Can we talk about early-mid70s West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock?

http://rs442.rapidshare.com/files/148571954/Robert_Byrne___1979__Blame_it_on_the_night.Cult_AOR.mp3.rar

sorry:

http://rs442.rapidshare.com/files/148571954/Robert_Byrne_-__1979__Blame_it_on_the_night.Cult_AOR.mp3.rar

i've been digging the Jamme album this week. merseybeat cowboy hat pop produced by john phillips (and terry melcher) mostly in 1968, but only released by dunhill in 1972! so, someone buying it in 1972 might have suffered some small flashbacks. sounds really good to me now though. they were an actual band, but the album ends up being a mishmash of band members and people like larry knechtel and jim gordon. you can read the convoluted story here:

http://www.myspace.com/jammeclassics

oh, and Rockin' Foo, i've been playing them this week. Rockin' Foo definitely belong here. i got there 2nd album on Uni. both Rockin' Foo albums are self-titled, i think. the one on Hobbit and the one on Uni. anyway, they were cool. and rural and all that.

and, i've been playing Marrying Maiden by It's A Beautiful Day. that one has Jerry all over it. playing pedal steel and banjo.

and, i've been playing two records on the Evolution label. one by Game and the other by Steel River. I was gonna sell the Steel River album, but i dig it.

david crosby solo album is fantastic. jerry's on that one a little too. wish there'd been another one during that era

i got a copy of the Rockin' Foo LP on Hobbit a couple years back but it didn't do much for me. In fact i found it kinda painful to listen to. Certainly no Plain Jane! but, I always did wonder why there was an album on Uni that was also self-titled. Wasn't sure if it was a second issue of the Hobbit album or what..

found a sealed copy of the Mike Corbitt & Jay Hirsch lp at the record fair on Saturday. 10 bucks, not that bad. still holding out for a reasonably priced Mr. Flood's Party sometime in my lifetime.

haven't seen any mention of sixto rodriguez here. totally worth people's time
http://www.myspace.com/rodriguezsugarman
he's from detroit via mexico, so doesn't really count, but sort of does, too

here's a case of me underrating something that i now really dig: the Farquahr album on elektra. or maybe it just fits my mood right now. i like jerry ragovoy's big booming production, and the harmonies are great. "hanging on by a thread" is a killer song too. plus, how can you not enjoy a well-crafted folk/country rock album made by four guys named Barnswallow, Hummingbird, Condor, and Flamingo Farquahr?

it makes me want to hear the 60's Fabulous Farquahr album on Verve. anyone have that? same dudes, i think. less country, as far as i can tell from descriptions.

imported from Rolling Country (our discussion of early frontrunners ofr Top Ten:
Chris Darrow's twofer, s/t with Under My Own Disguise. from the early 70s, post- or late-psychedelic folk/country rock I'd say: he reaps the whirlwind, under inpenterable cloud cover, but re-orientation is no prob: dense but clear, as xgau said of Meltzer's best writing, And no up-in-lights oh wow factor, cause no lights. Lots of stuff going on, but mainly what gets me is voice-keyboards-bass-drums in the pocket, like on Fotheringay 2, Jessi Colter's Out Of The Ashes, Tell Tale Signs (and some other Dylan tracks, much older than Tell Tale Signs' outtakes, like "Ballad of a Thin Man"/"Dear Landlord"/"Down Along The Cove"/"If Dogs Run Free"/"Dirge") Vocally, a bit like Michael Nesmith, but this guy can hold a note as long as he wants to, and flex it too (might be some of that Middle Eastern in his alma mater, Kaleidoscope, but he always sounds like a cowboy, incl in UK with maybe some of the same people on Fotheringay 2, come to think of it-- although some of the "UK" vibe turns out to be from the L.A. sessions, and vice versa)
-dow

for some reason it really bothers me that jason doesn't like manassas

thread definitely needs more love for manassas

ooh, i LOVE the s/t Chris Darrow record. I haven't heard the other one though, so maybe this twofer will be a rare CD i will buy.

got this recently, it's really good:

http://users.skynet.be/fa388247/windmills.jpg

The Darrow reissue is on vinyl too, but it is $$$.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7166/32447762.jpg

has Morning been mentioned yet on this thread? it's sort of a side project of Jay Donnellan, who played guitar with Love's second lineup, and Jim Hobson, who played keyboards on Love's Out Here album. I've only listened to the s/t album a couple times, but at its best the band comes across as a very drowsy CSNY, or a hipster honky-tonk act along the lines of the Flying Burrito Bros. (circa their third album) & some of Chris Hillman's other extra-Byrds projects. afaik the s/t (and the follow-up, which I haven't heard) has never been reissued, and it seems to only exist on a couple obscuro mp3 blogs.

i'd like to apologize to the new riders of the purple sage for not mentioning them more on this thread. or maybe they are too well known and obvious? listening to Gypsy Cowboy just now...man, is there a song as cool as "death and destruction"?

i like the two rick roberts albums i have. they are good and he also had a hand - like ned doheney - in making other cali people's records cool.

and speaking of rick roberts, other than the burrito brothers he's best known for starting firefall. but i don't think i own any firefall albums. you'd think i would have, like, five of them.

i bid on that Morning album once on ebay. got outbid.

i kinda wish there were some japanese people on this thread so i could talk to them about david riordan albums and ask them what the deal is with that warehouse sound company & friends album that he had a hand in.

no offense to the people already here of course you are all lovely...

oh but i do like some of the dfa/lcd stuff. and that is rocker dance, no? mostly i fell in love with the yeah single. that thing was just undeniable.

whoops wrong thread.

