This WEB site contains all of the extensive and informative
liner notes, credits, and recording information from Harvey Reid's
11 compact discs on Woodpecker Records, which are a vital source
of information about Harvey and his music. This is done so as
a service to fans and whomever else might be interested, intended
for personal use and research purposes only. Copyright 1986-1997
by Harvey Reid.
Box 815 York Maine 03909
207-363-1886
The Coming Of Winter, begun on the first day of Fall, was recorded
in isolation in a small cottage on the Atlantic Ocean near Bath,
Maine. These 8 original and 5 traditional songs and instrumentals,
performed on the acoustic guitar, violin, autoharp, viola and
mandolinp; share a theme, lyrics, and a mood that are consistent
with the change of season, impending cold weather, and the presence
of the ocean. It is intended to musically and emotionally reflect
the arrival of the winter season, the needs of winter music listeners,
and to bring the artists' interaction and performances directly
to the listener, without the editing, splicing,and distracting
production that almost always accompany modern recorded music.
CREDITS
Harvey Reid Guitars, autoharp, mandolin, lead + harmony vocals, jew's harp
Brian Silber Violin, viola, harmony vocal on "Guide Me"
Lynn Rothermich Lead vocal on "Guide Me"
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing: Harvey Reid
All Lyrics: Harvey Reid
Digital Mastering: FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth NH
Guitar: 1984 Taylor rosewood dreadnought 6-string, GHS strings
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Violin, Viola: by the Holzapfel family of Baltimore, Maryland
Design & Graphics: Aphro- Graphics
Cover photo: (...the beach in winter near the Cottage) Elizabeth Reid
Special Thanks: EMR, Tom Daly, Jeff Landrock, Rex Holmes, Terry Kuhn,
Lynn, Margaret, Fil, Samantha, and to the North Atlantic for yielding some of
its magic.
(^) A Third Hand Capo in Esus configuration was used on the guitar. (Standard
tuning, sometimes tuned low.)
For information, contact
http://www.partialcapo.com
(+) an additional track was overdubbed; all other tracks recorded live
All selections ©, 1982-1986 by Harvey Reid. (Quahog Music, ASCAP) All rights
reserved.
This recording was done with Nakamichi mikes, a TEAC tape recorder, DBX noise
reduction and Lexicon reverb.
1. The Last Dance Of Summer (Reid/Silber)(2:29) A joyous
jig, it wrote itself on the impossibly lovely afternoon of the
Autumnal Equinox. Autoharp, violin.
2. Twilight (H. Reid)(5:24) About light, darkness, shadows,
love, isolation, civilization, nuclear energy, the moon, and several
other seemingly disparate things. Recorded at twilight on a very
gray day at The Cottage. (^) Guitar, vocal, viola. (+)
3. The Bonnie Streets Of Fyvio (Trad.)(2:07) Learned when
I was a child. The words, that I probably should have sung, tell
of a tragic love affair between a Scottish girl and an Irish soldier,
I think. Maybe vice versa. Autoharp, viola.
4. The Fisher's Hornpipe (Trad.)(1:42) A favorite old-time
fiddle tune, it always reminds me of the happy days of summer
street fiddling. Luckily Brian played fiddle here and not me.
Mandolin, violin, jew's harp. (+)
5. Old Portsmouth Town (H. Reid)(5:16) Recorded live during
Dick Pleasants' radio show on WGBH in Boston in Jan '85 with Rick
Watson on piano and vocal and Linda Schrade on vocal. Portsmouth
is an old town that's been through many changes, but the water,
the tides, and the winter are a constant though it all. The types
of boats may change, but there are always boats. (^) Guitar, piano,
3 vocals.
6. The Hunter's Moon (H. Reid)(7:41) Recorded quite impromptu
and almost entirely improvised, during our first evening together
at The Cottage. The Hunter's Moon is in October, the one after
the Harvest Moon.(^) Guitar, viola.
7. The Road To Dundee (Trad.)(2:42) Yet another old and
lovely Scottish melody we were playing and recorded without really
planning to. The words that I don't sing start out: "Cold
winter was howling o'er moor and o'er mountain..." Autoharp,
viola.
