500. Gordon Lightfoot

June 4, 2023 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(June 2023) Episode 500 is GORDON LIGHTFOOT. Begun after his passing, I entered this episode without knowing his work other than the five songs* that were staples on soft rock stations. He’s a national hero of Canada, and his long recording history affirms why. While the famous songs were all from his more pop-oriented singer/songwriter period in the 1970s, I prefer the more conventional folk approach of his 1960s albums. Strong voice, gentle guitar, good themes. One hidden gem is “Solo,” his aptly-named spare last album (2020).

Favorite album: The Way I Feel

Favorite song: Long Thin Dawn

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I realize I should have paid more attention to his catalogue, so I recommend you do too

* “If You Could Red My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,” “Rainy Day People,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“

464. Buffy Sainte-Marie

January 14, 2023 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(January 2023 ) Episode 464 is BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE. An archetype of the activist folk-singer. As an (the only?) indigenous woman in the business, many of her songs address the struggles of native peoples, but she also sings of war, poverty, etc. Her dominating vibrato voice is not my cup of tea for the folk style, but it is distinctive and well-suited to deliver her worthy messages. Her 60s recordings are typical for the folk revival but I prefer her more inventive direction in the early 70s.

Favorite album: Illuminations

Favorite song: Cod’ine

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: you should have some familiarity with Buffy

425. Donovan

July 24, 2022July 24, 2022 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2022) Episode 425 is DONOVAN. The Prince of Hippy Folk Rock. I had only known him through a greatest hits disc, but discovered there is a lot more to enjoy. His first two albums were Dylan clones, but he found his own original voice and style in a series of late 1960s albums, full of flower power, psychedelia, whimsy, and cosmic musings. Even the children’s music has charm. The quality dropped in the 70s and 80s, but a couple of his 21^st century albums were strong and creative.

Favourite album: A Gift from a Flower to a Garden

Favourite song: Hurdy Gurdy Man

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: the greatest hits will suffice but you’ll probably enjoy a deeper dive into the 60s albums.

376. Townes Van Zandt

January 7, 2022 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(January 2022) Episode 376 is TOWNES VAN ZANDT. Amidst the flowering of new musical styles in the 60s came Van Zandt’s folk-tinged country (or is it country-tinged folk?) with its melancholy tone delivered in his earnest voice. Whatever you call it, it is stellar songwriting. His personal life struggles add a tragic veneer to the music.

Favorite album: Townes Van Zandt

Favorite song: I’ll Be Here In The Morning

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: yes, for a taste of authentically American music

348. Gram Parsons

August 16, 2021 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2021)

(8/15/21) Episode 348 of the “opus project” is GRAM PARSONS. He’s called the father of country rock, although to my ear a lot of other artists were doing similar things at the time. I also don’t get why his music is called “cosmic.” That said, his mix of country, folk, R&B, soul and rock was influential, and a welcome alternative to the chrome and sap of countrypolitan coming out of Nashville. Austin City Limits basically embodies the Gram Parsons sound. He also introduced us to Emmylou Harris.

Favorite album: GP

Favorite song: A Song for You

Favorite group album: The Gilded Palace of Sin

Favorite cover song: Love Hurts (duet with Emmylou)

Favorite folk song: November Nights

Compared to expectations: same

337. Mississippi John Hurt

July 1, 2021 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(June 2021) Episode 337 of the “opus project” is MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT. Guitar pickin’ blues, my favorite kind of blues I think. That, along with his gentle voice and calm delivery (not to mention his uncomplicated personal life), make him distinctive if not unique in the genre. He was rediscovered in the 1960s and thus contributed to the folk revival. A benefit is that most of his recordings are of good quality.

Favorite song: Richland Woman Blues

Compared to expectations: ↑

327. Woody Guthrie

April 3, 2021 ~ ernopepper ~ 2 Comments

(April 2021) Episode 327 is WOODY GUTHRIE. It’s hard to overstate his importance and influence, not only musically and politically for the 1960s folk revival, but for country, roots and rock music beyond. The fact that “This Land Is Your Land” subversively became a children’s standard still makes me smile.

Favorite song: Hard Travelin’

Best compilation: the 4-volume Asch recordings

Compared to expectations: same

312. Elizabeth Cotten

January 31, 2021 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(January 2021) Episode 312 is ELIZABETH COTTEN. If you like guitar pickin’ you’ll love her. And a great story. Cotten taught herself to play an unorthodox way: left-handed but with the strings in the right-handed position, so her fingers did the bass and her thumb the melody, for a style aptly called “Cotten picking.” She learned as a youth, gave it up for decades, and then started performing and recording in her 60s, influencing many in the folk revival.

Favorite song: Freight Train

Favorite instrumental song: New Year’s Eve

Compared to expectations: ↑

298. Jonathan Richman

November 8, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(November 2020) Episode 298 is JONATHAN RICHMAN. The Troubadour of Boston. I became a fan early on with the proto-punkish Modern Lovers songs that made him a cult favorite. But to be honest, the solo work that followed was disappointing. The songs are simple and pleasant, but would be better enjoyed in a coffeehouse rather than by listening to albums, and they never attained the cleverness or weirdness of the early stuff.

Favorite album: The Modern Lovers

Favorite song: Pablo Picasso

Compared to expectations: ↓

271. John Fahey

June 24, 2020July 3, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(June 2020) Episode 271 is JOHN FAHEY. Fingerpicked guitar is so wholesome. If you love it like I do then John Fahey is essential. He didn’t invent the technique (that was southern blues players) but he made it its own art form, often called American primitive guitar (a label I don’t like because it connects him to Windham Hill-type New Age music, a connection he rejected). Amidst his personal eccentricities, Fahey tried several styles including Dixieland jazz, sound collage, and Christmas covers. But he’s at his best when his right hand goes full speed on folk and blues numbers.