Musical Chairs
Posted on June 3, 2010 – 7:37 AM | by OldManFoster
David K. Aslanian, better known as ‘DP,’ has spent 26 of his 34 years in lovely Sacramento. A stalwart of Midtown’s music scene, DP shreds on his Les Paul in Rock The Light and does his best Jerry Garcia in The Ancient Sons. If you have spent any time at all checking out Sac’s music scene you’ve more than likely rubbed shoulders (really, he cuts all his shirt sleeves off) with DP. He’s been on our ‘wish list’ for Musical Chairs since he guest hosted the Hecksac blog a few years back- we had to get on it since he’ll be departing in August for Portland with his Lovely Lady and will be gravely missed by one and all.
Summer is back my friends, and that spells only one thing to me: the wondrous soothing magic of Progressive Folk. Many people are unacquainted with this genre of music; sadly, they’re missing a lush world of golf girls, witchwoods, Ladies and Lords.
Progressive folk combines elements of west-coast folk, psychedelia, blues and traditional English music. The glory years were from 1969 to 1975. The prog folk movement was started by legends like Burt Jansch (Pentangle) and Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention) who wanted to re-connect with their English roots and play California blues. Today I will share four of my favorite examples.
Lindisfarne
Any band whose biggest selling record is called Dingly Dell has got to be a winner, right? Lindisfarne was a massive act in England; well ok, in 1972 some pud called them the “70’s Beatles.” Their mandolin player played on “Maggie May,” Rod Stewart credits him on the recording as “the mandolin player from Lindisfarne, his name escapes me at the moment.” These dudes had all the elements: mandolin, lyrics about medieval Ladies, big harmonies and some good party numbers. Fog On The Tyne (1971) is worth checking out, the single “Meet Me On The Corner” is classic four part harmony magic. The record I recommend is their first, Nicely Out Of Tune (1970), it has the brilliant tracks “Lady Eleanor”, a grooving, mellow verse with a huge chorus and “We Can Swing Together”, a workingman’s tome with a pub-sing-along chorus. Did I mention they have a record called Dingly Dell? It’s true!
The Strawbs
These guys were gods in the world of prog folk. They started out as the Strawberry Hill Boys, with Sandy Denny (of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay) as the female lead and the mad genius Dave Cousins singing and playing dulcimer and banjo. Their biggest hit was a pro-union tune called “Part of the Union”, a brilliant, rollicking ‘sing it while your drinkin’ it’ number. In 1971 The Strawbs added Rick Wakeman, of Yes and countless ice-based spectacles, on keyboards and recorded my favorite Strawbs record, From The Witchwood. It’s a spooky, swinging recording, full of Cousin’s piercing drama-filled vocals (“The Hangman and the Papist,” about an executioner who’s forced to kill his own Catholic brother) and some amazingly touching sing alongs such as “I’ll Carry On Beside You” and “A Glimpse of Heaven.” Wakeman’s keyboard work is that rarest of things for Wakeman: understated.
From The Witchwood is full of lush harmonies and soaring melodies, amazing musicianship and an eeriness that is almost unequaled in music. The Strawbs went on to become something of a glam/hard rock supergroup, never losing the insane wit of Dave Cousins. Further albums to check out are Strawbs(1969) and Grave New World (1972).
Caravan
Flute solos anyone? On In The Land Of Grey And Pink (1971) Caravan gives ya plenty! I was actually, if you can believe it, not a fan of flute solos before I got into this record, what a fool I was! Jimmy Hastings’ flute work is stunning, especially on the end of “Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)”, a Louie, Louie-esque riff about a bloke trying to get in lead singer Pye Hastings pants. There are moments of pure pop genius on this record; “Golf Girl” is about a very helpful… ahem, lady on the golf course, golf balls raining down and tea, lots of tea, ooh and a Morse code solo! The title track “In The Land Of Grey And Pink”, is full of mad psychedelic imagery, smoking hog weed till ya bleed, going to sea drinking tea, nasty gromley-grimleys hiding in chimneys and has a stellar keyboard solo in the middle. Side two is, in classic prog fashion, one long song, mostly keyboard solos, named here in totality: “Nine Feet Underground (I. Nigel Blows a Tune II. Love’s a Friend III. Make It 76 IV. Dance of the Seven Paper Hankies V. Hold Grandad by the Nose VI. Honest I Did! VII. Disassociation VIII. 100% Proof.)” Genius!!
Caravan had an amazing rhythm section. The lock step work of bassist Richard Sinclair and drummer Richard Coughin is incredible, grooving at its best. In The Land Of Grey And Pink has everything one would want in a prog folk album: wonderful acoustic guitar work, tight harmonies, trippy lyrics and, of course flute!! Caravan went on to make several awful jazz-fusion catastrophes that are best avoided like the plague, but from ‘69-73 they were out of sight! Check out these records: If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You (1970) and Waterloo Lily (1972).
Fairport Convention
These godfathers of prog folk, formed in 1967, featured the great Richard Thompson on guitar and the sweet voiced Judy Dyble (check out her new record at www.termorecords.com). They were known as the Jefferson Airplane of England on account of the ferocious blues jams and male/female lead vocals. Fairport Convention was one of the first acts to combine English folk and American blues into a powerful new sound and was much acclaimed for their live shows. In 1968 Judy Dyble left the band and was replaced by folk darling Sandy Denny (formerly of the Strawbs). This change, combined with the natural maturation of the players, produced their masterpiece, Liege and Lief (1969), a beautiful and languid record that became the bedrock of the Prog Folk movement.
The highlight of Liege and Lief is “Tam Lin”, a traditional English folk tune about a young man captured by a Fairy Queen and forced to impregnate maidens who cross his magical wood. It’s a dramatic tour de force, there are knights being turned into snakes and trees, an attempted abortion, white steeds and the eventual happy ending where the Fairy Queen must admit defeat. Did I mention it’s seven minutes long? What more can you ask for out of a tune?!! “Crazy Man Michael” is another stunning piece, featuring Sandy Denny’s breathy vocals, Thompson’s lovely acoustic arpeggiating and lyrics about ravens cursing young men. There are a fair amount of blues jams on Fairport records so watch out if white blues ain’t yr thing. While Liege and Lief is the classic Fairport record they have a ton of good stuff, including Fairport Convention (1968), Unhalfbricking (1969) and Babbacombe Lee (1971), all worth checking out.
Well I hope I’ve inspired some folks to check out this genre of music. One more word of advice if you listen to any of these records: Smoke em’ if ya got em!!
Tags: David K Aslanian, David Paul, Lindisfarne, strawbs