reference points / descriptors ? hmm.. maybe like Tim Buckley at his most yodelriffic except with a much thinner / weedier voice..
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Sunday, 18 December 2005 07:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Sunday, 18 December 2005 07:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Sunday, 18 December 2005 07:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Sunday, 18 December 2005 10:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― jaxon (jaxon), Sunday, 18 December 2005 11:05 (eighteen years ago) link
"Waiting, in the Warm Golden RainThe Sweet Silent Reign of the SunTo come againAre you ready, My SonFor to ride the Rainbow of His Light?I am ready, My FatherFor to ride this Rainbow of Your Light"
Plus several sections written in Sioux! Actually I love this stuff, but like I say it's for comedy reasons as much as for his amazing playing.
― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Sunday, 18 December 2005 13:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― sweet earth flying (sweet earth flying), Sunday, 18 December 2005 14:46 (eighteen years ago) link
which record of his do you have, ian?
― O RLY? (eman), Sunday, 18 December 2005 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Sunday, 18 December 2005 17:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― O RLY? (eman), Sunday, 18 December 2005 17:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― detoxyDancer (sexyDancer), Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― NickB (NickB), Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ogmor Roundtrouser (Ogmor Roundtrouser), Monday, 19 December 2005 02:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― I know, right?, Saturday, 12 May 2007 21:22 (sixteen years ago) link
― Drew Daniel, Saturday, 12 May 2007 22:22 (sixteen years ago) link
― am0n, Sunday, 13 May 2007 06:51 (sixteen years ago) link
On iTunes there's a Vanguard Digital Vaults release of an unissued album, "Indian II"
Never seen or heard talk of this, but it seems it surfaced 2006. Downloaded and it's pretty solid Basho, though no highlight. I like that the opening track is a piano number. Still, would be worth Vanguard doing at least an actual, physical, limited release.
― matinee, Saturday, 31 May 2008 16:53 (fifteen years ago) link
I've been thinking without listening to this album for a while now. Very beautiful, strange music.
― I know, right?, Sunday, 1 June 2008 22:32 (fifteen years ago) link
I love how the melodies follow their own tails up surprising directions.
unreleased live album?
http://static.boomkat.com/images/130055/333.jpg
Live at the Kulturforum, Bonn, Germany, November 24, 1980
― eman, Monday, 13 October 2008 03:02 (fifteen years ago) link
i remember someone or other on fmu talking about the situation regarding all the live tapes that exist - that they ended up with the, uhh, religious faction that he was involved with towards the end of his life, and that no-one knew where they were, how to get in touch, what was recorded, etc.
― schlump, Monday, 13 October 2008 05:39 (fifteen years ago) link
haha what religious faction was that? i gave this a listen and it's great. possibly the best album i've heard of his.
― eman, Monday, 13 October 2008 13:28 (fifteen years ago) link
listened to basho all day yesterday, it's been a long time since i just played the same records over and over. mostly 'Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12' but also some 'Rainbow Thunder'. i like his singing but i do prefer the instrumentals, i feel like his voice overshadows the guitar a bit too much when it comes in
― 6335, Wednesday, 8 April 2009 14:37 (fifteen years ago) link
i have all these mislabeled basho mp3s but I've been listening to them over and over that one that's all "on my waaay, Colinda, lord, I'll catch the, westbound train" is slaying me lately.
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 13 September 2009 20:52 (fourteen years ago) link
who is this colinda chick anyway?
i once used a song from 'basho sings' in a skate video and most people really dug it in that context. i suspect most of them really would not have cared for it on its own. maybe basho's ready for the big screen. he'd sure add some intensity to a sequence.
― matinee, Sunday, 13 September 2009 21:09 (fourteen years ago) link
these make a great soundtrack to forrest bess paintings btw
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 13 September 2009 21:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i've grown to like his vocal albums now except for voice of the eagle which is too cheesy
― am0n, Sunday, 13 September 2009 21:52 (fourteen years ago) link
crazy this is the only basho thread! anyone heard this "new" thing? http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/7065sample sounds gorgeous.
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 April 2012 14:52 (twelve years ago) link
anyone see this? only know video footage of basho posted here: http://robbiebasho.com/Home_Page.htmlcool site overall too.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 17:41 (eleven years ago) link
Holy smoke, those videos! They seem to confirm what I thought I heard in the music -- there is very little random in his playing -- when improvising, he might surprise the audience, but he seems to know precisely what he's doing at all times. Also his right hand tonal and dynamic control are phenomenal.
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 19:59 (eleven years ago) link
amazing! i knew his right hand wld be crazy but it looks so strange: floppy wrist, hand really far away playing loosely at the bridge. incredible to see.
― ogmor, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 09:23 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, the right hand was what was most interesting to me, don't know if i've seen anyone playing like that. hope there's more!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 14:30 (eleven years ago) link
Fuck, this rules! I too like how his right hand kinda curls around the guitar and the way he's almost bent over double so that his ear is right near the sound hole.
