new filmkritik

Reynaldo: I picked this LP up on eBay three years ago … to me, the album is a unique and powerful work of music that has stood up after countless listens and that must be heard, which is why I want to share it with you in its entirety.

goatboy: I seriously don’t know what it is about this record but I have listened to it more than several times now and it continues to grow further and further under my skin.

Ric: I have been friends and bandmates with Jim Sullivan’s nephew for over 15 years. I used to see the gatefold album cover hanging up on my friend’s wall. When I asked him about it, he told me that his Uncle Jim had died when he was 3 years old. All he really had to remember him by was this unusual collection of songs and a story about Jim being abducted by aliens. The last he heard was that Sully had been murdered. This is indeed a strange story and I’d love to hear from anyone who has more information…

Beaver: The best thing I’ve heard in years, what an LP, it’s made my days brighter and put my weary mind at ease…

Ric: I have one more piece of trivia about this guy Jim Sullivan… he’s in a scene from “Easy Rider”, basically playing himself, a singer in a bar band.

eyeofthetigris: Just watched Easy Rider and did not see a scene with Jim Sullivan.

Ric: That’s a piece of info given to me by Jim’s nephew. My friend’s memories of his uncle were foggy to say the least, he was very young when Jim died. He thinks that his relatives concocted the alien abduction story to hide the ugly truth that Jim had been killed (how this would put a child’s mind at ease, I’m not sure!). The good news is that Jim’s nephew, Josh Steely, has carried the musical torch and is now a successful musician himself.

Jonny crystals: I spent a few months looking for a copy of U.F.O. and happened to stumble upon another self-titled Jim Sullivan record released in 72′ on Playboy Records. It’s a promotional copy, so it may have never actually been released to the public. There’s a brief biography on the jacket which says Jim was “A six foot three Nebraska born Irishman, who’s played his 12 string guitar in every beach bar from Acapulco to Big Sur.”

John Rankin: I was thinking about my friend Jim Sullivan and decided to google his name. I found this site and not much more. Jim’s wife Barbara was my secretary at Capitol Records (1968-69). I tried to get him signed but they thought he was too much like their new artist James Taylor at the time. I left Capitol and played bass for Jim in bars around L.A. for maybe a year on and off. Many years ago I heard that he had disappeared. I think it was in New Mexico. He was pulled over by a trooper because he was driving funny (swerving). The trooper found that he was just tired and told him about a motel just up the road. When they looked for him, they found his guitar on the bed and his truck still parked where he put it. But, no Jim. This is the story I was told by a very reliable source a very long time ago. By the way, he was in Easy Rider. I was at his house the day after they finished filming.

Linda C: I’m Jim’s sister in law (and Josh’s aunt). He was in Easy Rider, the commune scene wearing his “Lions” cowboy hat. He was an extrordinary writer and guitarist. He taught me a little guitar when I was in high school. After years of having some small successes and seeing some of his music stolen, he became a troubled soul who developed a drinking problem. He did disappear in New Mexico as John Rankin said. I still listen to his albums with tears in my eyes.

Chelle L: We, his family, have always loved his music and have shared it with whomever would listen, but never on this scale. I think it’s magic, but I may be a bit partial.
Like my mom, Linda C, I cry to hear him. I was just a little girl when he disappeared, and he was my huge larger than life Uncle Sully…

Jim Sullivan: U.F.O. – – – waxidermy