I put folk in quotes because I really don't know EXACTLY what makes stuff "folk", but in this case I'd be leaning to stuff thats like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen etc

Anyway, mine would probably be....pretty much any Nick Drake record...but if I had to choose one today I'd say Five Leaves Left


(yes I made this so I could see what yall listening too and try out that shit too lol)

I personally like Pink Moon the best, there's just something about that album that I can listen to it over and over again.

I always break out Nick Drake around November/December...just always in the mood for him around that time of year for some reason.

Not sure what my favorite "folk" album is, but I'll list Beck's Sea Change because that album may be my favorite 'sounding' album.

Something about the engineering and the mixing on that album that draws me in.

great album

i remember that album kinda helping me get through a depression at the time. classic lp.

i think Beck was coming out of a break-up and is the reason alot of the songs on there are so dark and brooding.

was the first folky album I gave a chance I fucking love it.

Then Stormcock,

some more of my favorites are the usual suspects, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Blood on the Tracks, Fleet Foxes/Helplessness Blues, all of Grizzly Bear's stuff.

People always list Astral Weeks and Moondance but I absoulte love Tupelo Honey from Van.

the title track is one of my favorite songs ever.

A lot of people, when Van comes up, mention 'Brown Eyed Girl', Astral Weeks and Moondance (which are all fine, to be sure), but I think a lot of people tend to overlook him post-Moondance.

He definitely had hits in those days, but I honestly don't see how someone (not YOU specifically, just an in-general listener) who likes Astral Weeks wouldn't really get a lot of Saint Dominic's (which does have a bit of that, horn section/blue-eyed soul stuff) or especially Veedon Fleece (which, on some days, I'd argue is the equal of Astral Weeks).

~Austin

we're getting further away from approximating 'folk' there, but man, that's a solid live album if ever there was one.

Van has great material for the most part.

Albums like Wavelength, Avalon Sunset, and Enlightenment all have great material.

Maybe it's because he ventured away from that Astral Weeks, folk/rock/jazz hybrid sound that Veedon Fleece is kind of ignored. . .

But it's definitely in the same spirit as Astral Weeks.

~Austin

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(almost) all Irish traditionals lovingly presented by Van with the Chieftains backing him. Kind of a misfit for when it was made (latter '80s)... the only bad thing I can say about it is that its moderate mainstream success sent the Chieftains down the road of getting rock stars to sing on all their albums. Sarah MacLachlan + the Chieftains I didn't need.

Here is "The Herald" from that album...this joint alone makes puts in it my top 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOFmc2JF_9Q
Elliott Smith - Either/Or
Townes Van Zandt
Joanna Newsom - Ys
The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2
Catherine Ribiero + Alpes - Paix - This album fucking rules. Sounds like Nico jamming with an jazzier, less spaced out Can.
Songs: Ohio - Magnolia Electric Co. - Farewell Transmission is one of the best songs of the last 10 years, easily. Goosebumps everytime I listen.

of course, the stuff i return to most might be the post-tropicalia brazilian folk like this:

http://youtu.be/2q9S512T9e0

and this

http://youtu.be/ULCXhxAinTQ

That was one of the big cult-albums that was ultra-rare and that you could only read about in record collector magazines and stuff back in the day. When it finally got reissued in the mid-late 90's by GetBack and it turned out that it was just as magical, fucked-up and great as you had read it was... wonderful feeling, very rare feeling also; often those ultra-hyped, EXTREMELY obscure records aren't that great when you finally hear them...

hence my avi...and i love both those albums those tracks are from, especially nelson e joyce

. . .John Martyn and the Pentangle are some of my favorites.

~Austin

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but I'll try to keep it fairly short & to the point.

>I put folk in quotes because I really don't know EXACTLY what
>makes stuff "folk",

one of the things I get from these posts is that 'folk' means all sorts of things to different people; even in the folk music community there's not a clear consensus.