Love Basho so much but I've never explored his ouvre much beyond Bashovia and Guitar Soli. Guess I really should buy some more albums! He inspired me to play open tuned exclusively like 10 years ago when I was just starting out on guitar and I'm forever in his debt.
― liam fennell, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:34 (eleven years ago) link
Anyway, I am surprised that no one in this thread about Basho's singing mentioned Antony Hegarty.
― Three Word Username, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
Well, if people mostly know his singing from the 60s, it's not that much of a surprise, but he got really good through the 70s, and his best vocal tune -- man, wow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaGChm8RWw&feature=related
― Three Word Username, Thursday, 16 August 2012 06:11 (eleven years ago) link
holy cats
― contenderizer, Thursday, 16 August 2012 06:31 (eleven years ago) link
afterwards, it ask me if i want to listen to 15 minutes of pharoah sanders "the creator has a master plan"
um, yeah
― contenderizer, Thursday, 16 August 2012 06:35 (eleven years ago) link
I can't see youtubes at work but I really hope that's "Orphan's Lament".
― cwkiii, Thursday, 16 August 2012 13:05 (eleven years ago) link
Nah, it was "Blue Crystal Fire" from one year earlier -- but I do dig Orphan's Lament as well, so here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjkdjb7WNs
― Three Word Username, Thursday, 16 August 2012 14:45 (eleven years ago) link
Actually, that's from the same record. Best thing Windham Hill ever put out, and it's not Windham Hilly at all.
― Three Word Username, Thursday, 16 August 2012 14:46 (eleven years ago) link
Excellent! Love "Blue Crystal Fire" too...Visions of the Country just kills me; I think it's probably his best record.
― cwkiii, Thursday, 16 August 2012 15:13 (eleven years ago) link
xp liam there have been a few great releases since the comps & Seal of the Blue Lotus reissue. Venus in Cancer has been reissued by tompkins square & is first-class basho imo, features both the tracks in the video footage, a surprisingly amazing piece w/ french horn & some great vocal stuff. bo'weavil also issued a nice live concert from 1980, Bonn ist Supreme, which has lots of good stuff which is otherwise OOP.
i've bitten the bullet and forked out for the reissue of Twilight Peaks which came out earlier this year - http://en.smalltownromanceblog.com/new-robbie-basho-reissue-twilight-peaks/ - some live&unreleased stuff, really good sound & quite a bit slower than versions floating around online, although idk what has gone on w/ the cover art, which imo should have been:
http://www.musikzimmer.ch/pics/covers/albums/20124.jpg
but yeah it's amazing, his technique has improved so much compared to the early recordings & it's an incredibly tender, gentle & calm record, mb my fav basho.
obv all his stuff should be reissued but Basho Sings!, Voice of the Eagle, Visions of the Country, & Rainbow Thunder especially. mb Zarthus too but it seems like his fruitiest record.
something i doubt will be reissued any time soon, at the other end of his career, is this lone track from a takoma comp, The Thousand Incarnations Of The Rose, which is an awesome instance of ambition carrying him through even if the technique is not 100% there & incredibly dramatic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFshZQYmLBY
― ogmor, Thursday, 16 August 2012 16:28 (eleven years ago) link
*listens to robbie basho instrumental song*
"OMG this guy is the greatest of all time"
*robbie basho singing song comes up*
"....oh dear god"
― rap game klaus nomi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 15 October 2012 19:56 (eleven years ago) link
^ hahahah otm
― global tetrahedron, Monday, 15 October 2012 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
the worst is when it's like a sublime 9 minute track that you think is instrumental but then his vocals kick in around the five minute mark
― global tetrahedron, Monday, 15 October 2012 21:37 (eleven years ago) link
his singing rules fuiud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJKhHY2OhEQ
― (╯︵╰,) RIP (am0n), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:42 (eleven years ago) link
i'm afraid i will be fu'd in this case
― rap game klaus nomi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:51 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYaGChm8RWw
not loving this does not compute imo
― 69, Monday, 15 October 2012 22:59 (eleven years ago) link
oh, haha. already upthread oops.
basho sings is not one of my favorite bashos, but song of the stallion and visions of the country are two of my vary favorite vocal records.
― 69, Monday, 15 October 2012 23:03 (eleven years ago) link
lol at THE "PERFECT" CHRISTMAS GIFT!https://40.media.tumblr.com/f826f2f6e864e10e2e959f7947951b53/tumblr_nxzhxkYfUl1rl3uofo1_500.jpg
― tylerw, Tuesday, 23 February 2016 20:56 (eight years ago) link
love badly used quotation marks
― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 23 February 2016 21:12 (eight years ago) link
this record is sounding pretty solid! had never heard it before.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 23 February 2016 21:24 (eight years ago) link
weirdness! at least they're getting the music out there... kyle and those grasstops guys are super nice, and i'm sure they haven't been doing anything shady with this music. someone must think they're sitting on a Basho goldmine or something.
