Takoma's one-offs and obscurities

that first george winston album is rilly good. that rick ruskin album is not so good.

The Contemporary Guitar comp is ace too. with Max Ochs, Harry Taussig, Fahey, Basho and Bukka White.

i like all the dobro bluegrass rekkerds on takoma.. mike auldridge and stuff like that. but that norman blake record! loving it the past week or so.

bola sete good too.

rick ruskin was to takoma what bill horwitz was to esp.

tut taylor good too.

oh yeah, rick ruskin, not great. tut taylor! i don't know if i have anything by him on takoma..

also not super into the Randy Brook album on devi/takoma.
Janet Smith's "The Unicorn" is a cool record too. Mellow, fairly traditional folk.

post-fahey, the roulettes album is pretty bad and i like all kinds of bad power pop records.

I like that T-Bone Burnette album--"Boomerang"!

My cousin told me that back in '79 in Austin you could buy that Fab T-birds lp (their debut, which got picked up by Chrysalis) at Conan's Pizza parlours.

I'd like to hear Rita Weill record.

the Chris Darrow record on Takoma is not good, it pains me to say.

Was wondering about that one, I *love* Kaleidoscope but have never investigated any of those guys subsequent stuff.

Xp to Scott: I have that Phil Host Bent City record and it's pretty good. Gets filed near my Basho records. I bought it off my friend Kate when she was moving, and I think later she regretted selling it.

I know Yankee transcendoodle has been talked about here before. I kind of like that record, but maybe it's because I like the source material. The bass is really heavy on it. The copy I bought was sealed ($1), and I wonder if that's not common, as if it was a record no one cared for or bought and so ended up stored unopened in the boxes they came in from the record pressing plant?

Yost! Yost! Autocorrect.

I've got that Rabindra (Danks) LP. It's weird.

man, i know almost none of these! someone make me a comp of takoma's greatest mixes, plzzz?

NickB -- there are other, really good Chris Darrow records... check the s/t on United Artists and "Artist-Proof" on Fantasy; I am a big supporter of those albums. I like them better than most Kaleidoscope stuff.

Craig Leon's Nommos is fantastic.

I've only heard the self titled Chris Darrow record and I love it. I've been looking for the Janet Smith and Rita Weill records but ebay and musicstack turns up nothing. This thread will surely keep me on ebay for awhile.

Ian, I will definitely check those - thanks for the tip!

Did Fahey at some point sell Takoma or release his reins?

sold to Chrysalis at some point...

ok so is that tony thomas thing actually what it purports to be -- recording of an old-timer fiddler -- or is it actually what i think it is, recordings by the younger, african-african fiddler whose name happens to be tony thomas (and who is a prolific reviewer on amazon these days)? knowing fahey i wouldn't be surprised if he's up to more of his tricks.

btw when did fahey's involvement w/ takoma end?

also what about maria muldaur stuff? i have never investigated that.

Pretty sure the Tony Thomas record is not a ruse; seems too elaborate. The record is good. Info inside indicates it's just what it says it is.

wiki re: Takoma sale:

In 1979, Fahey sold Takoma to Chrysalis Records, owned by Terry Ellis and Chris Wright, which had artists such as Blondie, Pat Benatar, and Huey Lewis.[3] Jon Monday continued as General Manager of the label for Chrysalis until 1982 when Chrysalis sold the Takoma catalog. During the Chrysalis years, Takoma released albums by The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Maria Muldaur, Canned Heat, Mike Bloomfield, and T-Bone Burnett. The catalog was purchased in 1995 by Fantasy Records,[1] which in 2004 was taken over by the Concord Music Group. Fantasy has a handful of the Takoma recordings on the market as CDs as of this writing in 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A92JQlOQEEE

http://www.discogs.com/buy/Vinyl/Swamp-Dogg-Im-Not-Selling-Out-Im-Buying-In/446775-2993708?ev=bp_titl

^^ don't think i've ever seen this one.

I love Jerry Williams or Little Jerry Williams. I have most of his Swamp Dog records. My favorite is 'Cuffed, Collared & Tagged.' I've never seen 'I'm Not Selling I'm Buying In' on vinyl though. I have it on cd. Westside records rereleased most of his albums on cd in the early 00's.

