RAGTIME RALPH - VOLUME 4

Bootleg 1983/Empty Square Records 2009

01. Badlands Blake
02. Texas Tomatoes
03. Desert Rat Blues
04. Cast Your Fate to the Wind
05. Cloudburst
06. White Christmas
07. Travis McGee on the Ice Road
08. The Serpentine/Nico Meki Rivers Flood Plain Blues
09. Ragtime Piece in G
10. Walk on the Tracks
11. Radiation from the Station
12. The Going Away Song

Ragtime Ralph is Ralph Johnston, and 'Volume 4' would of been the title assigned had it been released as originally intended; on Takoma. That would place it after 'The Dance Of Death & Other Plantation Favorites' and before 'The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party And Other Excursions'.

I'm not sure why it was unreleased at the time, I suspect however, that like the message on the inside of the L.P. reads, that if John Fahey could of (released this record), he would of.

It's a shame, this is some top class finger pickin' and slide American primitive.

A bootleg saw it's way out in 1983 and Empty Square records in Canada put out a limited edition in 2009.

Essential for Takoma, Fahey and primitive guitar fans.

VOICE OF THE SEVEN WOODS

Twisted Nerve 2007

01. Sand And Flames
02. Sayat Nova
03. The Fire In My Head
04. Silver Morning Branches
05. Second Transition
06. Valley Of The Rocks
07. Underwater Journey
08. Return From Byzantium
09. The Smoking Furnace
10. Dusk Cloud

Voice of the Seven Woods is Rick Tomlinson, and I haven't heard much from him in a while.

Prior to the release of this album, there were several self released E.P.'s and miscellaneous releases (and after, there was a slight change in moniker 'Woods' was changed to 'Thunders', more next month).

Fucking awesome string music; psych, Eastern, primitive...if you generally like the music on this blog, you will like this.

SUBWAY

Epic 1971

01. I Am a Child
02. Song for Sinking Shelters
03. Warm You Are
04. All the Good Things
05. Enturbulation/Free Form
06. Arizona Sands
07. Rosanna of the Roses
08. Can I Trade With You My Mind?


Haven't had any ultra rare psych folk in a while, so here's Subway and their eponymous L.P.

The duo consists of singer songwriter Irv Mowrey and multi instrumentalist Malcolm Watson. The Brit and the American released their only album on Epic in France. 200 copies were pressed and what didn't sell was destroyed.

It's a shame the band didn't get more recognition, there is a lot of good stuff here. It's psych folk, but it's the interesting composition and arrangements, plus the instrumentation that make it worth seeking out.

The L.P. grows more elaborate as it goes on, adding percussion and synth to the guitar/violin/vocal based songs. By the time we're at 'Enturbulation/Free Form', things are really starting to psych out, there's even a touch of prog.

If you like ISB, Spirogyra, Vashti Bunyan etc. it's worth checking out.

ROBBIE BASHO

When I started this blog, the records of Robbie Basho were still only available as iffy MP3 rips or, if you could afford and find them, the original pressings.

Since then, there has been a lot of activity on the re-issue front, which is exactly what I was calling for in those early posts.

Grass Tops Recordings (see the Smeraldina-Rima label for 'Twilight Peaks) have been doing some wonderful re-mastering for a few of Robbie's later records. I can vouch for the sound quality of these pressings, they are beautiful.

Of course, the work involved in tracking down masters, producers and the production of physical artifact costs money!

The albums that have part of this re-issue program so far have had their links removed, and I urge you to seek out these new versions.

















Visions of the Country

Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12

Rainbow Thunder (Songs of the American West)

Twilight Peaks

Also, last year saw the C.D. re-issue of Basho's two Vanguard albums:

The Voice of the Eagle

Zarthus