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RCA Country Legends [John Hartford] [CD] [1 disc]

John Hartford
1 disc

1. Corn Cob Blues
2. Good Old Electric Washing Machine Circa 1943
3. Gentle on My Mind
4. How Come You're Being So Good to Me?
5. Front Porch
6. Untangle Your Mind
7. Category Stomp, The
8. Big Blue Balloon
9. Whose That
10. I'm Still Here
11. Girl With the Long Brown Hair, The
12. Why Do You Do Me Like You Do?
13. I Would Not Be Here
14. Natural to Be Gone
15. Jack's in ...Read More

1. Corn Cob Blues
2. Good Old Electric Washing Machine Circa 1943
3. Gentle on My Mind
4. How Come You're Being So Good to Me?
5. Front Porch
6. Untangle Your Mind
7. Category Stomp, The
8. Big Blue Balloon
9. Whose That
10. I'm Still Here
11. Girl With the Long Brown Hair, The
12. Why Do You Do Me Like You Do?
13. I Would Not Be Here
14. Natural to Be Gone
15. Jack's in the Sack
16. California Earthquake
17. Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation ...Read Less
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 99837
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Personnel: John Hartford (vocals, guitar, banjo); Jerry Reed, Ray Edenton, Wayne Moss (guitar); Charlie McCoy (harmonica); David Briggs (piano); Norbet Putnam (acoustic & electric basses); Terry Paul (bass); Jerry Carrigan, D.J. Fontana (drums).
Producer: Felton Jarvis.
Compilation producers: Rob Santos, Dave Samuelson.
Recorded between 1966 and 1968. Includes liner notes by Rich Kienzle and Dave Samuelson.
Digitally remastered by Elliott Federman (SAJE Sound, New York, New York).
The clean-cut John Hartford, who dons the cover of RCA Country Legends, offers quite a contrast to the scruffy photo of the singer on Aereo-Plain just a few years later. One might be lulled into believing that this young man attended Republican rallies and offered no threat to the establishment. But the selections, chosen from several RCA albums recorded between 1966 and 1968, belie the image. While far from the counterculture figure of his Aereo-Plain days, songs like "Untangle Your Mind" and "The Girl With the Long Brown Hair" show him on his way. Hartford's idiosyncratic humor shows up on "Big Blue Balloon" and "Whose That," while his ability to write catchy melodies surfaces on "Corn Cob Blues" and, of course, "Gentle on My Mind." Certain traits, like Hartford's low-guttural delivery of lyrics, make cameos here, but clearly RCA and producer Chet Atkins kept certain eccentricities in check. There are also odd touches, like the trumpets on "I'm Still Here," but overall the production and arrangements are better than one might expect from a major studio with an oddity like Hartford. RCA Country Legends provides a good snapshot of this long-out-of-print material. Thankfully, Rich Kienzle and Dave Samuelson's liner notes remind everyone of Hartford's central role in the birth of newgrass. Sure, he eventually became part of the establishment, but in the late '60s and early '70s he threatened it. RCA Country Legends offers an excellent portrait of Hartford's early work and will be eagerly snatched up by fans. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.