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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
 Posted - 11/06/2010 : 18:19:08
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PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN_TI5JzU0k "(Oh Dear) Miss Morse"
TOM RAPP & PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
Musician, Lawyer, Musician Again
By NEIL STRAUSS-New York Times
Published: July 3, 1997
''I got into a 12-step program for reclusivity,'' Tom Rapp said in his first New York performance in 21 years on Tuesday night at the Knitting Factory. ''This is my 12th step.''
Mr. Rapp is one of many somewhat obscure legends who have been coaxed out of retirement in recent years by obscurist music fans, proving that if you are an artist doing valid work and you give it permanence as a mass-produced artifact (a book, record, video), chances are that even if success does not come immediately your work will circulate long enough to find its audience.
Mr. Rapp made his name in the 1960's and early 70's, when he moved through the underground folk scene as the leader of the Florida-formed psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, whose eclectic music inspired everything from the Elton John song ''Rocket Man'' to the ethereal pop of This Mortal Coil. But after releasing six records with the group and three solo albums, Mr. Rapp left music to pursue a career as a criminal lawyer in Philadelphia.
On stage, Mr. Rapp showed few signs of rust. Though he said he had to relearn all his songs, Mr. Rapp's voice and guitar-playing style still adequately captured the optimistic melancholy of his early work. His set mixed old songs, new songs and covers familiar (Bob Dylan) and obscure (Damon and Naomi). Between numbers he regaled the audience with drug stories of the 60's. Combining elements of Mr. Dylan, Tim Buckley and the Fugs, Mr. Rapp actually sounded better than on his early albums, which were often full of supplemental musicians who detracted from his songwriting and indulgent psychedelic jams. For most of the show, he performed either unaccompanied or with his son, David, bringing his evocative, rustic tale of ''The Jeweler'' back to life and rephrasing the metaphysical questions of ''Another Time.''
Later this summer, Reprise Records plans to release a Pearls Before Swine compilation and the small label Magic Eye is to put out a Pearls Before Swine tribute album. Appearing on both albums is the duo Damon and Naomi, former members of the minimalist rock trio Galaxie 500 and current publishers of surrealists, avant-garde composers and cult intellectuals on their Exact Change press. In concert, they performed the slow, soft, sparse, sweet, introspective and downcast music that has lead them to self-mocking album titles like ''More Sad Hits.'' Where hits are immediate, Damon and Naomi's music works slowly, crystallizing from a mood to a song to an idea after repeated listening. But on Tuesday, after Mr. Rapp, the duo had a tough act to follow. ''It's hard to come out and do our bitter songs,'' apologized Damon Krukowski, ''after seeing Tom and feeling so good.''
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Everything you do returns at last to you,
so why don't you...do...love.
-Tom Rapp |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 05/02/2014 22:48:46 |
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Lizzyb
Fifth Love
United Kingdom
470 Posts |
Posted - 14/06/2010 : 20:22:23
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Well that link kept me occupied for about 3 hours...
always loved PBS then i was checking which album - got onto some other good stuff through the links.
I've been singing 'translucent chariots' in my head for years, but then I am the queen of the mangled lyric
Keep on shining |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 14/06/2010 : 21:43:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Lizzyb
Well that link kept me occupied for about 3 hours...
always loved PBS then i was checking which album - got onto some other good stuff through the links.
I've been singing 'translucent chariots' in my head for years, but then I am the queen of the mangled lyric
Keep on shining
Nice music, eh?, Lizzy?!! Those dark words set to beautiful tunes....
So good.
I was thinking of getting "Beautiful Lies You Could Live In"...
I missed taht one. Pretty good from what I read.
____________________________________________________________
Everything you do returns at last to you,
so why don't you...do...love.
-Tom Rapp |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2012 : 19:24:46
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Thomas Dale Rapp (b. 8 March 1947, Bottineau, North Dakota) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the leader of Pearls Before Swine, the psychedelic folk rock group of the 1960s and 1970s. More recently he has practiced as a lawyer.
ANOTHER TIME...I love the vinyl "pig" label too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hElMPxOjOTI
Tom Rapp's parents were both teachers. As a young child his family moved to Minnesota, where at the age of six he was given a guitar. A neighbour taught Rapp some chords, and he also learned to play the ukulele.