The definition of 'true' (for lack of a better term) folk music is traditional (ie, the composer is not known) music played in a traditional style on traditional instruments. (Unfortunately this definiton ignores the fact that what constitutes 'traditional' instruments and material is itself very fluid.)

I tend to consider 'folk' any music which is based on traditional musics, either in content, style, or instrumentation. But that's so impractical for everyday conversation that it's basically splitting hairs to anyone w/o a relatively in-depth knowledge of folk & roots music's development in the 20th century.

The common use of 'folk' is basically any music that's largely acoustic.


> but in this case I'd be leaning to stuff
>thats like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen etc

Actually, those kinds of singer-songwriters are fairly easy to include under my definition tying to traditional music, since the modern movement sprigs from early Dylan and more importantly Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, and even earlier figures like Josh White, Carl Sandburg, Joe Hill, etc. But the truth of the matter is that the bulk of singer/songwriters of the past 40 odd years don't really show much of that connection, focusingg instead of Joni-style confessionalism. Which is fine by me.

>Anyway, mine would probably be....pretty much any Nick Drake
>record...but if I had to choose one today I'd say Five Leaves
>Left

That's a helluva record, and probably what I'd pick for Nick too; though I may prefer listening to Time of No Reply, we all know it doesn't really constitute an album.

One thing I'm going to suggest, if you love Nick Drake, is that you check out some of the other artists from the same era/scene (British acoustic & folk & roots music, roughly 1967-1973). Joe Boyd, an American who lived in London and was an influential tastemaker thanks to his famed UFO club, produced a lot of these guys, and they worked together in various combinations.

1. The Fairport Convention family tree - they started out as a British Byrds/Airplane-style band, but over their 2d through 4th albums turned their attention increasingly to British traditional music and made some sublime stuff. The 'Liege & Lief' album is widely heralded as seminal. Try 'The Deserter' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ezy2WaM24

-Richard Thompson - founding Fairport guitarist who went solo after 1970; generally speaking, his albums are more electric than acoustic, but he's one of the greatest acoustic players and songwriters the world has ever known. Obvious pick: '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTzwaEa2o

-Sandy Denny - 2d female lead for Fairport, with some really good solo records following. Try 'Blackwaterside' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9RX1b0R0LQ (I prefer the studio version, but can't find it)

-There are plenty of other related bands worth checking out if you get into the scene: Steeleye Span, Albion Band, Matthews Southern Comfort, etc.

2. Other British scenesters of the time
-Vashti Bunyan, also produced by Boyd
-The Incredible String Band, also produced by Boyd, but a *very* acquired taste for most. Wickedly psychedelic acoustic 'world' music.
-John Martyn, you should definitely check out. Another terrific guitarist and a good friend of Nick Drake's. Try 'Parcels,' the first track here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t3D3YizqCw and the somewhat more celebrated 'May You Never': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wxypeGc
-Drake's guitar playing (as you can hear on some of the bootlegs of his home recordings) comes straight from the British fingerstyle school, particularly guitarists like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the patriarch of the scene, Davey Graham. Jansch and Renbourn later went on to found the excellent Pentangle.

-Nic Jones came along just after after Nick Drake (debut = 1970), but is well worth listening to. For albums, maybe Game, Set, Match; his originals are all out of print except the highly regarded Penguin Eggs, but that may have a few too many trad influences (ie, melodeon) for someone just listening to him. Unbelievable picking & arrangement skills on guitar. Try 'Canadee-I-O' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olplcsNuqyg

>(yes I made this so I could see what yall listening too and
>try out that shit too lol)

Well, my recent purchases are Doc Watson's 'The Vanguard Years' set; Doc Watson & Jean Ritchie Lie at Folk City; Goat Rodeo Sessions; Bascom Lamar Lunsford 'Smoky Mt Ballads,' and Jesse Fuller 'Frisco Blues' compilation. So they all tend toward the traditional side of things, in style/instrumentation and spirit iif not always in content.