8. Guide Me (H. Reid)(3:19)An old-sounding harmony song,
inspired by hearing the music of Daniel Womack, a blind gospel
singer. A plea for strength, written during an intense fever,
it was done here the old-fashioned wayp; live, gathered around
the mikes. Guitar, 3 vocals.
9. The Coming Of Winter (Reid/Silber)(5:34) Written at
The Cottage during a rainstorm and recorded moments later. Listen
really carefully and you can hear the sound of the rain on the
roof during the quiet parts. Autoharp, violin.
10. The Minstrel's Dream (H. Reid)(22:10) A guitar solo
of epic proportions, about the Awakening of Knowledge in the younger
days of a minstrel, when he realizes that music is his calling.
There are many levels of trickery in this tune, including a Third
Hand Capo, a dropped tuning, and a lot of difficult, unorthodox
guitar techniques. It is bravely presented here live and entirely
unedited, clams and all, without overdubs or splices. I'm pretty
sure I did a totally perfect take of it just before and forgot
to turn on the tape machine. That particular perfection belongs
to the North wind now. The bagpipes stuff is done with two hands
on the fretboard, Eddie van Halen style. (^) Solo guitar.
11. Lord Of The Dance (Trad.)(2:25) One of my very favorite
melodies, and usually the first one I learn on a new instrument.
Also known as "Simple Gifts" to most Americans. It makes
me think of old-time harvest dances. Autoharp, violin.
12. Archibald MacDonald Of Keppoch (Trad.)(3:57) This eerie
Scottish air pops up in my head every time I go to the ocean on
a gray day. (^) Solo guitar.
13. Gathering The Harvest (H. Reid)(5:14) A hymn and a
prayer, and a song for Thanksgiving, written Oct. 6 during the
project. Autoharp,vocal, guitar (+).
NOTE: This recording was originally released in 1986 as an 85
minute tape that has been shortened to allow it to be issued on
compact disc. (Incidentally, the original tape was long because
the 22 minute cut,"The Minstrel's Dream" made it impossible
to release it as an LP, and the tape medium allowed time to include
large amounts of music.) Look for the 3 "missing" cuts
to be re-released on other recordings.
The songs and traditions of Christmas speak to us mysteriously from across the ages, as a gift from our ancestors. I never tried to learn any of these tunes, they just came in and made themselves at home. Every year I work up arrangements of my favorites, only to forget them for 11 months and start over. They have quietly evolved into this collection of instrumentals: some for solo guitar, some for autoharp; some simple, some somber, some improvised, some carefully planned...There are no sleigh bells, drumbeats, synthesizers, or choirs of "angels" here, and no studio trickery. Just the unadorned sound of the steel-string guitar and the autoharpp; and music that certainly needs no other adornment.
Guitars, Autoharp, Mandolin, Vocal: Harvey Reid
Produced by: Harvey Reid
Recording, Mastering: FISHTRAKS Studios, Portsmouth NH
Engineering: Jeff Landrock, Tom Daly, Rick Watson(*)
Mixing: Harvey Reid
Guitars: 1974 Gallagher mahogany dreadnought, 1984 Taylor 810 (*)
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Design and Graphics: Aphro- Graphics, Fil Kennedy
(*) Recorded direct to digital
(^) A Third Hand Capo in Esus configuration was used on the guitar. (Standard
tuning except where noted.) Contact
(+) An additional instrument track was overdubbed.
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is ©1934 (J. Fred Coots/H.Gille
spie; SBK Feist Catalog, ASCAP), "The Little Drummer Boy" is ©1958
(Davis/Onorati/Simeone, Mills Music Inc. ASCAP). Both used by permission. All
other titles are Public Domain, arrangements ©, ® 1984, 1987 by Harvey
Reid. (Quahog Music, ASCAP.)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Trad.)(2:56) A traditional
English carol, and a personal favorite. I try to remember to let
nothing me dismay. Solo guitar, tuned 1 step flat. (*)(^)
Deck The Halls (Trad.)(3:21) A Welsh carol with lots of
pagan flavor; solo autoharp.