― tylerw, Tuesday, February 23, 2016 2:17 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah the whole thing is really dumb, grass tops just wants it available
i would say they are making an extremely modest amount if they are making anything doing these projects, they have a put a ton of work into them
― uptown garfunkel (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 February 2016 22:14 (eight years ago) link
yeah, i mean, they're actually putting the work into it all -- getting the best sounding versions they can get, creating nice packages ... i mean, if someone else actually holds the rights to the recordings, they should work something out -- i agree that Basho would probably just want his music heard.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 16:25 (eight years ago) link
Is "The Entity" the Meher Baba Trust?
― Three Word Username, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 17:12 (eight years ago) link
i don't think so
― tylerw, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 17:15 (eight years ago) link
Why not?
― Three Word Username, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 17:23 (eight years ago) link
ha well i *know* it's not -- kyle at grass-tops told me who was behind it all, but I don't think it's my place to put it out there in a public forum.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 17:24 (eight years ago) link
Fair enough. (I figured you had insider knowledge and understand if you can't spill.)
― Three Word Username, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 18:19 (eight years ago) link
yeah don't mean to be mysterious, just don't want to potentially make things worse!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 18:24 (eight years ago) link
Someone shared this on Facebook and for some reason if put me in mind of Basho, something about the voice/guitar combo, only beamed in from a whole other world/tradition. Anyway, ver nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ICTX4MwRY
― Chicamaw (Ward Fowler), Sunday, 6 March 2016 23:28 (eight years ago) link
more previously unreleased basho up via grass-tops: https://soundcloud.com/grasstopsrecording/robbie-basho-interview-performance-the-coffeehouse-program-wers-boston-ma-71383
― tylerw, Monday, 7 March 2016 15:29 (eight years ago) link
that bonfa is exquisite, much tidier than basho could ever manage but the romance is there
― ogmor, Monday, 7 March 2016 19:19 (eight years ago) link
http://www.robbiebasho.com/ the new robbiebasho.com
― tessaract3@gmail.com, Friday, 24 June 2016 23:39 (seven years ago) link
Anyone know if the documentary will get a DVD release? I'm very eager to see it, but it isn't playing anywhere near here I live.
― Wimmels, Sunday, 21 August 2016 16:30 (seven years ago) link
i bet it'll get on youtube. the fahey one was off-and-on on there for awhile. probably not legal, but could give it a look
― global tetrahedron, Sunday, 21 August 2016 16:44 (seven years ago) link
Hope so! But would gladly buy a DVD if one became available. I bought the Fahey DVD, and it'd almost have to be better than that.
Anyone see this btw?
― Wimmels, Sunday, 21 August 2016 17:18 (seven years ago) link
Thanks to this wonderful forum, I have discovered the music of Robbie Basho - one of my favourite discoveries of the past few years. I took Visions of the Country to record club the other night.
https://devonrecordclub.com/2016/09/02/robbie-basho-visions-of-the-country-round-94-toms-selection/
Which album(s) should I get next?
― yugi ex, Friday, 2 September 2016 12:02 (seven years ago) link
Visions Of The Country is a great one. Basho albums are pretty much divided (somewhat superficially) between vocal albums and instrumental albums. For years the prevailing logic was that the vocal ones were bad and the instrumental ones were good, but I think that consensus has changed a bit in recent years. I was a person who initially couldn't deal with the vocals, but at some point I realized how much a part of Basho's music / imagination / gift his vocals were, and that to truly appreciate him, you had to reckon with the singing (which I now find quite beautiful, though like I said, it took me years to come around). He held nothing back.
If you like Visions of the Country, you'll probably like any other of his vocal albums. Rainbow Thunder is a somewhat obscure one that was recently reissued and iirc this was from the same general period as VFTC.
Not sure you can go wrong with any Basho album though (some here may disagree). Good luck and enjoy the search!
― Wimmels, Friday, 2 September 2016 12:35 (seven years ago) link
Oh, also, read this! www.elephantjournal.com/2011/07/robbie-basho-was-an-angel-i-dont-believe-he-was-terrestrial-jerome-burdi/
― Wimmels, Friday, 2 September 2016 12:36 (seven years ago) link
that's a good article, though I think basho was playing steel string before he met fahey (fahey says they were introduced on the basis that they both had 12 strings) and it's worth noting that both his guitar and footage of him playing have turned up since it was published.
you'll probably want to stick to his guitar albums at first (there are some with piano and drumming and so on). the earliest are a bit rough technically but fiery and a lot of fun. I recommend going for his early-mid period where he's marking out his territory and is very much in full bloom, maybe the falconers arm I, venus in cancer or voice of the eagle
― ogmor, Friday, 2 September 2016 13:18 (seven years ago) link
Thanks for the info. I'll try to find one of those three on vinyl. The other album that seems to be particularly rated is Zanthus...have you heard this one?