Yeah, I'm a swamp dogg fan! It surprises me that I never knew he had a record on takoma. my faves of his are cuffed, collared..., rat on, and gag a maggot. but i like them all for at least a few killer tracks... so far anyway. steered clear of disco-era material. just not ready yet.

His cover of Sam Stone sounds so natural that I think it surpasses Prine's original.

I have a dumb question: Is it pronounced Home Gas or like H+Omegas?

I love the Floating House Band LP.

uh, i pronounce is Home Gas but who knows?

I would think more people would like Lawrence Hammond's 'Coyotes Dream'? He was the singer in the Mad River, which their last record hinted at the sound he would have. It's pure country gold! Their are only three very short reviews on his RYM page, all in italian.

I think I've seen that record but never listened to it? I was never a huge Mad River fan tbh.

after you posted abt it i went to look in the country & folk bins at the store, but it must have sold.

instead of ppl moaning abt too many polls or what kind of polls or who should be polled or not or whatnot they cld be reading and getting edumacated by this great thread, thank you jacob for starting it

i wish i cld contribute, but you just never really see this stuff in the uk, don't suppose most of it ever got propertly distribbed outside the usa. in fact thinking abt it, ian and scott pl collaborate on a bk abt this shit, you have one britishes buyer and eager reader, here.

I rarely find Takoma records in my digging around flea markets, thrift stores and estate sales. I keep an eye on ebay and good record stores like Antones in Austin,TX. I did find Lawrence Hammond for very cheap in a crate of sealed records that were all priced for 10 dollars. I'm not sure how good Takoma distribution was in it's day, or how many copies of each record was pressed. I've read online that Leo Kottke was their biggest seller. If only fantasy was released a few of these obscurities......

there are certain takoma records that i see all the time. which is sort of disappointing since there are others i never see. the sentimental songs of the late 19th c. or whatever it's called is good. honestly though the takoma discography is pretty up and down.

need to hear this homegas stuff.

the homegas record is this kind of bluegrass/country blues inflected sad-sack psych-folk album... i love it to bits. "maine" is the best cut imo -- "you know i never really loved a sled dog, til you kissed me on the floor."

looking up takoma stuff on popsike and my past hyperbole is saved for the ages:

John Fahey - Death Chants Break Downs & Military Waltzes (Takoma) Nice early original Takoma pressing. Cover is VG+ with some ring wear/age wear and some edge wear. Nothing too horrible though. Looks nice! Booklet is in great shape. Vinyl is clean VG+. Sounds amazing! That guitar of his will hit you in the head!

hahaha. you seem like a good, honest ebay seller.

i made so much fahey money that month. i felt a little guilty. john fahey paid for my german history of house music box set that month too. thanks, john! (traded some fahey to josh at mystery train. always wanted that box set. chuck was the only person i ever knew who had one.)

gonna block off at least half an hour this tuesday on my radio show to spotlight some of the lesser known Takoma titles; will also play some fahey and basho and probably even some kottke..

Hey Ian, how can I listen to your show online?

it steams on eastvillageradio.com; it's the academy records show tuesday nights from 10-12. you can listen to it on itunes too under radio->eclectic. past shows are all archived on thee website.

Thanks I'll start listening in. My favorite basho is by far 'Song of the Stallion', I like his singing especially when it comes out of nowhere like on A North American Raga.

LOL "even some kottke" :)

i love leo, don't get me wrong!

Jesus, when oh WHEN will someone reissue this fucking album?? It's one of the greatest folk albums ever made, and one of about five records I can think of that I'd easily drop $100 on without even thinking about it. Grrrr.

I'm desperate to find a copy as well. That particular song sounds kind of Leonard Cohen-y to me btw.

http://ghostcapital.org/phil-yost-fog-hat-ramble-takoma-1968/

i need a copy of fog hat ramble.. i have the other two yost records and love them.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/clt/3892820791.html

that's a bit spendy!

interested in this:

IN SEARCH OF BLIND JOE DEATH: THE SAGA OF FAHEY . . ..A Documentary by James Cullingham

tangentially related: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0985302801/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_asp_wTEmF.1DXF9ZB

I know this guy was pretty involved in the 'Your Past...' box set, dunno if it's a retread of some of that or like an expanded Fahey Files kinda thing, sorta curious, but tight on $ right now, so I'm not about to find out.

