The Music of UFOs: Jim Sullivan
Jim Sullivan grew up in California and fell in love with playing music after hearing several local blues groups. He would grow up, get married, and play guitar in a rock band, the Survivors, along with his sister-in-law. His wife, Barbara, got a job at Capitol Records, and Sullivan continued to grow more popular in the L.A. area. He would begin to run in the same circles with Hollywood hotshots like Harry Dean Stanton and would even appear as an extra in Easy Rider. He was able to create his first album, with the help of his friends, and issued by The Record Label Monnie. His second album, U.F.O., released in 1969, received mixed reviews and would later be reissued by Century City Records. His career continued to start-and-stop, and his lack of success and being able to breakthrough drove him to alcohol and led to the dissolution of his marriage. In 1975, he decided to take to Nashville. However, he would never make it to Nashville. And thus begins one of the stranger stories of rock and roll...
On his way to Nashville in March of 1975, Jim stopped right outside of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. His motel room was completely untouched and his VW bug was abandoned. Although many believe he got lost in the desert, got tied up in something bad, or maybe was just wildly depressed...others think there may be another explanation.
Let’s turn back the clock, just a few years, to Jim’s UFO album. When Jim was starting out, and with his first album, he was creating, as Light in the Attic describes a “one-man-and-his-guitar stuff.” But UFO was different, it even had a string section, and had depth and darkness lurking in even its more upbeat tracks.
Now, let’s go back to 1975. Right before he went missing, the cops had stopped him in Santa Rosa for swerving on the highway. He was taken to the station for a drunk driving test, but was found sober. Perhaps the swerving simply meant he had been driving the 15 hours straight. Then it was said his car was found near the Genetti family home, which was said to have ties to the mafia.
By the next day, Jim Sullivan was gone. His car was twenty 26 miles away from where it had last been seen, and in it was all of his worldly possessions.
His family and friends joined search parties, papers shared his missing persons notice, and local police were involved. But, Jim was never found. It has been reported that Jim’s manager Robert “Buster” Ginter later stated that the two had a conversation about how they would disappear. According to Ginter, Jim said he’d walk into the desert and never come back.
Many also find the tracks of UFO to be almost a forewarning of what was to befall Jim just a few years later. One of my favorite songs off the album is, of course, the titular UFO. Here are a few lines:
“There is something happening that isn't too clear.
Just a little different than in previous years.
I think that happiness is getting very near.
I'm checkin out the show with a glassy eye.
Looking at the sun dancing through the sky.
Did he come by UFO?”
Thanks to @babefromthebandlands for this blogstonishing suggestion!
The blog image is “Rising abruptly from the desert floor, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in California reaches an elevation of 10,834 feet at the summit of Mount San Jacinto. Providing a picturesque backdrop to local communities, the National Monument significantly contributes to the Coachella Valley's lure as a popular resort and retirement community. It is also a desirable backcountry destination that can be accessed via trails from both the valley floor and the alpine village of Idyllwild.” taken by Bureau of Land Management and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.
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