"...Get Me My Travelling
Shoes..."
When Tom Rush signed to Jack
Holzman’s Folk-Rock label Elektra Records in 1965 to record his eponymous label
debut (Disc 1) – New Hampshire’s finest vocalist and song-interpreter was
already a three-album veteran. His privately pressed live LP “At The Unicorn”
on Night Light Records cropped up in the summer of 1962 (recorded at The
Unicorn Club in Boston, there was reputedly only 600 copies made) followed by
“Blues Songs And Ballads” in 1963 and “Got A Mind To Ramble” in 1965 (both on
Prestige, “Ramble” recorded 1963). And that’s where this gorgeous CD comes
in...
UK released July 2015 – "Tom Rush/Take A Little Walk With Me" by TOM RUSH on Beat
Goes On BGOCD 1192 (Barcode 5017261211927) is a 2CD set containing the first two of three
albums Rush made for Elektra Records in the Sixties – "Tom Rush" from 1965
and "Take A Little Walk With Me" in 1966. I've reviewed the third LP 1968's "The
Circle Game" separately. BGOCD 1192 breaks down as follows:
Disc 1 (45:04 minutes):
1. Long John
2. If Your Man Gets Busted
3. Do-Re-Mi
4. Milk Cow Blues
5. The Cuckoo
6. Black Mountain Blues
7. Poor Man [Side 2]
8. Solid Gone
9. When She Wants Good
Lovin’
10. I’d Like To Know
11. Jelly Roll Baker
12. Windy Bill
13. Panama Limited
Tracks 1 to 13 are his 3rd
album “Tom Rush” – released 1965 in the USA on Elektra Records EKL 288 (Mono)
and EKS 7288 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used. Produced by Paul A. Rothchild.
Disc 2 (35:59 minutes):
1. You Can’t Tell A Book By
The Cover
2. Who Do You Love
3. Love’s Made A Fool Of You
4. Too Much Monkey Business
5. Money Honey
6. On The Road Again
7. Joshua Gone Barbados [Side
2]
8. Statesboro Blues
9. Turn Your Money Green
10. Sugar Babe
11. Galveston Flood
Tracks 1 to 11 are his 4th
album “Take A Little Walk With Me” – released June 1966 in the USA on Elektra
Records EKL 308 (mono) and EKS 7308 (Stereo). The Stereo Mix is used. Produced
by Mark Abrahamson.
There’s an outer card
slipcase that lends the whole CD reissue a classy feel and a 16-page inlay with
very detailed JOHN O’REGAN liner notes. The track-by-track breakdowns from the
original American LP back cover liner notes is reproduced, there are those
three black and white publicity photos of him in his jacket having a smoke by
the railroad tracks and indepth discussion of his song choices and his ability
to pick a tune and a songwriter. ANDREW THOMPSON has done new 2015 remasters at
Sound Performance in London and he has clearly used the Rhino 2CD reissues of
2001 (Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot were the remaster engineers) – the audio on
this beauty is gorgeous. Primarily well-recorded Folk – the Acoustic guitar,
his deep tonal voice and the inclusion of John Sebastian’s Harmonica (from The
Lovin’ Spoonful) on 6 of the 13 tracks – gives the music a huge feel and
warmth.
The “Tom Rush” LP mixes pure
Americana Folk with some Dixie, Hillbilly and Acoustic Blues – it’s a properly
great mid-Sixties Folk-Rock album. As already mentioned John Sebastian features
on six tunes with his distinctive Harmonica warbling – all covers - the songs
are “Long John” (Traditional), “Milk Cow Blues” (Kokomo Arnold song), “Black
Mountain Blues” (Bessie Smith cover), “Solid Gone” (Traditional), “When She Wants
Good Lovin’” (Lieber/Stoller song done by The Coasters) and “Jelly Roll Baker”
(Jelly Roll Morton cover). Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and Joe Walsh’s
Barnstorm fame plays Guitarron on the Traditional “Solid Gone”, Woody Guthrie’s
“Do-Re-Mi” and the Traditional “Windy Bill”. His other players included Bill
Lee on Bass and Daddy Bones on Second Guitar – Rush plays Acoustic Guitar and
of course takes Lead Vocal on all songs. The last song “Panama Limited” is him
and his acoustic guitar only doing an 8 ½ minute slide mash-up of Bukka White
Blues – a talking song about a freight train that goes so fast even the hobos
don’t mess with it. It ends the album on a storytelling high (his guitar
playing is clearly excellent too and this remaster really sells that).
If the largely Folky “Tom
Rush” LP is excellent – in my mind the Folk Rock “Take A Little Walk With Me”
album where Rush finally goes ‘electric’ (Side 1) like Dylan did – is fantastic
stuff and again features an array of great covers and one original “On The Road
Again”. The first thing that hits you about it is the improvement in Production
– Mark Abrahamson channelling Al Kooper and Bruce Langhorne’s Electric Guitars
with skill. Harvey Brooks supplies the Bass, Bobby Gregg plays Drums, and
Roosevelt Gook tinkles the Piano with Rush once again on Vocals and Acoustic
Guitar. It opens with Willie Dixon’s “You Can’t Tell A Book By The Cover” (a
hit for Bo Diddley) which is good but things goes proper Rocking with his
deep-voiced version of Diddley’s creepily brilliant “Who Do You Love”. This is
not Folk – nor Blues – it could even be The Doors on their self-titled debut
(wicked stuff). The stereo separation on Buddy Holly’s “Love’s Made A Fool Of
You” is fantastic – a beautifully handled transfer. Chuck Berry’s “Too Much
Monkey Business” allows the album to boogie a little – a fun choice – and again
shocking electric guitars after all that Folk Acoustic on “Tom Rush”. Jess
Stone’s “Money Honey” (a Drifters hit on Atlantic Records) is great fun but his
own “On The Road Again” impresses much more and feels like a great driving Fred
Neil song (a writer Rush admired).
Side 2 (the Folky Side)
opens with Von Schmidt’s “Joshua Gone Barbados” which turned up on the “Forever
Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records...” 2006 Box Set as a
representation of Tom Rush’s soft magic. And it’s easy to hear why it was singled
out - a lovely lilting ballad that stays in your mind. Acoustic Blues shows up
in Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” and again the remaster is just
amazing. My fave track on the whole LP is Eric Von Schmidt’s “Turn Your Money
Green” which I’ve included on many 60ts CD compilations “...I’ve been down so
long...it looks like up to me...” It
ends on the amazing “Galveston Flood” where Blues, Folk and Americana all mash
into one powerhouse song.
Both of these albums are
forgotten in the grand scheme of things and hard to find outside of the USA on
original vinyl – and neither should be. A clever and smart reissue by Britain’s
Beat Goes On – more baby please...