Angels We Have Heard On High (Trad.)(2:55) Origin unknown,
guitar solo, capo 3.
Greensleeves (What Child Is This?) (Trad.)(4:26) Traditional
English melody, later made into a Christmas tune. Guitar, autoharp
duet. Conveniently both a Christmas tune and a "normal"
one, so you can play it year-round. It's in everybody's top 10
favorite tunes list.(+)
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Coots/Gillespie)(2:21) Quite
a mood change from the lovely stuff, but an irresistible flatpicking
piece, and Santa's only appearance on this recording. He seems
like more of a parole officer than a jolly old elf in this song...
Capo 2, rhythm guitar added. (+)
Silent Night (Trad.)(4:58) Written by Franz Gruber in 1818
for guitar because mice had eaten the organ bellows. Autoharp
solo with rhythm guitar, mandolin overdubs. (++)
The Little Drummer Boy (Davis/ Onerati/ Simeone)(5:06)
I was surprised to learn, while obtaining permissions, that it
was not traditional; it was written in 1958. Not knowing this,
I gave it a Scottish pipes and drum feel I thought it needed.
(*)(^)
NOTE (and vindication): I have since met the author of the words and arrangement of the tune, Harry Simeone, who informed me that the melody was indeed a medeival French tune after all, called "Le Jongleur". HR (1996)
Away In A Manger (Trad.)(2:50) Often called "Luther's
Cradle Hymn," for unknown reasons, since apparently he didn't
have anything to do with creating it. A very, very old melody.
Solo autoharp.
Good King Wenceslas (Trad.)(3:13) A traditional English
carol, guitar solo tuned 1/2 step flat. I never liked the rousing,
boisterous way it's usually sung. (*)(^)
Ode To Joy (L. Beethoven)(3:20) The theme from Beethoven's
9th Symphony, not exactly Christmas, but close enough. Joy is
a big concept at Christmas time. Autoharp solo. (*)
Hark, The Herald Angels Sing (Trad.)(2:54) By Felix Mendelssohn,
guitar solo, capo 2.
O' Tannenbaum (Trad.)(3:18) Of German origin, one of the
oldest European melodies. It's been many songs over the last 1000
years, including drinking songs. Autoharp solo. (*)
Jingle Bells (J. Pierpont)(2:32) Written by someone named
James Pierpont in 1857. The silly words after verse 1 are part
of the reason this project is instrumental. Guitar solo, capo
2.
The Carol Of The Birds (Trad.)(6:02) I believe it's a Welsh
carol. I learned it from the Simmons Family dulcimer recording.
Autoharp solo, rhythm guitar added. (^)(+)
The Heart Of The Minstrel On Christmas Day (H. Reid)(4:25)
Accidentally written in the middle of mixing the project, it fell
out of the sky while I was driving. Our society's mass-merchandising,
"more is better" approach to Christmas and its music
tends to make folk musicians feel insignificant. There actually
may be no happier time to be a musician. (*)
Much of the material on this recording was originally released
in 1984 as "The Christmas Project" on FISHTRAKS records.
It has been re-mixed to digital, and combined with 6 new, all-digitally
recorded tunes. Neumann and Sennheiser microphones, Lexicon reverb
and SONY digital recording equipment were used.
The elements of Wind and Water have been quietly invading my
creative work since long before I noticed. The wind has been a
constant companion thoughout my almost endless traveling, and
I don't think I could live without a large body of water nearby
to stare at. Here on the coast of New England the storms, breezes,
tides, fog, rivers, rain and snow seem to merge into a single,
ever-present force. These 7 songs and 10 instrumentals were recorded
all-digitally, 'live in the studio', with no splicing, editing,
or multitracking whatsoever. Assisting were my friends Rick Watson
(keyboard), Lynn Rothermich (vocals), David Surette (guitar, bouzouki),
Sarah Bauhan (tin whistle) and Susie Burke (guitar, vocal). The
intent was to capture the urgency of live music while retaining
the high standards of sound quality we expect from modern studio
recording. Admittedly my acoustic guitars, autoharp, mandolin,
banjo and words are a feeble way to portray the grandeur and power
of the winds and waters- but they are the only way I have. And
I suspect that we humans may be at our best when we try to use
our own hands and hearts to portray much larger things. This music
should sound best in a windy place, with a good view of some cold,
blue water.
