American Folk Music
Slavek Hanzlik -> Dave Hull
| TIM HARDIN |
Polydor 521 583-2 |
Hang On To A Dream - The Verve Recordings |
● CD $31.98 |
2 discs, 47 tracks, 133 min., recommended Best known for
writing and recording the "folk-friendly" songs Reason to
Believe, If I Were a Carpenter, and The Lady Came from
Baltimore, Tim Hardin wasn't really much of a folky. He saw his own
painful absurdities more clearly than he saw societal injustice. According
to Colin Escott's fine notes here, he had a hard time deciding who he
really was, and he took to drugs early and hard. On the other hand, and
fortunately for us, he wrote and recorded some fine introspective music
before he died at the age of 39. The totality of output for the Verve
label is here, including the three numbers listed above, plus Don't
Make Promises, While You're on Your Way, How Can We Hang on
to a Dream, Black Sheep Boy, Tribute to Hank Williams, Airmobile,
Seventh Son, Danville Dame, I Can't Slow Down, Keep
Your Hands Off Her, Hootchie Kootchie Man, You Can't Judge a
Book by Its Cover, and First Love Song. Not happy music on the
whole, but much of it, particularly on the first disc, is moving in ways
that elude most writers, folk or otherwise. (DH)
|
| TIM HARDIN |
Polydor 833 954-2 |
Reason To Believe - The Best Of Tim Hardin |
● CD $11.98 |
| This CD only release is drawn from Tim's first two classic
recordings for Verve from 1966-67. 8 titles are pulled from
Tim Hardin 1 and 7 from
Tim Hardin 2 . These represent the major body of his work that would later
be recognized as masterpieces and suitably covered by a multitude of
singers. True to his outlaw roots, Tim's life was momentous, depraved and
short lived, he died in Dec. '80. His gift for lyric was on a par with his
contemporaries, Bob Dylan & Fred Neil. All three started out in the
Greenwich Village coffee house circuit and became the standard bearers of
poetic and lyrical prowess for an entire generation of songwriters. Tim
had "gone electric" back in '64 and shaded his unique brand of
folk-blues with jazz colorings and some honky tonk sentiments thrown in
for good measure. Tim's vocals were sung passionately with a sense of
subdued intensity, which conveyed a feeling of fragility that can only
occur when uncompromising artists lay their heart & soul on the line.
This CD contains a treasure chest of timeless music (SG)
|
| JOHN HARTFORD |
Flying Fish 028 |
Nobody Knows What You Do |
● CD $15.98 |
|
|
| JOHN HARTFORD |
Flying Fish 440 |
Me, Oh My, How The Time Does Fly |
● CD $15.98 |
Subtitled "A John Hartford Anthology" this is
drawn from seven different records, on Flying Fish, an excellent
distillation of what this whimsical ramblin', rappin', riverboatin' folkie
songwriter and banjoist is all about. Includes an excellent version of his
most famous composition, Gentle On My Mind , highlighted by
sterling instrumental work by Benny Martin, Sam Bush, and Buddy Emmons.
Also includes The Julia Belle Swain / In Tall Buildings, and Nobody
Eats At Linebaugh's Anymore. (RP)
|
| PRISCILLA HERDMAN |
Flying Fish 230 |
Forgotten Dreams |
● CD $15.98 |
1979 album featuring songs from Stan Rogers, Tom Waits,
Randy Newman, Bill Staines & Kate McGarrigle.
|
| CAROLYN HESTER |
Bear Family BCD 15520 |
At Town Hall |
● CD $21.98 |
Originally released as two Dot Records LP's, produced and
recorded by Buddy Holly's mentor Norman Petty in 1965. 24 folk/protest
numbers including Tom Paxton's Outward Bound, Phil Ochs' What's
That I Hear, Dylan's Playboys And Playgirls plus Summertime/
Sing Hallelujah!/ O Captain My Captain/ Jute Mill Song and many more.
