Songs for Star Voyagers

Filk Album
Album Title:	Songs for Star Voyagers
Producer:	Jean Stevenson
Type:
Date:	around 1985
Medium:	audio cassette tape
Fandom:	Star Wars and other
Performer(s):
Other:
External Links:
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Songs for Star Voyagers is a cassette tape of filk music by Jean Stevenson.

Reactions and Reviews

When the notion occurred to me to write about Jean Stevenson's music ("review" is too grandiose a word and way too pretentious for one as muscially unschooled as 1), I was at once excited by the prospect and daunted by its complexity. Three chord changes and raunchy sing-alongs are my specialties, while Jean reaches for intricate harmonic juxtapositions and lyrics that sound much more like poems set to music than words filling a tune. But my appreciation for her unique skills is such that I wanted to give it a try, so that, if any of you out there know Jean the Poet but haven't yet tasted Jean the Singer, you'll be persuaded to do so as soon as possible and enjoy her as much as I have. Think of water, light-dappled, clear water running over smooth stones in a stream, and you'll hear Jean's primary guitar work. She's no rocker, and you won't find any funk or blues on her tape. What you will find is simple, flowing notes reminiscent of traditional folk music; Burl Ives comes to mind, and Peter, Paul and Mary, early Kingston Trio, perhaps. The style demands little of the listener, and rightly so, because it serves as a jeweler's velvet does—a tasteful background for her sparkling lyric gems. And they do sparkle. They dance and scintillate here, or glow with warm light there; and always they speak as gems do, of beauty and love, promise and longing. A great favorite of mine is the opening cut, "The Hero, the Jester and Me", which explores Solo from Leia's viewpoint. It's touching and gentle, and one senses here, as in many of Jean's songs, an almost maternal tenderness for her men. You'll note this in her Kenny Boyd cycle on the B side, headed "Shooting Stars": a compassion and sensitivity for honest feelings that allows for, yet is never primarily concerned with, lust. Solo's semi-teasing love song for Leia, "Lover, Come Lie With Me", may allude to lust, but it does so in the time-honored Elizabethan way, couching desire in the most lyrical manner. Bowers, not beds. It's a lovely courting song. Jean seems never at a loss for words; they outnumber the notes at times, again giving the sure impression of a poet at work. The tunes themselves, the musical concepts which carry Jean's beautiful poems along, are for the most part sophisticated pieces. They are not I-IV-V's at all. She and I have played and sung together, and while Jean could always follow me, I'll admit to becoming frequently left behind in the wake of her thematics and strong melodies. They remind me of songs from Evita or Cats.

Jean's tape is called "Songs for Star Voyagers", and the greater percentage of selections are, indeed, devoted to those who travel the hyperspatial highways; Han Solo figures prominently. And "star voyagers" of our own continuum, such as Carl Sagan and Jerry Pournell, get their recognition as well. But tucked away in the middle of the A side are a couple of lovely songs drawn from the Indiana Jones films, and I highly recommend them, especially "The Seeker", a bossa nova-flavored introspective wherein Indy deals with his feelings for a long-absent Marion. "Do you think she'll be there?" he wonders, somewhere between Marshall College and Nepal. And don't overlook the earlier-mentioned Kenny Boyd cycle, aptly tied in with the star theme by, obviously, Kenny's ballistic "astronomy" and, more subtly, by the image of a questing heart with which Jean draws her portrait of his life. Jean's vocals are a strong asset to the mood of her music—that flowing, melodic ambience. It's a honey voice, with excellent tremulo that moves up and down the scale easily and smoothly. Lacking specialized knowledge I'd call it a mid-range soprano that is always true, even in her most complex pieces. As to comparisons with popular vocalists, the closest I can come would be Judy Collins, perhaps more than anything else because both have a "trained" sound in their delivery and an occasional hint of falsetto. A particular treat on this tape is Jean's well-engineered overdubbing—as a matter of fact, the entire tape is quite clean, a real feat for an at-home recording artist. It's clean and crisp and well modulated, and I wish I knew how she did it!

All in all, "Songs for Star Voyagers" is a pleasure, from the technical, as well as the artistic, standpoint. It's serious, gentle, romantic, and always deeply felt. A fine musical debut for one of fandom's fine poets.