CREDITS:
Harvey Reid: Guitars, Autoharp, Mandolin, 6-String Banjo,
Lead Vocals
Rick Watson: Roland RD-200 keyboard ()
Lynn Rothermich: Vocals (*)
David Surette: Guitar, Bouzouki ()
Sarah Bauhan: TinWhistle (ø)
Susie Burke: Vocals, Guitar (+)
Arrangements, Production: Harvey Reid
Digital Recording: FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth NH
Digital Mastering: Toby Mountain, Northeastern Digital
Engineering: Harvey Reid, Jeff Landrock, Rick Watson, Tom
Daly
Guitars: 1984 Taylor rosewood dreadnought 6-string, 1987
Taylor maple jumbo 12-string
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Mandolin: 1987 by R.L Givens
Banjo: 1988 6-string maple by Deering
Design and Graphics: Aphro- Graphics
Cover photo: The "Hesper" and "Luther Little",
Wiscasset, Maine, by Brian K. Reid
Special Thanks: Tom Daly, Rex Holmes, Queen Margaret, Ephraim
Shaw
(^) A Third Hand Capo in Esus configuration was used on the guitar.
(Standard tuning, sometimes tuned low.)
All selections ©, ® 1979-1988 by Harvey Reid. (Quahog
Music, ASCAP)
"Off To Adventure" (H. Reid) (3:15) Reminds
me of a bagpipe record my folks had when I was a kid that was
recorded as the band paraded by. It's eerie to think that my ancestors
marched off to war to stuff like this, and to think about all
the centuries of music before there were recordings.You wonder
if soldiers could march to headphones. 12-string. (^)
"Silver Blue" (H. Reid) (5:22) When I'm away
, I miss the water as much as anything, even though I don't do
much except look at it and think about it. Real estate agents
know that we all have a need to look at water. Maybe a mythic
memory of the primordial soup. Out west a lot of water is unsatisfactorily
brown. I like mine cold and blue, thank you. 6-string. (*)(^)
"Maggots in the Sheepshide / The Flowers of Edinburgh"
(Trad.) (2:22) Two of my very favorite traditional fiddle
tunes that date back to my street music days. I learned the first
from a street fiddler, and I never met anybody who either knew
the tune or a better name for it. The second tune is well-known,
for good reason. Mandolin, rhythm guitar.()
"The Lakes of Pontchartrain" (Trad.) (7:05) Lately
my favorite old ballad, and I don't know much about it. Probably
a Civil War soldier yearning for his home water.12-string (^)
"The Keeper of the Light" (Reid / Bauhan) (4:55)
My first collaboration with Sarah. All the lighthouse keepers
left in Maine would probably fit in my car. Must be a lonely job
for non-hermits, especially before TV and phones. Autoharp, tin
whistle, keyboard.()(ø)
"Pieces of Eight" (H. Reid) (4:43) I think about
pirates during this one.Written during the project and largely
improvised. 6-string banjo, capo 5. (^)
"Show MeThe Road" (H. Reid) (4:01) Written in
a hotel room in 1980, in honor of Washington Phillips, a street
preacher who recorded some strangely beautiful gospel music in
the 1930's. Susie Burke helped me dig this out of a pile of old
tapes of songs I never sing, and it's a favorite now of songs
we do together. Two 6-string guitars.(+)
"Midnight On The Water" (Trad.) (4:08) A lovely
fiddle waltz that I learned in Nova Scotia. I hear it's from Texas,
but I don't believe it. Sounds Celtic to me. 12-string.(^)
"Dance, the Storm is Over" (H. Reid) (4:22) Written
in Portland, Maine during the free hour when I accidently showed
up early for a gig due to a time change. Uses the 12-string like
melodic style banjo, with a lot of splitting pairs of strings.