He once came third in a talent contest in Rochester where a certain Bobby Zimmerman from Hibbing was fifth. "The winner was a cute little girl in a red sequined costume who twirled a baton."
The Rapp family moved from Minnesota to Pennsylvania before settling in Melbourne, Florida in 1963.
With high school friends Wayne Harley (banjo, mandolin), Lane Lederer (bass, guitar) and Roger Crissinger (piano, organ), Rapp wrote and recorded some songs which, inspired by the Fugs, they sent to the avant-garde ESP-Disk label in New York. The group took its name from a Bible passage: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine..." (Mat. 7:6, KJV), meaning: do not give things of value to those who will not understand or appreciate it.
DROP OUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSK-qMS4-N4&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=AVGxdCwVVULXdR2hsY_wcgB1xenyNrPl0P
They were quickly signed up, and recorded One Nation Underground (1967), featuring songs of mysticism, protest, melancholia, and some controversy in the case of “Miss Morse”, which spelled out an obscenity in code. The album eventually sold some 200,000 copies, although management and contractual problems meant that the band received little reward for its success.[1]
The strongly anti-war themed Balaklava (1968) followed, inspired by the Charge of the Light Brigade. Rapp has said "The first two albums are probably considered the druggiest, and I had never done any drugs at that point. I smoked Winston cigarettes at that time, so these are all Winston-induced hallucinations."[2] The album covers featured paintings by Bosch and Brueghel, while the records themselves included interpretations of the writings of Tolkien and Herodotus as well as archive recordings from the 1890s, with innovatively [sic] arranged songs using an eclectic variety of instruments.
The Reprise period, 1969-72
The band signed for Reprise Records in 1969, although by this time the other original members had left and the band name now referred to Rapp and whichever musicians he was recording or touring with, one of whom, Jim Fairs, was previously a member of The Cryan' Shames. The five albums on Reprise were generally more conventional in sound, but contained a unique blend of humanistic and mystical songs, with some whimsical touches. Some were recorded in New York and others – particularly The Use of Ashes and City of Gold - in Nashville with top session musicians including Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, and other members of Area Code 615.
Several also featured Rapp's then-wife Elisabeth on vocals. The oddly-upbeat "The Man", from City of Gold, was sung by David Noyes and recorded at A&R Studios in New York City during the summer of 1970. Noyes' friend, Jon Tooker, took his position when the band toured Europe that fall.
In his teens, Rapp lived close to Cape Canaveral and watched the rockets take off. The song "Rocket Man", on the album The Use of Ashes - written the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon - was credited by Bernie Taupin with inspiring his hit song with Elton John of the same title. Quote : "We didn't steal that one from Bowie, we stole it from another guy, called Tom Rapp...".[2] Many of the other songs of this period reflected Rapp's interests in mysticism, his relationship with his alcoholic father, and his experiences of living for a time in (and marrying a native of) the Netherlands. The final Reprise album, Familiar Songs, was a collection of demo re-recordings of some of Rapp’s earlier songs, and was released under his own name, not as a "Pearls Before Swine" album, and without his knowledge.[4]
In 1971, Pearls Before Swine toured for the first time, the group then comprising Rapp, Mike Krawitz (piano), Gordon Hayes (bass) and Jon Tooker (guitar). Around this time, Rapp often referred onstage, not quite seriously, to the group as "the house band for the SDS." A live album from this period, Live Pearls, recorded at Yale University, was released as a download in December 2008.[5]
Later years
Two further albums followed, released under Rapp's own name on Blue Thumb Records. The first, Stardancer, was again recorded in Nashville, followed by Sunforest.
The band - by that time comprising Rapp, Art Ellis (flute), Bill Rollins (bass, cello) and Harry Orlove (guitar, banjo) - toured until 1974, with Rapp from then performing solo until a final appearance in 1976 supporting Patti Smith.
After this, Rapp retired from music and, after graduating from Brandeis University, became a civil rights lawyer. After being contacted by the magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope, he re-appeared in 1997 at Terrastock, a music festival in Providence, Rhode Island, with his son's band, Shy Camp, and began recording again with 1999's A Journal of the Plague Year (I love this one! -lk).