|
| CAROLYN HESTER |
Bear Family BCD 15701 |
Dear Companion |
● CD $41.98 |
2 discs, 60 tracks, 158 min., recommended It's nice to see
Bear Family shine its light of thoroughness and care on one of the leading
ladies of 60's folk music, offering here a look at her work for both the
Columbia and Dot labels between the years 1961 and 1967. A Texan by birth,
Hester learned to love the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger early in
life, and, in one of those paradoxes that drives and revitalizes American
music, when her parents eventually move to Lubbuck, Texas, she auditioned
for Norman Petty's studio across the border in New Mexico where she ended
up briefly being a label mate to none other than fellow Texan, Buddy
Holly. In her early recordings for Columbia, there is little evidence of
that association. There, accompanied by guitarist Bruce Langhorne and
harmonica player Bob Dylan, she sang in a sometimes uncomfortable soprano
and was solidly folk in her music selection, singing such numbers as Swing
and Turn Jubilee, I'll Fly Away, Once I Had a Sweetheart,
Dink's Song, Gregorio Cortez, I Loved a Lass, and The
Praties They Grow Small. She's more relaxed in her stint with Dot in
1964, singing folk (I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound),
country (Amapola), and even one Buddy Holly number (Lonesome
Tears) in a lower register and to generally fully accompaniment. When
she returned to Columbia in 1966, the folk boom was on the wane and
Hester's material combined folk and pop, with numbers like Tim Hardin's Reason
to Believe,
Cat Stevens's I Love My Dog,
and Lennon and McCartney's Penny
Lane
now in her repertoire. Listen and you will know why Carolyn Hestor
was an early heroine of contemporary folk/country performer Nanci
Griffith. (DH)
|
| THE HIGHWAYMEN |
EMI 96334-2 |
Michael Row The Boat Ashore - Best Of The
Highwaymen |
● CD $11.98 |
24 tracks, 61 min., good. Even though they lacked the
distinctive, charismatic lead voice with which some of the other folk
groups of the time were blessed, these Connecticut fraternity brothers,
good at the kind of close harmony singing that simple folk melodies
required, were timely and lucky enough to have had a major pop hit with
the title track here. The pleasant rather than powerful cuts here include Cindy
Oh Cindy/ The Gypsy Rover/ Cotton Fields/ Whiskey in the Jar/ The First
Time (Ever I Saw Your Face), and the first recording of Buffy St.
Marie's classic Universal Soldier. Interestingly enough, their 1974
reunion reflection of pop music fame, Number 1, is probably the
strongest cut here. (DH)
|
| ANNE HILLS |
Flying Fish 464 |
Woman Of A Calm Heart |
● CD $15.98 |
|
| ANNE HILLS |
Flying Fish 608 |
Don't Panic |
● CD $15.98 |
|
| ANNE HILLS |
Flying Fish 621 |
October Child |
● CD $15.98 |
Eclectic selection featuring the songs of songwriter Michael
Smith.
|
| ANNE HILLS &
CINDY MANGSEN |
Flying Fish 638 |
Never Grow Old |
● CD $15.98 |
Contemporary songs with guest appearances from Priscilla
Herdman, Tom Paxton, Laurie Lewis and others.
|
| TISH HINOJOSA |
Rounder 3122 |
Culture Swing |
● CD $15.98 |
12 tracks, 44 min., recommended. This sparkling, new "Mex-Tex"
singer-songwriter, backed with a hot half-conjunto, half C&W swing
band, delivers up some fine new songs. She writes in both English and
Spanish--all the songs sharing both a sense of place and an air of knowing
where they're going. Hinojosa's lyrics are clean and evocative and she
seems equally good at socio-political commentary (Something in the Rain)
and simple love ballads (Every Word). Her Louisiana Road Song
could be a 14-karat Country hit. Nanci Griffith fans should definitely
check this out. Some nice, fresh angles here, including the San Antonio
Rose story told from Rosie's point of view. Delightful. (DC)
|
| TISH HINOJOSA |
Rounder 3172 |
Sign Of Truth |
● CD $15.98 |
Fine album from this expressive singer and talented
songwriter
|
| ROBIN HOLCOMB |
Elektra Musician 60983 |
Robin Holcomb |
● CD $15.98 |
Robin's first album of beautifully introspective and moody
(though not brooding) songs. Her voice has a unique folkiness, with its
slight Appalachian vibrato, while her piano-based songs weave in and
around various tonalities. The moods are a result of the orchestration and
playing of her band as much as from the writing itself. Produced by her
husband, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, and including downtown New Yorkers
Bill Frisell and Dave Hofstra, the playing is especially colorful, never
overshadowing the songs, but enhancing the distinct character of each.