Hard to do, but a nifty sound- sort of hammer dulcimer-ish, and
another attempt by us guitarists to capture the drive of fiddle
music. I imagine sailors dancing.Third Hand Capo-Open A. 12-string,
bouzouki.()
"The Boatman" (H. Reid) (3:40) As a performer
I often feel like a tour bus driver- you take people places and
you don't really get to stay or even see what the travelers see,
since it's all new to them, and old hat to you. Flatpick guitar
-lower 4 strings capo 2. (*)
"Southwind" (Turlough O'Carolan) (4:45) Still
my favorite melody, that comes from the greatest of the oldIrish
harpers, who died in 1738. Somebody please play this one when
you lower me into the grave. I mean it. Autoharp, tin whistle,
keyboard.()(ø)
"April Rain" (H. Reid) (5:07) Written in Lubec,
Maine, in 1978. 12-string (^).
"Crown the Queen" (H. Reid) (3:26) Autoharp players
are always working hard trying to arrange music from other instruments.
I can't play this on anything else but autoharp. It might be a
march. Autoharp, rhythm guitar.()
"To The Western Wind" (H. Reid) (5:06) A sort
of gypsy freedom song, this one reared its head in a friend's
living room in Los Angeles, of all places. 12-string. (*)(^)
"Waltz of the Waves" (H. Reid) (4:08) Written
at the beach on my birthday , before coffee, if you can believe
it. Sat up, opened the eyes, and there it was. Autoharp, keyboard.()
"Candlelight" (H. Reid) (2:19) Written in the
car in New Hampshire in 1979 in a cold parking lot in November.
The only one of my songs I like as a poem. 12-string.
"A Windy Grave" (H. Reid) (2:09) There's a great
story of a great violinist in prison who wrote a piece for the
one string his captors let him have in the cell.Though not that
ambitious, this melody is only on the E string, with both hands
on the frets. 12-string.(^)
These 21 selections include an assortment of fiddle tunes, rags, blues, hymns, sea songs, classics and standards written or arranged for guitar. Solo guitar I have found to be a quite fragile and personal thing- and I'm becoming convinced that listeners can sense my moods and even my thoughts when I play. So in order to preserve the music as "alive" and as unaffected as possible, I spent several weeks by myself in a cottage on the ocean in Maine with digital recording equipment, to capture the musical moments as they happened, rather than trying to conjure them up in the studio.The result is an absolute minimum of barriers between the artist and listener, and the closest thing possible to having you actually sitting in front of the guitar.
6-string, 12-string & Slide Guitars: Harvey Reid
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing: Harvey Reid
Recording: April and May 1989 at The Cottage, near Bath, Maine, with
a Panasonic SV-250 DAT recorder, Audio-Technica 4051 microphones and Lexicon
digital reverb
()July 1989 FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth, NH, with a Sony 2500 DAT and 4051 mikes.
() Sept 1988, FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth, NH, with a Sony PCM F-1 & AKG mikes
Digital Mastering: FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth NH
CD mastering: Toby Mountain, Northeastern Digital
Guitars: 1984 Taylor rosewood dreadnought 6-string (T), 1965 Wood-Body
Dobro (W), 1974 mahogany Gallagher (G), 1987 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string (12)
Design, Type and Graphics: Aphro-Graphics
Cover Engraving: "The Island", George Andrew (1883)
General Thanks: To all the great players before me who illuminated the
path; to those who've been listening all along; and even to all the jerks who
talked during my gigs through the years, who unknowingly encouraged me to practice
harder.
Specific Thanks: Ken Reichel, Audio-Technica, Panasonic, Dr. Lou, Rex
Holmes, to MG and the Reidclan for support, to Janos Starker for inspiration
and to Dawn for light.
http://www.partialcapo.com
©, ® 1982-1989 by Harvey Reid. (Quahog Music, BMI) except "The
Fisherman" © by Leo Kottke (Round Wound Sound),"Moon River"
©1961 by Henry Mancini (Famous Music Inc.),"Summertime" ©
by G. Gershwin (Gershwin Publishing, Chappell & Co. Inc.) all ASCAP, used
by permission.