But I've got plenty of favorite singer-songwriter records, or records that otherwise may qualify in the same attitude.

-Dick Gaughan 'A Handful of Earth' - Scots traditional guitarist makes a timeless album of almost-contemporary folk; includes the definitive version of 'World Turned Upside Down.' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ynSh5UMN7A

-Chris Whitley 'Dirt Floor' - another album that fits easily into the 'stark' catalog and is frequently considered alongside Pink Moon by its supporters. Title track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ughlBC80Iuc

-Bob Mould 'Workbook' - stretching my definition of folk, maybe, but it's a great, emotional workout showcasing Mould at his most subtle. 'Brasilia Crossed With Trenton' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llOksyhZ8Qg

-Alasdair Roberts ' Farewell Sorrow' - Scots singer/songwriter's album of tradition-infused original songs. 'When A Man's In Love He Feels No Cold' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__UaPC2oQV0

That oughtta be enough to get you started... now where has my morning @ work gone?

Thoughts on them?

I have Fog on the Tyne and Dingly Dell and think they're great. I completely forgot that I bought those albums a couple years ago and just got them back out the other day, archived them to my iTunes and been playing them a lot ever since. They're not super groundbreaking or anything, but just good choons.

(have we discussed them before? I forget. . .)

~Austin

there are literally hundreds of English roots-rock bands from the era up through the 1980s, though, and most have at least some strong pedigree and/or good records to their names. It's nigh impossible to keep up with all of them.

I mean, how could something as awesome as The Trees be forgotten? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQLfBeA8EmM&feature=related

or this absolutely wicked version of Lord Bateman I stumbled on while researching the song, done by someone named Steve Ashley? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMI11GaHC00 (admittedly that's Albion Band related... note Mattacks's very IDable drums)

or from up Scotland way Five Hand Reel, featuring former Boy of the Lough Dick Gaughan? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5JYqFSR5K4

or 1980s UK hitmakers Runrig, in their early incarnation as a gentle, jangly all-Gaelic acoustic folk-rock band? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-ktxxUM5c

it's enough to throw up one's hands in despair at all the incredible stuff, because I know I'll never have enough time to check it ALL out.

. . .because if you read any band bio of them, it goes out of its way to mention that they were initially a very popular band (Fog on the Tyne hit #1 on the album charts, if I recall).

If you remind me, I'll play a song or two next time we happen to be in Mumu or Outloud.

~Austin

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>. . .because if you read any band bio of them, it goes out of
>its way to mention that they were initially a very popular
>band (Fog on the Tyne hit #1 on the album charts, if I
>recall).

and it's hard to imagine that an album called 'Dingly Dell' could ever have been a contender on any album charts after the 1800s.

But I think that they were in a genre that has been more kind to less obviously (well, relatively) commercial material... even if it's still pretty good.

>If you remind me, I'll play a song or two next time we happen
>to be in Mumu or Outloud.

will do!

wait... Outloud? lol

http://outloud.fm/

Need a Farcebook or Twatter to use it though. . .

I've actually never gotten it to work, but there's no limit on users like in Mumu. I'm willing to try it again though. We'll see.

~Austin

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we used it for like three days and then went back to Mumu, so I was feigning forgetfulness for a laugh.

Obviously, I'm not very funny.

I started to search for a lot of that stuff after I got into Pentangle but still haven't REALLY found the right one that can stand up to them. I have some friends who's deep into this stuff who recommended Mellow Candle (who sounded mor4e prog than folk to me and were irish but still, pretty good http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDETBXD_DeI&feature=related )and another band who I really dug but I can't remember what the hell they were called. I need to ask again... Anyeway, they were also a bit more proggy so I ahven't found the right balance yet-Steeleye Span does nothing for me and I can't totally get into Fairport Convention for some reason even if they are good. Incredible Stringband are nice but a bit too much Monty Python at times...