― yugi ex, Saturday, 3 September 2016 06:45 (seven years ago) link
My mistake...Zarthus.
― yugi ex, Saturday, 3 September 2016 06:46 (seven years ago) link
zarthus is very much basho at his celestial fruitiest, lots of piano etc, will revisit it at some point
― ogmor, Saturday, 3 September 2016 09:32 (seven years ago) link
Shame the Grass-tops label that did the Bouquet reissue seems to have vanished.
― Noel Emits, Wednesday, 23 November 2016 22:41 (seven years ago) link
Apparently closed up earlier in the year. Glad they put out what they did at least.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 24 November 2016 00:05 (seven years ago) link
Don't have any inside info, but really seemed from afar that this labor of love was cock-blocked at every turn
― Wimmels, Thursday, 24 November 2016 00:22 (seven years ago) link
How would one track done that reissue at this point?
― Evan, Thursday, 24 November 2016 03:08 (seven years ago) link
There will be a showing of the movie "Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho" at Coe College, Cedar Rapids Iowa, at Sinclair Auditorium where Robbie performed in 1978. Admission is free, and it is open to the general public.
― tessaract3@gmail.com, Sunday, 5 February 2017 21:37 (seven years ago) link
Time and date of the above movie showing:7:30 Sunday March 19th 2017
― tessaract3@gmail.com, Sunday, 5 February 2017 21:39 (seven years ago) link
https://obsoleterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/robbie-basho-live-in-forl-italy-1982
The samples sound great on this one. They're funding a short run vinyl.
― andrew m., Tuesday, 23 May 2017 14:53 (six years ago) link
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0098279777_16.jpg
great cover
― ogmor, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 15:04 (six years ago) link
is he throwing up?
― henry s, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 21:58 (six years ago) link
enjoying some fresh rocky mountain creek water
― tylerw, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 22:04 (six years ago) link
better to drink fresh rocky mountain creek water from your hands than...
― ogmor, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 22:51 (six years ago) link
Hey everyone--
Just to let you all know, tessaract3 from this thread passed this morning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was 67 years old.
As it happens, he was my wife's birth father. He had a rough go of it for many years, but it was neat to see him connect with people over music he loved over the past several years.
(As for me, I'm a San Francisco-based mostly-lurker who's been here for the fifteen years or so.)
― fajita seas, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 19:39 (six years ago) link
I'm sorry to hear that. I really love the community that built up around Fahey, Basho & Takoma, always seems to be really good, interesting people
― ogmor, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 20:24 (six years ago) link
anyone heard this new rarities compilation?
― ogmor, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 11:46 (four years ago) link
i didn't know there was one!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 15:34 (four years ago) link
Land of our fathers, released on a swiss label called 'holographic ontological networks'. You think you've seen all the rad basho pics and then they dig this one out:
https://assets.boomkat.com/spree/products/606201/large/R-12025590-1526807186-3343.png.jpg
1000 incarnations of the rose and then a bunch of stuff I don't know.
― ogmor, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 15:46 (four years ago) link
Oh, I ordered that one in 2018! So not quite brand new. Definitely great though.
― Evan, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 16:01 (four years ago) link
huh looks like boomkat have the wrong date! what's it like?
― ogmor, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 16:04 (four years ago) link
To be honest, I got it right before I moved so it quickly went out of sight and out of mind. Since finding it I've only spun it once so far.
I can't confirm any time soon (traveling), but the youtube list on the discogs page might be accurate?
https://www.discogs.com/Robbie-Basho-Land-Of-Our-Fathers-Rarities-1967-1983/release/12025590
― Evan, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 18:04 (four years ago) link
ah, so a lot of the bouquet stuff!
― ogmor, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 18:23 (four years ago) link
Basho died unexpectedly at the age of 45 due to an accident during a visit to his chiropractor, where an "intentional whiplash" experiment caused blood vessels in his neck to rupture, leading to a fatal stroke.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 29 April 2020 02:21 (four years ago) link
Yup. Super freaky!
― Evan, Wednesday, 29 April 2020 03:17 (four years ago) link
Phew -- new 5 CD set of unreleased Basho due out in December:
http://www.tompkinssquare.com/bashoboxset.html
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 19:36 (three years ago) link
It's out, and it's spectacular - depending on your tolerance for his voice, which is all over these tracks. (My personal tolerance is sky-high.) Other than some random string-tunings and asides to studio personnel, the tracks are pretty realized, not odds-n'-endsy at all.
― henry s, Sunday, 6 December 2020 21:24 (three years ago) link