Any love for Chip Taylor's Last Chance? does it even belong here? Very cool country-rock record......

Christgau on Frummox:

FRUMMOX: Here to There (Probe) Pretentious cowboy music? Yes, pretentious cowboy music. C MINUS

This record is fine imho and would probably be enjoyed by many of you.

i think only christgau stans, all 53 of them, should ever listen to what that dude says

christgau is my reliable bizarro critic. kinda like david denby. if they don't like it, chances are, i will. and if they really like it, i stay away.

the dude pioneered the negative snark style of writing about music & even shit he likes he's gotta zing. it's pretty weak and cowardly imo. i don't want to turn this thread into talking about that, though.

Yeah, let's continue to talk about entertaining stoner cowboys:

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/itsaboutmusic/early-poco.jpg

yer right, proceed.

i found the tape mix i made for this thread! now i just gotta upload it to da web.

(x-post)

And like how I finally broke down and bought that Illinois Speed Press album (the first one) that had been taunting me for months on end at the used record store, then filed it and forgot about it cause I was tired when I got home that day, eventually getting around to playing it and after all that not really feeling it at all.

yes! i was just going to ask about that mix!

hell yes, scott, can't wait

i really like that first illinois speed press album. it's got a little bit of everything on it.

I probably need to give it another spin. It just wasn't what I was expecting (byrds/poco/nesmith-style country rock). I did like the guitar playing.

it's got more of a hard-rocking/psychhippie vibe, i always thought. but that shouldn't scare you. you like that stuff.

xpost I've got several Chip Taylor solo albums I haven't played yet, but I *really really* like the sets he's done on public radio shows with Carrie Rodriquez, mostly cos I *really really* like her (with him haven't heard her solo) They even do this hilarious song about how to seduce a country-folkie etc person with red wine 'n' Prine (actually it sounds like something Lee Hazlewood might've done, Chip's growling an all)

Also, don't know how this might sound on CD, but the LP of Buffalo Springfield's Last Time Around really suits this thread (even or especially because they were pretty much broken up then and, but with songs and orchestration and session pickers etc as links x conduits x barriers, like some of the later Beatles albums, but with more upfront/consistent use of the rueful reverie vibe, it's good unified variety and you can tell they've been through a lot but are still young)

electric:

acoustic:

Just heard 'Euphoria - A Gift From Euphoria' for the first time tonight and thought of this thread. Dang good record and I'm going to have to find out the story on these guys - too good for just one record.

ha, i think the downloading thread is kinda bs but i do think you could say that no way in hell would something like a gift from euphoria be made today as it's obvious they threw a shit load of money to record that (london, nashville & la!)
amazing album that never gets old to my ears

bought this michael murphey album from a woman selling lps near a farmer's market here in l.a., $2:

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/m/michael-martin-murphey/album-geronimos-cadillac.jpg

he's from texas, moved to l.a., recorded this album shortly after moving back to texas. folky, a little gospel-style in places, has this keening, cracking voice like a lower-register neil young. not bad at all.

Another great Texas-LA-Texas guy:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419Z51XFTQL._SS500_.jpg

Some early '70s albums I've been listening to lately that come close to this category, if not exactly fit into it:

John Hartford- Aereo-Plain
Mickey Newbury- Frisco Mabel Joy
Tom T. Hall- In Search for a Song, I Witness Life
Commander Cody- Lost in the Ozone
Paul Siebel- Jack Knife Gypsy, Woodsmoke & Oranges
New Riders of the Purple Sage- ST
Graham Nash- Songs for Beginners
Link Wray- ST (1971)
Waylon Jennings- The Taker, Singer of Sad Songs
Ian Matthews- If You Saw Thro My Eyes
Elvis Presley- Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)
Bill Fay- Time of the Last Persecution
Wizz Jones- The Legendary Me
Johnny Cash- Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
JD Souther- Black Rose
Rodriguez- Cold Fact

Townes Van Zandt- Delta Momma Blues
Merle Haggard- Hag/Someday We'll Look Back

This thread has provided my with much digging and surprisingly I have found much on this thread for cheap. The most recent find was by Vernon Wray called Wasted and a band called Cherokee.

I should thank Stormy Davis for mentioning William Truckaway. Breakaway is now one of my favourite record.

I tried to look up thread for William Truckaway, who is he?

Here's what Stormy Davis wrote :

so have we really not talked about William Truckaway yet on this thread ?? His album has been in heavy rotation for the last year or so since I picked it up (thanks Neil.) It's fucking amazing , mebbe not so much country, but certainly some sort of 'post-psych' poppy folk, or maybe poppy 'post-folk' 70s Psych ,,, not sure .. but the album ("Breakaway") completely rules. Why is NMH the only champ at this point?? but as always he picks a winner

Don't know more about more about him but I can confirm it is indeed fucking fantastic.

doesn't fit the time frame of this thread, came out in '69 i think, but all country byrds fans need to hear don preston & the south's hot air through a straw. been digging it all week.

http://www.platterpus.com/images/76120.jpg

I don't think I've seen this news mentioned on ilm, but country-rock lost a real pioneer when John "Marmaduke" Dawson of the New Riders died on 07.21: http://www.examiner.com/x-15209-The-Dead-Examiner~y2009m7d24-New-Riders-John-Dawson-dies-at-64

I wrote a tribute for the Rhapsody Blog:
http://blog.rhapsody.com/2009/07/the-last-lonely-eagle-john-marmaduke-dawson.html