I mean like:
"Each record is presented with all its known issues and variations."

sounds too much for even me. 476 pages! and that's just volume 1. ah, who am I kidding, I'll buy it eventually.

i bought it.

Taking one for the team. Interested to hear how that is btw.

Craig Leon's Nommos appears to be about to be properly reissued. I'm delighted by this after just discovering it upthread.

http://www.superiorviaduct.com/products/craig-leon-nommos

fahey book sounds great. too bad it looks like this! come on, design a cover, dudes!
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xDUHh2siL._SY300_.jpg

also kind of amazing that the list price is $57 and amazon is selling it for $13? guess i should buy it quick.

Yeah, it's ugly. And the supposed inflated price is exactly why I snapped it up when I did! I 'll report back on what it exactly is once it comes...

i ordered it too! BOOK CLUB!

Ordered. Looks great. Can't beat the price, either. Let's meet back here in two weeks and discuss!

for those interested -- my friend who is working on the Homegas reissue has been in touch with all the surviving members, has gotten some awesome rare photos, and is going to continue working towards getting it reissued. This is the same dude who did the F.J. McMahon record so you know it'll be high quality.

(also just ordered that book, lol saving money.)

Now I will quit bumming out that I lost a bid on a clean copy of that Homegas LP last week (went for over $150). One up now that looks OK - cover's trashed but the vinyl looks fine - already over $50. Can't swing it, not with this ridiculous free jazz list up right now. Err, perhaps I've said too much.

Ian, please keep me posted re: this reissue. Holy grail record for me, one of three or four LPs I'd drop $100 on if I saw it

yeah what's the label?

circadian press. small one man operation.

Welp, my "Fahey handbook" came, it appears to be a combination of truly useless arcanum (a family tree of Fahey's great grandfather?, truly obsessive levels of categorizing of each and every pressing of every single Fonotone issue and reissue) combined with quite interesting-seeming biographical and songwriting details I haven't seen yet scattered throughout. Glad I bought it, but glad i didn't drop 50 bucks on it also. I suppose the maniacal level of detail is useful for collectors and whatnot, but I don't know if this is a book you can exactly 'read' per se

how the hell did the Sir Douglas Quintet's "Best Of" LP come out on this label?? at first I thought it had the wrong inner sleeve. such a non sequitur.

Prob contract filler after SDQ's Border Wave, also on Takoma (and Takoma-Crysalis), in 1981. Here's my fave track---a Kinks kover, but fits their sound perfectly, which was the orig premise of the deal (Hey Kids! Yall like that skinny tie, skinny organ New Wave sound---here's Border Wave! Of course the original Sir Douglas premise, w "She's About A Mover" etc. was also re Southwestern influences on Brit Invasion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WcinP-YgyM#t=24

I haven't seen any mention of this record which is nice 12 string with xylophone
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/7994234850_fa6aa6a34e_z.jpg

test imbed (Fahey live, full show)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCOQr7o8A4

Maybe it'll show a frame if I spell it rite?
test embed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCOQr7o8A4

fug---one more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCOQr7o8A4

[url] doesn't help either.

really loving this!

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20080506/270235271611.jpg

one side has just two long a cappella songs. trance-inducing.

dow - to embed you need to delete the s in https

that J.B. Smith is great.

Similar vibe to Bukka White's "Sky Songs."

Can anyone speak about sq differences between the Rvng, Intl reissue of Craig Leon's Nommos and the Superior Viaduct reissue? I've heard that the Rvng, along with adding Visiting and using entirely different cover art, is a noisy pressing, but I also recall reading a piece in The Wire in which Leon himself disapproved of the Superior Viaduct edition for whatever reason. Providing one is unable to procure an og Takoma pressing, which reissue is preferable?

Also, is it weird that this was reissued by two different labels less than a year apart?

I'm so excited to finally have found a copy of Homegas, and the disc itself looks near mint.

There should probably be a Craig Leon thread but as there isn't just wanted a place to acknowledge how great Nommos & Visiting are. The Rvng vinyl version I have sounds fabulous.

This damn thing (She Wears A Hemispherical Skull Cap):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43wPBCsfjFI