I don't like lists, too much you forget...

good list though! Been a while since I checked out that Swedish stuff but I remember thinking it was very cool at the time. Interesting that with the resurgent interest in the Scandinavian music in the '90s there wasn't any increased interest in those bands (at least from what I could see).

I've never given the HMRs a full listen... always kinda considered them too jokey, along with the Fugs, but that's kinda based on I dunno what. Should I check out more?

They are both jokey but HMR are more absurd/surrealist and musically strange IMO whereas I feel Fugs are more satire and stuff like that and the former translate better musically. Anyway, that's part of why I deleted the list:I don't even have that many "folk"-albums outside of swedish stuff so I pretty much just listed the first ones that came to mind as "good" and it's like HMR shouldn't really be on a list like that!

But yes, I really dig "Indian War Whoop", they started to get more trippy, "free" and psychedelic whereas their fist two (?) are more jokey. It's still very much folk though-no "rock" IMO, at least not what I hear as rock EDIT: and less "rocky" than Fugs were...

In sweden, the label Silence started to reissue many of their out-of-print classics from the early 70's and Thurston Moore namedropped Träd, Gräs & Stenar (who were more droney and psych even if they had a strong folk-vibe too) and some internet record stores sold swedish stuff in america. I know that Älgarnas Trädgård's ultra-wacky "Framtiden är ett svävande skepp förankrat i forntiden" (VERY pretentious title!!! I won't even translate that shit) was cult for a while in the deepest blog underground but the more "normally" folky bands never really caught on; the new artist Dungen did well though-he had some of those influences even if he was more rock too. I guess Dungen was enough for people, no need to dig deeper. I can understand that with so much music from all over the world around everywhere...

the bassist from one of my favorite modern roots-rock bands (Boiled in Lead) actually started a label (he was running a few for a while there) devoted to nothing but Scandinavian folk music (Vasen, Garmarna) and roots rock (Hedningarna, Hoven Droven), and there were high profile releases on other labels from Mari Boine, JPP, and others.

So it's weird that if they could issue compilations of contemporary hardanger fiddle tunes, they wouldn't dig up/push something with more of a history...

I dunno though.

...that existed a couple of years ago. As for the world-music scene, I remember that those bands you mentioned did well and yes, that is a bit strange that the interest didn't go back to older bands.

However, isn't the world-music scene generally more into contemporary stuff whereas the ones more likely to check out, say, old music from Nigeria are more crate-diggers and stuff like that. Of course, old swedish rock/jazz-inspired folk (or even folk period)isn't really the same thing as afro-beat or whatever; I think that generally, old stuff from countries outside of america benefit from being "groovy" (or very rock-inspired or at least weird).

or even tim buckley?

just looking for some recommendations.

j/k - he's the only one of those guys I don't have anything from. Not that I have much from the other two, but at least I'm more familiar with them.

Gordon Lightfoot - best known for his Canadian Railroad Trilogy, I think, or at least that's the primary song most people I've met seem to know him for. I've got a copy of 'If I Could Read Your Mind' and it's pretty damn good.

as for Tim Buckley, I'm not well versed on the bulk of his catalog either, but certainly Dream Letter (Live in London 1968) is a thing of beauty.

>j/k - he's the only one of those guys I don't have anything
>from. Not that I have much from the other two, but at least
>I'm more familiar with them.

ha!

dan's "longer" used to haunt me when i was younger, for whatever reason.

>Gordon Lightfoot - best known for his Canadian Railroad
>Trilogy, I think, or at least that's the primary song most
>people I've met seem to know him for. I've got a copy of 'If I
>Could Read Your Mind' and it's pretty damn good.

right. "if i could read your mind" here i come!

