Guest post by Nathan Arizona
“X-Files” Case No. 158:
Singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan made an unsuccessful album in 1969 called “U.F.O.” The subject had long fascinated him. Later, he walked into the desert in space alien-friendly New Mexico and was never heard from again.
They never found the body, but they did find his Volkswagen bug, possibly left behind by spacemen. In the front seat was a box of unsold records.
Some speculated about suicide. He didn’t seem the type, but you can see why he might have been depressed about the failure of “U.F.O.” The folkish Laurel Canyon music would have fit nicely with similar songs being played on the radio and stereos at home. The sound was lush. He was backed by members of renowned studio group the Wrecking Crew.
Appropriately, possible space-traveler Sullivan has become something of a cult figure. And “U.F.O.” got some of the critical acclaim it probably deserved when it was re-released in 2011. There have been comparisons to Gene Clark, Fred Neil and Tim Hardin.
Sullivan was popular at L.A. clubs before recording “U.F.O.” He hung out with Harry Dean Stanton and Dennis Hopper, which might explain something but I’m not sure what. Hopper got him work as an extra in “Easy Rider.” But Sullivan scuffled around for three years trying to drum up interest in “U.F.O.” and a second, self-titled album. He was driving to Nashville hoping to re-kindle his career as a studio musician when he disappeared after buying a bottle of vodka.
Sullivan’s son Chris speculated that his father was murdered. Others say, yes, murdered — by the mafia! But Mom blamed the aliens. “They both fully believed that there was life out there,” their son has said. “U.F.O.s were part of his life.”
And maybe his death.
Here’s the title track from Sullivan’s album “U.F.O.”
Another one from “U.F.O.” Yeah, that’s a desert, but no visible flying saucers.
This song kicks off the album.
The indie band Okkervil River covered the song “U.F.O.” in 2011.
