the world in circles" along with the Alan Price's band that provide the music commentaries in the traditions of a Greek Chorus or Brecht's Theater. I love his songs to the film very much. It is possibly the best use of a rock soundtrack in a film. I am a proud CD owner and I listen to it constantly - in my car, at work, while exercising. It is short; ten songs only last for 25 minutes but what the minutes they are. Each song, every note and each word feel so perfectly simple and so joyously cool that you can't forget them. For many years, after I saw the film for the first time, I used to sing to myself from time to time, especially if I was sad or confused or would face the important and not easy decisions:

"Everyone is going through changes
No one knows what's going on.
And everybody changes places
But the world still carries on." -
and the song would always make me feel better. Eventually, it has become the important part of my life philosophy.

The most famous and deservingly so is the title song, "O Lucky Man" which was presented in the movie not once but two times, in the opening scene and in the final one. The second rendition is perhaps the best track on the CD, the most memorable scene in the movie and the best performance by Alan Price. I can go on forever about the disc, the songs, their melodies and the lyrics but it is better to hear them once than to try to describe them. They are all wonderful, as much as the film is and the film would definitely not be the same without Alan Price, his band and his songs and instrumental compositions for the film ("Pastoral", "Arrival"). I just want to name the songs and their lyrics:

"O Lucky Man!":
If you have a friend on whom you think you can rely -
You are a lucky man!
If you've found the reason to live on and not to die -
You are a lucky man!

"Poor people":
Someone's got to win in the human race-
If it isn't you, then it has to be me.

"Sell, sell"
Running here, running there
Keep it moving, sonny, don't despair
Because the next one will be, the next one will be, the next one will be, the best one of the year

"Look over your shoulder"
When everything in life seems just as it should be
At last success seems just around the door
Don't forget boy
Look over your shoulder
'Cause things don't stay the same forever more

"Justice":
We all want justice but you got to have the money to buy it
You'd have to be a fool to close your eyes and deny it

"My Town":
Down on the corner of the street
Where I was born we used to meet
And sing the old songs
We called them dole songs

"Changes":
Love must always change to sorrow
And everyone must play the game,
Here today and gone tomorrow-
But the world goes on the same.

And that's what you may learn in the end of your journey to the top of the stairs, to the success:
"Takers and fakers and talkers won't tell you.
Teachers and preachers will just buy and sell you.
When no one can tempt you with heaven or hell-
You'll be a lucky man!"
March 19, 2007

BUY THIS NOW!!!

Glad to see this is finally available (again). It was on CD a number of years ago, only to disappear. I got really lucky when I bought it from a music warehouse I had been doing business with for 20 years. I bought 2 CD's (a Leonard Cohen and a Van Morrison one), and he had a bunch of cutout copies of this, and he sent me it for free! Despite that, if I had to pay 18 bucks for this CD, would I do it? Hell, yes! Every song on it is a gem. Even having 2 different versions of O Lucky Man! is excellent, as they are vastly different interpretations (the 2nd one that closes the album is the most rousing one). This album could stand on its own even if it wasn't a soundtrack (by the way, the film is fantastic as well). I play this CD a lot. It's one of the best soundtrack albums ever. It's Alan Price's most famous work (aside from his Animals work and his cameo in Dylan's Don't Look Back), and it's wonderful everytime you hear it. Buy it now before it goes out of print again. And see the movie too!
June 28, 2006

Quality Album

I consider Alan Price amongst one of the most truely talented singers, song writers etc. O Lucky Man is a great album and show cases some of his finest work. A true classic. What the seventies was all about. March 19, 2006

Montrose version of "Lucky Man" much better

I searched for years to find the Montrose version of Alan Price's "A Lucky Man", which is not to be confused with the ELP song that is much more famous. It's on "Warner Brothers Presents Montrose", and it is inspiring, uplifting, fist in the air good. The lyrics give you a chill:

"If you have a friend on whom you think you can rely you are a lucky man,
If you have a reason to live on and not to die you are lucky man,
Preachers and poets and scholars don't know it,
Temples and statues and steeples won't show it,
If you've got the secret just try not to blow it,
Stay a lucky man, a lucky man." December 11, 2003

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