>as for Tim Buckley, I'm not well versed on the bulk of his
>catalog either, but certainly Dream Letter (Live in London
>1968) is a thing of beauty.

of course, i'm one of those people that got into jeff first and decided to check out tim later. just haven't fully invested in it. i do have "dream letter" and it's awesome. been trying to get my hands on "starsailor," which is not really "folk," but ya know.

and goodbye and hello, they were pretty good...but to be honest i prefer his son's album

I like pretty much everything before ''Lorca'' (EDIT:Starsailor apparently came after Lorca, that one is great. Lorca is annoying); even his somewhat dismissed first two albums that were in a more Elektra-records folk-rock/psych style. I mean:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsO756lqfVM Is that not too great? And no, his son was NEVER better; I can't stand that dude

On that topic, don't sleep on Kaleidoscope's first two albums either. They should not be confused with an equally dope british band from the same era with the same name who did flowery psych but weren't folky at all. This Kaleidoscope did everything and even mixed middle-eastern stuff with garage-rock. Anyway, here's their great cover of the old "Oh death":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeG3cZsAd_Q

I'll be back after my keyboard stops acting idiot, editing this post was a pain in the ass...

.

WITH A DULCIMER PLAYER?


Uh... I'm in.

*edit* looks like they're releasing a followup with Yim Yames & some other dude that's all Woody Guthrie lyrics! Interesting, interesting...

I like it better than the Farrar/Gibbard Kerouac disc, that's for sure.

and while I love Trace, the fact that he used the same formula ad nauseum helped me to lose some interest in him. Finally saw him a few years back and it just seemed... tired, despite the fact that every few years he releases something that critics call his best project since Trace.

First couple Gob Iron tracks I checked sounded great, though. Thanks for the rec.

(and btw, La T's, now named 'Franks' over in Phoenixville is now doing open mic nights on Wednesdays... I dropped in a few weeks backk, not to play, but the music was surprisingly excellent)

>(and btw, La T's, now named 'Franks' over in Phoenixville is
>now doing open mic nights on Wednesdays... I dropped in a few
>weeks backk, not to play, but the music was surprisingly
>excellent)

When to when does that run? I usually host a Trivia night on Wed. but the bar I do it at is about to hit a remodel. I'll have to check that out.

As for Jay, I really liked the Son Volt disc "Okemah and the Melody of Riot", but I completely agree with every thing you said. But the live disc "Stone Steel and Bright Lights" still is probably my favorite non-Trace post-Tupelo release he's had.

Fleet Foxes- (self-titled album)
Damien Rice- O
Jose Gonzalez- Veneer
Grizzly Bear- Yellow House
Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman
Tracy Chapman- ( self-titled)
The Decemberists- Picaresque
The Decemberists- Castaways and Cutouts
The Middle East- The Recordings of the Middle East (EP)
Andrew Bird- Armchair Apocrypha
Joanna Newsom- The Milk-Eyed Mender
Bon Iver- (self titled album)

I think Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is just ok; it's overrated.

I like most Sufjan Steven's acoustic material. Dylan is great of course. And there are many other artists who songs I enjoy.

(I mean, he's about as folk as Crosby Stills & Nash, but for purposes of this discussion it still works)

easy to forget about him because his biggest hits a mildly corny... as dalecooper railed, 'music for elves in pointy shoes' or something along those lines. Not inaccurately, but it's not like there's no charm in that kind of stuff... I mean, look at what I've recommended in this post.

that said, I did get to consume quantities of homebrew to Tea for the Tillerman last weekend. And every time Harold & Maude comes on, I'm freshly blown away by the soundtrack.

Even better is that you can find it in the dollar bin.

~Austin

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from mona bone to "buddha..." that is pretty hard to beat. I get why some folks think he's corny, but he's always come off (to me) as one of the more sincere and interesting pop metaphysicians of the period... i like the fact the you can hear him searching, you kind of search with him when you listen...

"Father and Son" is one of my fav tunes ever, I think

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Looks like you're leaning more toward the singer/songwriter edge of things... Joe Henry's easily one of my favorites doing it these days.