Original member Roger Crissinger left the group in 1968, joining San Francisco band One (1) led by Reality D. Blipcrotch.[7] Lane Lederer is now a member of the Florida Orchestra.
Jon Tooker died in a motorcycle crash in 2008.
PBS have been cited as a key influence by various musicians including The Dream Academy, Damon and Naomi, the Bevis Frond, Magic Hero vs. Rock People, The Late Cord, This Mortal Coil, and the Japanese band Ghost. Three tribute albums have been released by Secret Eye Records.
* One Nation Underground (1967, ESP-Disk)
* Balaklava (1968, ESP-Disk)
* These Things Too (1969, Reprise)
* The Use of Ashes (1970, Reprise)
* City of Gold (1971, Reprise) (Thos. Rapp / Pearls Before Swine)
* Beautiful Lies You Could Live In (1971, Reprise) (Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine)
* Familiar Songs (1972, Reprise) (Tom Rapp)
* Stardancer (1972, Blue Thumb) (Tom Rapp)
* Sunforest (1973, Blue Thumb) (Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine)
* A Journal Of The Plague Year (1999, Woronzow) (Tom Rapp)
Live album
* Live Pearls (recorded 1971, released 2008, WildCat Recording)
I love all the Tom Rapp albums, start to finish, though many have stuck to the first two PBS masterpiece LPs,....you are missing a lot of beautiful music if so!
Translucent Carriages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWfN9R3zyx8&feature=bf_next&list=AVGxdCwVVULXdR2hsY_wcgB1xenyNrPl0P&lf=list_related
Rocket Man....inspiration for those that came after....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_jDmSmu2g&feature=related
Space..."the wizard of is"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7POEdsYxfrw&feature=related
For The Dead In Space---Stardancer...my favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgSGEH-ogBI&feature=related
The Swimmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMSevsViwco&feature=related
"Shoebox Symphony"...10+ minutes of brilliance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OKtznyKUD0&feature=related
The ORIGINAL Rapp!!!
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We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 03/02/2014 21:43:23 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2012 : 19:59:29
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PBS fans will want this!! 2007 release..previously UNRELEASED PBS...
These Things Too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuk42DbS-4
What a treasure!
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We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 25/01/2012 20:00:31 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2012 : 20:12:48
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One of my favorites by PBS...
Tom Rapp’s sixth studio album ‘....beautiful lies you could live in’ marked the last time he would credit the by-now notional-only band Pearls Before Swine on the cover; the subsequent sporadic releases would be issued as solo recordings. And this record was pretty much a solo release as well, with his wife Elizabeth being the one near-constant in the group’s lineup.This is a decidedly American-sounding modern folk album, unlike the previous release ‘City of Gold’ which had a more European feel. The list of studio musicians is rather impressive: it includes guitarist Amos Garrett whose impressive credits include the guitar lead on Maria Muldaur’s massive 70s hit “Midnight at the Oasis”; former Mother of Invention Billy Mundi, who appeared on Todd Rundgren’s hit “Hello, It’s Me” of the same period; and pianist Bob Dorough who cashed in during the 70s himself with a series of compositions that ended up being recorded as episodes of the popular Saturday morning cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock. Despite the pop-folk street cred of his guests, Rapp fashioned the album as a remarkably understated electric folk offering that presented some of his more coherent poetry set to music. One of the few knocks on some of the earlier Pearls material was the abstract and occasionally banal tenor of Rapp’s lyrics; here he plays things a bit more conventional, though still manages to display his unique ability to record songs that are multilayered and lyrically complex while retaining their decidedly (and intentional) Dylanesque vibe.There were no hits resulting from this record, and no singles even that I’m aware of. Instead Rapp seemed content to craft his personal thoughts into beautiful, unassuming vignettes without strong regard for popular acceptance. This is easily one of my personal favorites, along with the aforementioned ‘City of Gold’.Despite his own considerable songwriting talent, Rapp never shied away from covering songs and poetry of artists he respected, and this album is no exception. His rendition of Leonard Cohen’s "Bird On A Wire" ranks only behind the original of the many versions of this song that I’ve heard over the years. And the brief but poignant acoustic rendering of A.E. Housman’s "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries" is a luxurious thing to behold, particularly since the vocals are delivered by the underused Elizabeth Rapp herself.Its unfortunate Reprise Records never managed to provide the kind of promotion that could have given Pearls Before Swine a better chance to establish themselves in the early 70s. Rapp didn’t help by avoiding touring for much of his career, and his irregular recording tempo probably didn’t help much either. But he did manage to get out six very good records before sliding permanently into obscurity, and this is one of the two or three best of those. Four stars are quite appropriate, especially if you are a fan of modern folk in the vein of Dylan, Van Morrison or even Randy Newman. Well recommended if that’s the sort of stuff you’re interested in.peace.