Exquisite music for a rainy day - 43 minutes. (GR)
|
| THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS |
Fantasy 24711 |
1 & 2 |
● CD $16.98 |
Now available domestically. A reissue of the Rounders' first
two albums for Prestige from 1964 & 1965 plus two previously unissued
cuts from the same period. The result of a head-on collision between the
folk revival and the counterculture, these guys got their material from
old time country and country blues 78s, then filtered them through their
skewed perspectives and came up with stuff like this. Peter Stampfel in
particular possesses the ability to sing like a hillbilly who's gotten
into the loco weed, and both he and Steve Weber (the only members of the
band at this early date) remain remarkably true to the spirit of their
source material and convey the feeling that they are having a great time
doing it. Songs and tunes include Blues In The Bottle/ Euphoria/ Hey,
Hey Baby/ Moving Day/ Hop High Ladies/ Black Eyed Susie/ Fishing Blues/
Mole In The Ground/ Chevrolet Six/ Sugar In the Ground and lots more.
Includes original album notes plus new notes by Phil Smee (RP/FS)
|
| CISCO HOUSTON |
Smithsonian Folkways 40059 |
The Folkways Years, 1944-61 |
● CD $15.98 |
29 tracks, 70 min., recommended Gilbert Vandine Houston, a
contemporary of and a collaborator with the rest of the folk luminaries
who came into prominence in the 1940's, has been under-praised by many
music critics because his voice is too good. To such writers he just
didn't sound crude enough to sing the songs of the common people.
Balderdash! Not only is his vibrant baritone one of the great voices in
folk music, as this delightful retrospective demonstrates, but his point
of view is also one of the most direct and honest in his corner of the
music business. Among the many highlights here are three duets with Woody
Guthrie - There's a Better World a-Comin'/ What Did the Deep Blue Sea
Say, and A Picture from Life's Other Side - plus I Ain't Got
No Home/ The Frozen Logger/ Born 100,000 Years Ago, and the fine
cowboy ballad The Killer. Great American music, presented with
great care. Fine sound quality and graphics, plus a 25 page booklet with
vintage photos, a brief biography, and notes on each song. (DH)
|
| CISCO HOUSTON |
Vanguard VMD 2131 |
Sings The Songs Of Woody Guthrie |
● CD $13.98 |
18 tracks, 46 min., essential The digital reissue of
Vanguard LP 9089 from 1963, the absolutely winning combination of 40's to
50's folk music's best voice with that same generation's best songwriter.
The program, originally produced by Harold Leventhal and Lee Hays, is
organized into four sections: The Land, Curly Headed Babies, Big Men, and
Lone Wolves. Specific selections include Pastures of Plenty, Deportees,
Sinking of the Reuben James, Hard Ain't It Hard, Pretty
Boy Floyd, Philadelphia Lawyer, Ranger's Command, and
the hymn to California's Depression appeal Do Re Mi. Accompaniment
is simple throughout: just Houston's guitar supplemented by Eric Weisberg
on fiddle, banjo, or guitar. The liner notes by Houston are reproduced
from the original LP, and the sound quality is fine. Clearly one of folk
music's high points. (DH)
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| CISCO HOUSTON |
Vanguard 79574 |
The Best Of The Vanguard Years |
● CD $15.98 |
24 tracks from the strong voiced Houston - mostly
traditional or folk standards including quite a few songs from the
repertoire of his good friend and traveling companion Woody Guthrie. It
includes the first CD release of his album "The Cisco Houston
Special" which has Cisco with various arrangements including some
incongruous orchestral and vocal chorus accompaniments. There are seven
tracks from his album "Cisco Houston Sings The Songs Of Woody
Guthrie" and five previously unissued tracks (Roll On Columbia/
John Hardy/ Tramp On The Street, etc.)
|
| DAVE HULL |
Flying Fish 294 |
Hull's Victory |
● CD $15.98 |
|
| DAVE HULL |
Flying Fish 576 |
Reunion Rag |
● CD $15.98 |
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