I really like just about everything he's done, but my personal favorites are probably "Scar" and "Civilians" ... I may be biased because I just saw him live last week and he blew my mind (again), but he really is quite good. His real talent is in his ability to combine artful lyrics, arrangement, and vocal cadence to create really evocative "whole" material that, nevertheless, always surprises... it's satisfying musically and lyrically.

Come to think of it, his latest is a pretty good intro too.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

^ still my favorite Joe Henry tune, not that I've kept up with his (fairly prodigious) output over the past decade.

I thought the very first post where we connected on s/s stuff wass archived, but looks like it's not... as I recall it, you were asking about a Cliff Eberhardt record! And that's probably hte last time I've heard that name. Looks like he's still calling my naaame, on the looong roooooaddd.

Here's another one that got archived in '04, but it looks like you weren't around: http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=17&topic_id=6987&mesg_id=6987&listing_type=search

Was surprised there was nothing! I don't think I ever got around to listening to much eberhardt - virtually everything i've heard I've heard through covers! Too much music...

It's funny, aside from a few names (Peter Mulvey, Jeffrey Foucault, Greg Brown, Richard Shindell) I haven't really kept up with that more acoustic circle at all... although recent listening tells me I may due for a check-in (I've been listening to Chris Smither's "Train Home" pretty hard lately, for one, and I've got Jimmy Lafave on now...).

I keep up to date on some of the names flying around but that's mainly due to some of the venues I go to (well, used to go to in Chi) - Old Town, SPACE, Schubas. But I've not heard anything that's really fired me up (although have you heard Hayes Carll? I've been digging his stuff a lot)

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

>I keep up to date on some of the names flying around but
>that's mainly due to some of the venues I go to (well, used to
>go to in Chi) - Old Town, SPACE, Schubas. But I've not heard
>anything that's really fired me up (although have you heard
>Hayes Carll? I've been digging his stuff a lot)

Never heard of Hayes Carll, I don't think. Will check.

I believe I talked you into going to see Ben Solee, right? He's the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned.

My wife really likes this guy named Adam Arcuragi... http://vimeo.com/12933069 - we have two of his albums and I like both fairly well, but not as much as she does.

& we got out to see Ray LaMontagne last summer, and although he tends to get left out of conversations like this, he was awesome.

>Never heard of Hayes Carll, I don't think. Will check.

He's an interesting dude - a bit heavy on the twang, sings a bit off-key, really lyrical but in the tradition of the sort of rough-and-tough singer/songwriter... throw in a real good dose of Dylan-itis, too. I've only heard his last two albums ("KMAG YOYO (and other American Stories)" and "Trouble In Mind"), but both are pretty great.

>I believe I talked you into going to see Ben Solee, right?
>He's the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah, he's great. I've seen him twice now, both times were excellent (the first was a bit better I'd say - on the second outing it was just him and a drummer, which I didn't think worked *quite* as well but was still exceptional). I'm eager to see where his career takes him over the next few years - I saw Inclusions mentioned in a lot of year-end overviews for 2011, so he's getting some attention for sure...

>My wife really likes this guy named Adam Arcuragi...
>http://vimeo.com/12933069 - we have two of his albums and I
>like both fairly well, but not as much as she does.

I don't think I've heard of him - I'll definitely check.

>& we got out to see Ray LaMontagne last summer, and although
>he tends to get left out of conversations like this, he was
>awesome.

I still haven't seen him. His last few efforts haven't done too much for me - I think it's something about his voice, which I *used* to really like but now sounds a lot more... sappy? *shrug* I've heard he's pretty good live, though.