~ ClemofNazareth (Special Collaborator, Prog Folk Researcher from Progarchives.com)
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We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 25/01/2012 20:17:53 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2012 : 16:11:49
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"City of Gold" was not considered his best, but...
City of Gold was the fifth album made by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, and their third on Reprise Records. It was released in 1971.
The album was the first to be credited to "Thos." (Tom) Rapp and Pearls Before Swine, rather than solely in the group's name. In fact, the group, which had been formed by Rapp and his friends in Florida in the mid-1960s, and which in its original incarnation had never performed live, had effectively ceased to exist by the time of their third album These Things Too, and subsequent albums had been recorded by Rapp with his wife Elisabeth and session musicians.
City of Gold drew heavily on material left over from the recording of the previous Pearls album, The Use of Ashes, which had been recorded in early 1970 with the cream of Nashville's session musicians.[2] Further recording sessions took place in New York later that year, with Rapp taking on producer duties.
The album, while having a broadly country/folk feel, is very mixed in content and, in most critics' estimation, quality.
However, it does contain some of Rapp's best lyrics, sparkling arrangements, and some of his most heartfelt vocal performances, such as on the harpsichord-dominated version of Leonard Cohen's "(Seems So Long Ago) Nancy", and his own "Did You Dream Of". It also includes a very atypical up-tempo Rapp song, "The Man", sung vigorously by David Noyes. According to Noyes, a high school student at the time, the song was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City during the summer of 1969; Noyes also sang harmony vocals on other songs, including "Seasons In The Sun". Noyes' friend, Jon Tooker, took his position when the band toured Europe later in the year.
The sleeve design broke with the group's tradition of using classic art rather than photographs of the musicians. The front cover showed a hand-painted photograph of Rapp, taken in the Netherlands where many of the songs had been written. The photograph on the back of the cover shows Rapp, Jon Tooker, Gordon Hayes and Michael Krawitz. This was the version of Pearls Before Swine which toured in 1971, but Tooker, Hayes and Krawitz did not play on the album itself (although they did play on the next album, Beautiful Lies).
City of Gold was issued on CD in 2003 as part of the Jewels Were the Stars compendium of Pearls Before Swine's first four Reprise albums.
There isn't much I don't like from Mr. Rapp...
Did You Dream of (Unicorns)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5g0baJAWtc
Wizard Of Is (These Things Too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCrn6BWCqbw&playnext=1&list=PLA34258AFC2964706&feature=results_video
Once Upon A Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMFNUU58mRc
.......................
Trippy acid folk ...lovin' it today.
Sonnet #65
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR0eFlX9tLo
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Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 04/09/2012 16:18:36 |
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stewart
Old Love
United Kingdom
568 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2012 : 16:26:43
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| You had to get used to the lisp though............. |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2012 : 16:46:23
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quote:
Originally posted by stewart
You had to get used to the lisp though.............
Right...some can't. But the beauty of his poetry and songs transcend all lisps!!
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Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9876 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2014 : 22:49:35
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Interview with Tom Rapp
Tom, it’s really an honor to talk with you regarding your music. I think it would be the best for all the readers if we start at the beginning. You were born in Bottineau, North Dakota, but you grew up in Minnesota. What can you say about your childhood? What did inspire you back then?
I was born in Bottineau, N.Dakota about 10 miles from Canada, near the Turtle Mountains. We lived in Pine Island, Minnesota and Northfield Minn where Jesse James robbed the bank. My grandparents lived near Hibbing. It is a true story that I was in a talent contest with Bob Dylan. I remember nothing of it - just news clippings my parents kept ("Another contestant was Bobby Zimmerman...") We both lost to a 7 year old baton twirler in a red-sequined costume. Why I didn't think of the costume first, I'll never know.
