“AIN’T GONNA RAIN NO MORE: BLUES AND PRE-BLUES FROM PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA”

Here’s another Rounder Records release, this time from 1978, that is a further AMAZING document of songs recorded in the field between 1974 and 1976 (still available in CD format from the folks at Rounder). Aside from the in-the-living-room feel, what’s particularly fascinating about this record are the ways the music meanders the interstices of the regional North Carolina (secular) African American folk sound with flecks of its contemporaneous rural white sound, all with a trajectory straight into the heart of contemporary blues. The record transcends any of the folk-blues stuff I have heard before, and the tunes, primarily banjo and fiddle performances (with a few guitar tracks), offer an idiosyncratic hybrid sound most likely not being carried on by extant folk players (either professionally or traditionally) — an archaic form. The songs contain traditional immigrant musical threads, making it hard to pinpoint the influences, and are presented through wonderfully genuine performances by John Snipes, Dink Roberts, Jamie Alston, Wilbert Atwater, Guitar Slim, and Joe and Odell Thompson. I could go on and on about how these songs send me to other planets, but it’s probably safest for you to experiment on your own. From the liner notes: “This recording delineates the emergence of the blues tradition in Piedmont North Carolina, tracing its development from fiddle and banjo tunes to banjo and ragtime tunes transposed for guitar, on through the strictly blues style. In Piedmont North Carolina (roughly the stretch between the coastal plains and the mountains to the west), it appears that the fiddle and banjo were once popular instruments among both black and white musicians. Up until approximately 1900, when the guitar began to gain popularity, these two instruments were prerequisites for the square dances that were held in many of the black rural communities. I would guess that the music played by blacks on fiddle and banjo during this period was fundamentally the same as the white music, and that that the introduction of the guitar is one of the factors that influenced the emergence of a blues tradition in Piedmont. I believe that by World War One, the blues was firmly entrenched as part of the musical vocabulary of the indigenous black population.” — Kip Lornell.

Rounder Records 2016, 1978

Side One:

1. Snow a Little, Rain a Little (John Snipes, Orange County), (3′54)
2. Old Joe Clark (Joe and Odell Thompson, Mebane), (2′14)
3. Little Brown Jug (Dink Roberts, Haw River), (0′47)
4. Roustabout (Dink Roberts, Haw River), (1′58)
5. Rya’s House (Joe and Odell Thompson, Mebane), (2′27)
6. McKinley (Jaimie Alston, Orange County), (1′53)
7. Can’t Get a Letter from Down the Road (Wilbert Atwater, Orange County), (1′44)
8. Molly Put the Kettle On (Joe and Odell Thompson, Mebane), (1′02)
9. Ain’t Gonna Rain No More (Jaimie Alston, Orange County, (1′36)
10. Julie (Dink Roberts, Haw River), (1′19)
11. Six White Horses (Jamie Alston, Orange County), (2′39)

Side Two:

1. I Think I Heard The Chilly Wind Blow (John Snipes, Orange County), (4′16)
2. Rich Girl Ride In An Automobile (Wilbert Atwater, Orange County), (1′24)
3. Ain’t Gonna Rain No More (Jaimie Alston, Orange County, (1′51)
4. Georgia Buck (Joe and Odell Thompson, Mebane), (3′17)
5. Old Blue (Dink Roberts, Haw River), (1′22)
6. Buffalo (Wilbert Atwater, Orange County), (1′36)
7. Went Up On The Mountain (Jaimie Alston, Orange County, (2′29)
8. Going Down The Road Feeling Bad (Joe and Odell Thompson, Mebane), (1′24)
9. Come On Down To My House (Guitar Slim, Greensboro), (4′56)
10. Goin’ Away (Jaimie Alston, Orange County, (2′33)

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PETER WALKER “RAINY DAY RAGA”

“Peter Walker plays on the ancient protein strings of the genetic code.” — Timothy Leary. This record is a tasteful and well executed improvisational pastiche of Indian classical and neo-folk music, serving as an authentic document from the unique period in American cultural history that gave birth to its forms — and for some bizarro reason it remains out of print. An amazing synthesis forging its own impressionistic universe, Walker deftly blends craft and composition to create elusive moods and textures. With the exception of the second track (labeled on the outer sleeve as “Norwegian Mood”, and on the record itself as “Norwegian Wood”), all the compositions are Peters, and reinforce for the listener virtuosity in both playing and songcraft. In addition to a variety of guest performers that includes flutist Jeremy Steig (who performed with Bill Evans in earlier days), Monte Dunn, Alex Lukeman, and Jean-Pierre Merle, the legendary Bruce Langhorne appears on tambourine and bells (and whose session credits read like a who’s who of the 1960’s Village folk scene, AND who did the gorgeous and atmospheric soundtrack to Peter Fonda’s culty western “The Hired Hand”). Though Peter has had a resurgence of late with the release of “A Raga for Peter Walker” (Tompkins Square, 2008), and “Echo of My Soul” (Tompkins Square, 2008), his follow-up Vanguard release “Second Poem” (1968) also remains inexcusably out of print. Having forged his reputation in the early NY folk scene, Peter went on to study under both Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, later developing a close friendship with Timothy Leary, becoming the music director at his Millbrook estate in 1965. All bio stuff aside, the improvisational jams on this record are timeless, infinitely listenable, and remain fresh thirty years (!) after the fact. So drop your dose and melt away, this record delivers the goods rain or shine. From the liner notes:

“When playing ragas on the guitar, my approach is to set up a drone pattern usually based on the first, fifth and fourth intervals of a western scale, and when I feel that a steady pulse of the drone has been established, I work in a melody line based on a popular American folk song, or just any melody line that I find appealing… The music reaches a fusion point, and a sound is produced like running brook water with the improvisations like bubbles flickering over the surface. Then the piece must be quietly closed out.” — Peter Walker

VSD-79238 (stereo), 1966

Side One:

1. Morning Joy (3′43)
2. Norwegian Wood (Lennon-McCartney), (4′13)
3. White Wind (7′37)
4. Bianca (3′04)
5. Spring (2′56)

Side Two:

1. Sunshine (3′23)
2. Rainy Day Raga (6′22)
3. Road to Marscota (5′44)
4. April in Cambridge (3′09)
5. River (5′12)

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“CHRIS CORSANO & BEN CHASNEY/PAUL METZGER”

I have long been a sucker for a record with a wood laminated outer sleeve that’s been hand-stamped with a messy printing technique, and no less so for stuff by any of these three guys. The A-side track “Worm Confesses” articulated by Chasney on guitar and Corsano on drums, stretches its fractured legs into some frenetic jazz-like territory, but without getting too free form. It begins with a teaser of muted electronics, tosses some guitar riffing around that’s blended with some really nice percussion washes, finally building up to a spring-tight sparring round between the two. For me, though, the B-side gets straight to the heart of the matter, with the gitfed Paul Metzger unfurling a solo workout on the track “August”. Here, Metzger expresses a raga-style performance (complete with wind up music boxes) that evolves into a tranced-out finger picking improv on a ghee soaked guitar (most likely a hand made facsimile), the occasional coin being dropped on a table-top to keep universal time. Metzger may strut well traveled musical paths, but everything I have heard of his solo stuff always feels like it bubbles up and soars straight out of a natural wellspring of deep creative thought and emotion. Based on the “Six Organs…” cult-status, this record most likely sold out quick, and many folks like myself probably grabbed it sound unheard. In the end its a tight and very listenable set of performances revealing a mature improvisational stance, each side keeping to itself stylistically. Roaratorio Label.

584/766, ROAR 11, 2006

Side One:

1. Worm Confesses (Recorded March 3, 2005 on WMBR-FM, Cambridge, MA)

Side Two:

1. August (An improvisation for modified guitar, two altered music box mechanisms, and elecric tambura. Recorded summer 2005 with two condeser mics and two contact mics.)

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SOFT BOYS “UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT”

This LP was re-issued by Matador on CD in 2001 for its 20th anniversary, and included bunches of extra tracks and outtakes, as well as an EP called “And How It Got There,” but for some reason it’s back out of print and remains unavailable — I’ve heard rumors of a forthcoming box set with lots of accompanying material for the faithful (the session detritus from “Can of Bees” would be nice). The Soft Boys formed around 1978, and crafted a sound that lives somewhere between punk, psychedelia (ala Roger McGuinn), and power-pop (their sound was termed psychedelic punk at one point), all interwoven with Syd Barrett scion Robyn Hitchcock’s entropically biological lyricism and songwriting finesse. This, the last record before the band split, re-formed, and then split again, is a short ten-track rocker that’s grows on you like a parasite (you’ll swear you’ve heard that song somewhere before). My personal taste never really took to the solo Robyn Hitchcock, but these guys have long been a favorite, rife with deadly hooks, earnest chord progressions, tantalizing crossovers, and curvy power pop threads that leaves the sound very much its own animal — it’s a wonder they never became more commercially successful (maybe the oddball lyrics and Hitchcock’s anti-commercial antics kept it all the more submerged). Nevertheless, in spite of the funky fidelity (cheap vinyl), it’s the kind of record you can listen to two or three times in a row really loud and only feel like you’ve heard it once (for whatever that’s worth).

Armageddon Records, 1980, ARM 1

Side One:

1. I Wanna Destroy You (2′52)
2. Kingdom of Love (4′10)
3. Positive Vibrations (3′10)
4. I Got the Hots (4′42)
5. Insanely Jealous (4′15)

Side Two:

1. Tonight (3′44)
2. You’ll Have to Go Sideways (2′57)
3. Old Pervert (3′52)
4. Queen of Eyes (2′01)
5. Underwater Moonlight (4′17)

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PARIS, 1942

This was a 1995 release on the Majora label consisting of Sun City Girls morpher Alan Bishop (bass, vocals), Bennie Baresi (guitar), Jesse Akkari (guitar), David Oliphant (guitar) and the inimitable Moe “Maureen” Tucker (drums). Sounding pretty much like trash-punk meets Greg Sage channeling the Velvets somewhere in a basement c. 1982, the record is a raucous grinder mercilessly baked in monophonic tape hiss, possibly serving more as a curiosity for SCG and Velvets fans than anything else. There are definitely some musical high points, including a cover of Syd Barrett’s “Long Gone,” which true in spirit, comes up short on the interpretive side. Lyrically it’s awash in nihilistic irreverence that both wallows and moans, with its darker-side poetics getting somehow lost in the mix. What’s most interesting, though, is how stylized Moe’s drumming sounds, giving the record a raw one-take feel, and reinforcing her vital contribution to godhead rock n’ roll. Not sure how you characterize a mid-nineties sound, but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t it.

Majora, 1995

Side One:

1. Move Out of Wichita (3′19)
2. Pontius Pilote (3′10)
3. Paw (2′05)
4. The Room (3′35)
5. Berlin Mood (1′15)
6. Conversation… (4′09)
7. Exit (3′52)

Side Two:

1. Smoke Filled Room (2′00)
2. Long Gone (3′00)
3. Hex (4′26)
4. Headhunter (11′45)

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