I'm pretty sure we've talked about him, but make sure you spend some time w/Sam Amidon if you haven't already, and definitely catch him live if you ever get the chance. & Damien Jurado's still on my list for active folks in that vein... he's got a new album dropping in a week, too.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

"Down the Road Tonight" - in the tradition of "list" songs (think REM's "It's the End of the World..." or Billy Joel's "We Didn't..."), except Carll's list is really fucking great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5OhovnEFDk

"It's A Shame" - turns a pretty standard topic (regretting lost love) into something really new, just by being careful w/words:
http://youtu.be/6mj6XcRNxCU

"Bye Bye Baby" - good example of what straight simple can do - there's nothing fancy here, just a great song:
http://youtu.be/e6-YgIlySms

edit for a bonus:
http://youtu.be/07E02k4cj4s - "KMAG YOYO" - great performance, this has sort of become his "hit" recently, along with another tune, "Never Be Another Like You" - this is a story-telling tune even if it does feel like a straight "Suburban homesick" rip

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Townes Van Zandt - Live at the Old Quarter
Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
Buffy Sainte-Marie - It's My Way
Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
Gareth Liddiard - Strange Tourist
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Fred Neil - Bleecker & MacDougal
Elvis Costello - King of America

>Fred Neil - Bleecker & MacDougal

Have never really listened to him much... my brother brought his demos collection home a few years back and it was interesting hearing the originals to songs like Dolphins or The Other Side of This Life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltyjNjsz8UU, of course, but HOT DAMN)


so 1965 debut record, huh? I've got a bunch of albums from that same era - debuts from Tom Rush, Eric Anderson, of course S&G, few early Judy Collins records. Might have to check this one out, too bad the CD is out of print.

I picked up some albums this evening, but I mean, tell me about your impression of him.

~Austin

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and certainly among the most influential acoustic guitarists.

I've only got a handful of his albums myself but have probably heard 8 or so of them (and he's got a lot more than that). I want to say I played on the instrumental trio tracks from Mudlark in The Listening Room last fall, and you commented favorably (though I can't say with certainty that you were there). Mudlark might be my favorite of his albums, and the reviews on Amazon show at least a few others agree.

I say he's two of the greatest guitarists because his initial style was very much in the rolling-thumb-bassline John-Hurt-Via-John-Fahey style (the US version of the Graham/Jansch/Renbourn school), just, like, on steroids. He wasn't as interested in the meditative/contemplative potentials of fingerstyle as Fahey, but his first records are very much at home in the Takoma discography.

Then at some point around 1980, give or take, he got some sort of hand ailment and took a few years off. When he came back, the story goes that he basically had to teach himself how to play completely differently to accommodate the way his hand had changed. As a result his later compositions are wider-ranging, and more often than not lack the clear debt to folk traditions both stylistically and melodically. I like both styles very much but generally feel his later stuff comes across better live (I've never seen him but have the 1970 live one (My Feet Are Smiling, I think it's called) and one from about 1995; they're very different but both outstanding.)

Then there's his songwriting, which has always run very much on the 'quirky' side of things... I still hear both Jack Gets Up and Pepe Hush on WXPN with some frequency, and neither sounds out of place in the AAA mix. His singing's a bit of Leonard Cohen without the seriousness. He's got quite a few great originals.

One of my favorite clips is a backstage view of Leo and the late great Michael Hedges from an early tour together ('88, apparently) messing around on 'Doodles' - they both look so young and just play the living fuck out the tune, having so much fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_5m4lomm4Y - only problem is we can't see Leo's fingers.

So anyway, not sure what else you might be looking for on him. I think he's fucking great.

I just wanted to get an idea of his context.

The albums I got are: Mudlark, My Feet are Smiling and Greenhouse. Gave each about 2 runs a piece so far and I really like them. His faster picking style on Mudlark is just completely mindblowing. Fantastic melodies, too.

Still soaking them in, but I can't believe I waited this long to check him out.

Maybe I had him confused with Leo Sayer.

~Austin

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>Maybe I had him confused with Leo Sayer.

I think this is the third thread in a month or so where someone mentions Leo Sayer-must be some kind of record! Maybe a revival is on its way...

The yacht rock revival thing a few years back seems to have skipped over him.

So far I'd say we've been lucky, in that respect.

~Austin

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