I learned ukulele and then guitar and played show tunes and country and western songs that were on the radio. Liked the Everly Brothers and Elvis. Did Elvis's "Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender," and the Everly's "Singing the Blues." Mostly what I remember about Minnesota was that it was cold a lot. 20 degrees below often each winter. They didn't have the concept of "wind-chill" then so it was probably million below.
Around 1965 Pearls Before Swine were formed in Melbourne, Florida. I know that you formed band with your high school friends. Please share the story how did you got together and what else can you remember from that very early period?
We were all kids graduated from high school. I had written a couple of songs so we made a tape for ourselves of those and some folk songs in late 1966. Had a record made from it and sent it to ESP because they had recorded the Fugs and we thought they might like us. ESP letters had a green hand print on them so we put a red footprint on ours.
You were very inspired by The Fugs, what else? Perhaps any other influences besides music?
Listened to the Fugs, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground, as well as the Bee Gees and Peter, Paul & Mary. Learned guitar from Joan Baez recordings. Influenced by all the poetry studied in High school.
How did you get signed by ESP records from New York?
We sent our custom cut record to ESP with a letter saying, "hey, sign us up." So they did. They flew us to NYC and we recorded the album (One Nation Underground) in 4 days at Impact Sound, where the Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders recorded - so did Spanky and our gang ("Sundays will never be the same").
So the result of signing up was a release of One Nation Underground in 1967. What are some of the strongest memories from recording and producing this LP?
We did the album in 4 days (and nights). Went out for hamburgers and rice pudding - never knowing if it was 9 am or 9 pm until we got outside. smoked a lot of cigarettes. Richard Alderson was the genius/producer. Wouldn't have been anywhere as good without him. Wavy Gravy came by, passing out LSD.
What can you tell me about the concept behind it and about really interesting cover artwork?
I saw the Bosch picture on a book cover (the hunger and other stories by Charles Beaumont).
I will write down the songs from the debut and I would really appreciate if you could comment each one a bit.
A1 Another Time
I had a car accident where I was thrown out of an Austin Healy Sprite. No real injuries but on the police radio on the way to the hospital heard of others who drowned or burned that same afternoon. I immediately told myself: "the universe doesn't care at all." and that went into my first real song, "another time".
A2 Playmate
"Playmate" is an old kids' song from the 30's - little girls playing with their dolls. I thought if we made it a rock song it would sound risque, which it did. The dylanesque singing helped.
A3 Ballad to an Amber Lady
Words by Roger Crissinger - he later joined a band called "One" which recorded on the Airplane's Grunt label. Music by me.
A4 (Oh Dear) Miss Morse
Wanted a song with Morse code in it. Looked up "love" but only f*** worked out rhythmically dit dit dah dit/dit dit dah/dah dit dah dit/dah dit dah" Obviously god's will. DJs got in trouble because only boy scouts knew morse code and the scoutmasters complained.
A5 Drop Out!
Tune in, turn on drop out was the Leary anthem, so this was a song about dropping out.
B1 Morning Song
Written alone in a room after reading Jerzy Kozinski'e "the painted bird" another time and morning song were used by Fassbinder in his 1969 movie, "rio das mortes.".
B2 Regions of May
Just trying a love song.
B3 Uncle John
Anti-vietnam, UNCLE Sam/President JOHNson the Vietnam war, to me, was murdered children, year after year and I was angry.
B4 I Shall Not Care
I wrote this on the plane to NYC--a Sara Teasdale poem, part of the libretto of an Italian operas and an epitaph on many Roman tombs in the last years of the empire (I was not/I was/I am not/ I do not care) it all fit together.
B5 The Surrealist Waltz
Words by Roger Crissinger, music by Lane Lederer, an incredible musician, especially on english horn.
7. Soon you released another album called Balaklava, which is very antiwar oriented. Let’s hear the story of Balaklava LP.
Balaklava took a long time to record, we were trying different things: swamp sounds, chamber orchestra, etc. we used the actual voices of Florence nightingale and the trumpeter from the charge of the light brigade in the Crimean war at Balaklava. Last time that war was "glorious".
8. Again I would ask you if you could share a few words about songs on the album
A1 Trumpeter Landfrey...
Trumpeter Landfrey. He was on a record called Voices of History, along with Florence nightingale. He actually was the bugler at the charge of the light brigade.
