Tony Coulter here, on the screen in front of you, pushing a passel of roundish soundings. Said sounds are mostly private, and six of ten are clothed in black and white. A burst of color flashes at the end, emerging from the longhaired quarter.
And gnow, dear mir or sadam, please turn, turn, turn the page....
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Jack Crocker: Pictures and Mirrors (Rimrock, 197?) LP
Let's begin with one Jack Crocker, and an LP from sometime in the '70s, recorded in Memphis, TN. Pictures and Mirrors is primarily a country album, but one track, the mysterious and quietly intense "Only Time Will Tell," verges on folk psych -- or, perhaps, is simply beyond genre. You'll find it below.
Crocker Jack:
Jack Crocker: Only Time Will Tell
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Richard, Cam & Bert: Richard, Cam & Bert (Trilogy, 1970?) LP
Here's a really fine and undeservedly obscure album, recorded around 1969 by the New York trio of Richard Tucker, Campbell Bruce, and Bert Lee -- all three of whom contribute vocals, guitar, and songwriting. Their sound is rooted in folk, folk blues, and country, but these trad styles are subtly extended, personalized, and psychedelicized by unexpected melodic and harmonic touches -- a little in the manner of Homegas, perhaps. Listeners with elephantine memories may recall that "Without That Girl" is on an old marathon premium of mine.
Richard, Cam, & Bert-ing in the park:
Richard, Cam & Bert: Without That Girl
Richard, Cam & Bert: If You Knew
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Mojo Collins: Diamond Shoals: Tales Untold (Jomo Records, 1979) LP
The next album should perhaps properly be attributed to "Diamond Shoals," rather than Mojo Collins -- it's all a bit ambiguous. In any case, I do know that guitarist W. R. (Mojo) Collins -- then of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and previously in the band Sawbuck -- wrote and sang all the songs on this 1979 LP. I also know that the song "Diamond Shoals," hearable below, is stone-cold gorgeous.
Mojo Collins, the Kitty Hawk Boy:
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Craig Alan Woodard: They Laughed When I Sat Down to Play (no label, 1977) LP
Next up is an example of a relatively rare style: ambitious basement pop -- in the private record realm, there's only one of these for every fifty folky/singer-songwriter thingies. I hear echoes of everything from the Beatles to Billy Joel, but none of the slick artifice that can make "big-time" pop hard on the stomach is present here.
Craig Alan Woodard isn't laughing:
Craig Alan Woodard: Bitter Bouquet
Craig Alan Woodard: Ivory White
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Paul Wright: Leave Your Worries Outside (Tip-Top Records, 198?) LP
I have little to tell you about Canadian Paul Wright, other than that he is responsible for most of the sounds heard on the LP above -- one side of which features instrumental covers, and the other, his original songs. There's no date on the album, and its vaguely '50s sound (that rockabilly-ish reverb, for one thing) makes it hard to place -- though the shirt and hair say seventies, I'm sure you'll agree.
Paul Wright:
Paul Wright: Waiting for the Phone
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Benjamin Earl: Benjamin Earl (Goldruss Records, 1987) LP
We turn next to an LP recorded in East Haven, Connecticut, by guitarist/singer-song-writer Benjamin Earl -- who, once again, I know next to nothing about. I will say that the cut I've given you sounds a wee bit like Kenneth Higney in parts -- mixed with something I can't quite my finger on. But, anyhow, Benjamin wouldn't want my finger on his song, would he?
Benjamin Earl:
Benjamin Earl: Slobs of the Kitchen Sea
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R. A. P. Donovan Jr. & J. Kevin Fulton: Too Fine Villains (AcoustoGraphic Records, 1972) LP
And now something truly unusual: a private-press LP recorded in quad. That oddity aside, this is a fine folky album with touches of psych, recorded by a duo from Edgartown, Massachusetts. "Rain" was written by bassist Donovan; "How Much She Means to Me," by guitarist Fulton.
J. Kevin Fulton: R. A. P. Donovan Jr.:
R. A. P. Donovan Jr. & J. Kevin Fulton: Rain
R. A. P. Donovan Jr. & J. Kevin Fulton: Celebration: "How Much She Means to Me"
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Steve Baron: Sessions - with Jef Lowell (Otherway Records, 1971) LP
While the above is a private-press album, New Yorker Steve Baron also has two LPs on "regular" labels: 1971's The Mother of Us All (on Tetragrammaton, and also featuring bassist Jef Lowell) and 1973's A Wanderer Like You (on Paramount). The first in particular featured a kind of folk/jazz hybrid that momentarily brought Baron a degree of attention. The record I've focused my shaky spotlight on, though, is more purely singer-songwriter-ish and folky, if still fairly harmonically refined.
Steve Baron:
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Bill & Ron Moore: Lo and Behold (Martin Recordings, 1969) LP
Let us now consider a 1969 album by the duo of Bill and Ron Moore, then of Wilmore, Kentucky. I can't say I know what happened to Bill Moore, but Ron went on to become the founder of Airborne Records and a leading force in contemporary Christian music. His 1971 album Wilmore is certainly one of the most impressive x-ian albums I've ever heard (speaking as a music-loving non-believer).
Ron & Bill:
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John Dugan: Dugan (Black-Baron Dugan Records, 1966) LP
Let's wrap up today's audio hallucinations with an album by a folky singer-songwriter form Santa Clara, California. Despite the reverse-image artwork, calling this folk-psych would be quite a stretch -- it's mostly pretty straight Pete Seeger and Dylan--influenced plain-old-folk. The cut I've given you, though, is nicely tender and delicate. Incidentally, the particular LP copy temporarily in my hands came from Andy Warhol's record collection -- and reached me on its passage to whatever its final destination may be thanks to the generosity of Cozmic Eddie (thanks Eddie!)
John Dugan:
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Art: R. Henry
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Let's look at some pictures now -- all taken from the covers of classical records in my collection. I've given you parts of covers only, with the artist's name when possible.
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Art: Penelope [??]
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Art: Helmut Ebnet
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Art: Bjorn Wiinblad
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That's it for now -- see you 'round the bend....
Great stuff Im going to use richard cam bert in my show next week
Posted by: Sister Hairy Hymen | October 28, 2010 at 06:55 PM
I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting Mr. Mojo Collins on many occasions around the late 80s at Lisa's Bar & Grill of Atlantic Beach, NC. He's the kind of cat that would tell you that you were rolling a joint all wrong and would do the 75 ft. guitar cable in the audience, in your girlfriend's face act. This dude was a professional badass, looked like Kenny Rogers, and my band "sucked." I actually have this album somewhere. I highly recommend his brother, Dave Collins.
North Carolina, C'mon and Raise Up-
johnny favorite
Pontifex Maximus,
MOOLAH TEMPLE $tringband
Posted by: Johnny Favorite | October 28, 2010 at 07:29 PM