Jeff Bridges’ film career has, of course, taken in such essential movies as The Last Picture Show and The Big Lebowski. But he’s also a musician of long standing - see his T Bone Burnett-produced solo LP from 2011, and more - which brings us to one of Record Store Day 2025’s most intriguing releases.
Bridges' LP Slow Magic ‘77-‘78 collects various vintage Bridges material: songs are variously informal and in-studio, from Beefheart experimental to Beach Boys melodious. “Oh, I was thinking about doing another quaalude,” goes the representative, loopy Obnoxious. Two songs have vocals by acting legend Burgess Meredith, who narrates multi-part movie-for-the-mind Kong. For decades it existed only as an informal cassette comp.
“Music would keep bubbling up,” says Bridges, surely one of the few men in the world who smoked hash with the aforementioned Meredith and James Mason. “I built a little studio of my own and for about 10 or 15 years I’d meet with this group of friends every Wednesday night, and we would jam.”
Those loosely structured jam nights, where spontaneity was the rule, were recorded by Bridges’ pal Steve Baim. Other tracks were cut at studio sessions with co-producer Ken Lauber. Fast forward forty-odd years and Bridges’ musician pal Keefus Ciancia tipped off reissue specialists Light In The Attic about the tape. “He didn’t even tell me,” laughs Bridges. “They said, Hey, let’s do an album - I said, You’re kidding me, man! So, boom, we made an album of all these ancient tunes.”
Bridges, who’s also toured with his band The Abiders (“living my Beatles dream,” he says), concurs with a promotional notion that the LP is “a window into the secret musical life of The Dude,” AKA the bowling swami hero of The Big Lebowski, possibly his ultimate creation. “Yeah, I am imagining The Dude,” he says. “The Dude had a guitar hanging around - was he doing something like this? Put Walter (Sobchak, The Dude’s friend played by John Goodman) on bass!”
Bridges, who’s dealt with cancer, covid and the Hollywood fires this decade, wonders if more “next-level out-there wild jams” may be released. He also subscribes to the RSD philosophy. “I just recently got a new turntable and ordered a bunch of my old faves,” he says. “Van Morrison, Dylan, The Beatles… and Slow Magic. It was wonderful to get that spinning on the turntable. Hey, analogue is coming back!” Ian Harrison
Get Slow Magic ‘77-’78 (LITA) on transparent blue vinyl on RSD.