Head Butler - Music

James Blunt

If you've been on Madison Avenue recently, you may have noticed a man in a Barbour jacket, khakis and sneakers, with iPod wires snaking up to his ears, and, even on dark days, sunglasses.

And --- here's what would make you notice him --- he's weeping and smiling at the same time.

I am that man.

What has happened to produce this bonanza of conflicting emotion? My iPod has just reached "Goodbye My Lover," the fourth song on James Blunt's debut CD, 'Back to Bedlam'.

Imagine a tasteful Elton John piano. A voice that belongs to a lost BeeGee: high, thin, yet utterly masculine. And lyrics that couldn't be simpler --- a naked, on-the-knees declaration of love that suggests lifelong commitment or noble farewell.

'Goodbye My Lover' is only the most extreme of the 10 songs on Blunt's CD. But these elements are present in almost every song in support of a single idea: total emotional honesty. I have no clue whether James Blunt lives on this edge or has just seen enough of it to describe how it feels to be that open; all I know is, from time to time, I've been lucky enough to be 'there' and that --- until 'Back to Bedlam' --- no English-speaking musician in donkey's years has made a CD that mines this vein.

The funny thing is that 'Back to Bedlam' is not my discovery; I can't claim to be the cool guy here. Sheila Hamilton, music reviewer and News Director at KINK FM in Portland, Oregon, wrote it up. In early December, 2005, with appropriate fanfare, I annointed her a Guest Butler and published her review. Only then did I buy it (and thank my lucky stars for Sheila).

Few of you ordered it. Which was strange, because 5.5 million copies have been sold, almost all of them in England, where 'Back to Bedlam' was the country's best-selling CD in 2005.

It's none of my business what you do and don't buy --- I'm just the Butler. But from where I sit, we are drowning in a sea of lies and half-truths, and nothing is better medicine than music that sounds like both truth and beauty. Which makes me crazed for James Blunt.

So I'm going to make an unprecedented offer. 'Back to Bedlam' is $10.98 on Amazon.com. If you go to the HeadButler.com review and click through to buy the CD on Amazon.com and, after giving it a fair hearing, decide it's not for you, you can write to me. I'll tell you how to send it to me. And when I get it, I'll mail you a crisp $10 bill. That's right --- it will cost you just one dollar (plus shipping from Amazon, plus postage to me) to try 'Back to Bedlam.'

I'm not totally crazy. This offer is limited to the first 50 people who buy 'Back to Bedlam' and hate it. My bet, clearly, is that more of you will decide to try it --- and will be knocked out.

In a betting mood? Start at the HeadButler.com review of 'Back to Bedlam'. And make sure you wear sunglasses if you load it into your iPod and venture outside....