A2 Translucent Carriages
Where this came from in my head I have no idea. The second parts (Jesus raised the dead...) came from the same place. We did many versions of this until we arrived at what is on the record.
A3 Images of April
Richard Diderson had some recordings a friend made in a swamp. We used the frogs that ribbetted in the key of A. Richard also knew some some fine jazz musicians who contributed.
A4 There Was a Man
Pretty straightforward--folk song used a wonderful 12-string sitting around the studio.
A5 I Saw the World
I was very happy when Utah Phillips told me how much he liked the song and quoted lines from it. His work is wonderful, workers of there world songs.
A6 Guardian Angels
Wrote this on a car trip to Tallahassee, Florida. We did this many ways and ended up with the string quartet and the old radio sound. No - we didn't record it in 1927.
B1 Suzanne
Leonard Cohen's beautiful song. I'm so glad he is getting all the recognition that he deserves. We used a giant marimba and I fell to the floor after the last notes.
B2 Lepers and Roses
No idea.
B3 Florence Nightingale....
The actual voice from 1887.
Check out Tom's newest release...a remarkable comeback album.
B4 Ring Thing
Tolkien of course. The bagpiper told us he found the rhythm for what he did by swaying with the trees.
Where all did you tour back then? Any favorite touring/concert moments you would like to share with me?
We did not tour until 1971, which added to the mystery of who the hell we were rumors that we had a dwarf drummer and were in our 60's added to the mystery.
The band signed for Reprise Records in 1969 and there were also some lineup changes. You released These Things Too, which is also a change in your sound…
We escaped from ESP and went to Reprise. Much of the recording was further work with Richard.
The Use of Ashes and City of Gold albums were recorded in Nashville with session musicians including Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, and other members of Area Code 615. Several also featured your then-wife Elisabeth on vocals. How do you remember that recordings?
Yes, all from the same sessions with Charlie McCoy. The sessions went fast. Run through the song for Charlie's guys, do a take, do a second take and we were very often done. They contributed ideas immensely helpful.
Next you released Beautiful Lies You Could Live In and your first solo album called Familiar Songs, which are in fact demo recordings released by the record company without his knowledge. Is that really true?
Yes, "Familiar Songs" showed up one day in a record shop in NYC. I said, "hey! that looks like me on that cover." Went on to Paramount Blue Thumb after that.
So your first actual solo album was Stardancer from 1972 and Sunforest from 1973, both released on Blue Thumb. What happened next?
All 9 albums from the 60's - 70's were me and whoever was around. There was no real PBS group until my band in 1972 - 1973 for touring, which was Art Ellis on flute, etc.; Bill Rollins on bass and cello, etc. and for a while, Harry Orlove on guitar, banjo etc. A very happy time finally. After 10 years I was tired of the road, had met everyone you would want to meet (Dylan, Lennon, Allen Ginsberg...) and, with no money (ESP then crooked manager who ran off with the money). I sold popcorn at the Harvard Square Cinema in Cambridge Mass, learned to be a projectionist and began going to school - working full time. I think in that whole period I got a total of 5 hours sleep.
In late 70’s you became successful civil rights lawyer. Are you still active as a musician lately?
Became a law student in 1981, graduated from Penn Law in Philly in 1984 and worked with Alan Epstein and his firm on the victims' side of discrimination and civil rights cases. Joined the County Attorney's office in Charlotte County Florida, and retired when my wife Lynn was diagnosed with cancer. She is doing OK now, but it has to be checked every three months or so. We are hopeful about it. I have played several Terrastock festivals. Great one at U of London in 1999. A new album (1999) called "A Journal of the Plague Year" and "Constructive Melancholy" - 30 years of PBS, came out. There is a box set of all the Reprise albums called " His Jewels Were The Stars') and a compilation of outtakes, etc., called "The Wizard Of Is." And of course there was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Thank you so much for taking your time, Tom. Would you like to send a message to It’s Psychedelic Baby readers?
Yes, dear Readers, think good thoughts for Lynn and feel free to email us at "pbswine.tomrapp@gmail.com".
Interview made by Klemen Breznikar / 2012
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Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 05/02/2014 23:02:31 |
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Tom Rapp & Pearls(PBS) musician/lawyer/interview