This recording was done direct-to-master, with no splicing, editing, or overdubbing of any sort, and is all-digital except The Elves and the Shoemaker, which was recorded by Ron Freeland in 1982, direct-to AMPEX 2-track with Neumann mikes at TRACK Studios, Silver Spring, MD. Due to the lack of background noise in digital recording, the sounds of things like breathing, clothing, and instruments working may be more apparent than usual.You might even be able to hear the ocean or the wind here and there, but I doubt it.
"Suite: For The Duchess" (H. Reid) (6:33)
Written in a hammock in Wisconsin in 1982 for an old girl friend,
it draws about equally from the Celtic and Baroque music I was
listening to at the time. It exploits heavily the opportunities
offered by the Third Hand Capo. (T)(^)()
"The Albatross" (H. Reid) (3:40) Open Ab tuning,
with bottleneck. The albatross is a large, solitary bird that
inhabits the air of the southern hemisphere's oceans, spending
most of its time aloft. The author is a large, solitary guitarist
who inhabits the land areas of the United States, spending most
of his time in transit. Written in a house in Virginia in 1980.
(^) (W)
"Cindy/Cripple Creek" (Trad.) (3:00) After years
of playing traditional music I finally found a way to generate
this fundamental fiddle and banjo dance rhythm on the solo guitar.
It's a weird sort of reverse banjo-style frailing, whatever that
is. Capo 5. (^) (T)
"Summertime" (G. & I. Gershwin) (7:29) Evolved
out of years of playing brunches in restaurants, and as usual
is largely improvised and very impressionistic. I'm actually surprised
you can't hear the foghorn. (T)
"Canal Street Strut" (H. Reid) (2:32) Describes
the unique and wonderful feeling you get in your feet when you
walk in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Also in honor of Merle
Travis. (T)()
"Prelude in Dm" (J.S. Bach) (1:41) Music like
this disputes theories about monkeys with typewriters eventually
writing the Constitution- no guitarist could ever have written
it. Basically it's Segovia's arrangement, though no doubt he wouldn't
have approved of it on steel strings. (T)
"Woodchopper's Reel/ Jimmy in the Swamp" (Trad.)
(3:43) Two of my favorite obscure fiddle tunes, transcribed quite
faithfully from the fiddle and flatpicked with David Surette on
rhythm. (T)()
"The Fisherman" (Leo Kot tke) (2:44) The first
instrumental I ever tried to learn, and still a favorite guitar
piece after 17 years. Leo 's playing really brought American guitar
into focus.(T)
"Highwire Hornpipe" (H. Reid) (3:56) Unusual
in that the entire melody takes place on the E string with a drone
bass. In the first part, only one finger of the left hand is used.
Very much a minimalist approach to guitar, not unlike the unusual
challenges of highwire walkers.(12)()(^)
"Medley: Amazing Grace/ What A Friend We Have in Jesus/
Swing Low" (Trad.) (4:31) Roots-style bottleneck versions
of three well-known non-secular songs. Nobody knows where slide
guitar came from, but when it works it sure works. Open Eb tuning.
(W)
"For Whom The Bell Tolls" (H. Reid) (5:10) Somehow
evokes the flavors of Spanish guitar, even though my only background
comes from soundtracks of bad Westerns. Works well for the campfire
scene, when the bullet-draped banditos challenge Dean Martin in
a knife fight for control of the gang of outlaws. Also suitable
for many Hemingway books.()(T)
"Für Elise" (L. Beethoven) (1:28) A famous
and lovely piece of music that only is played by students and
children, since it's too easy for serious pianists. Somehow I
got a hunch that if you tuned the guitar to Open Eb tuning, then
put a Third Hand Capo on, you could play it exactly, note for
note, from the piano. I'm not aware of any other way to do that
on a guitar. (^)(T)
"Slipped Through My Hand" (H. Reid) (3:20) Originally
just the guitar breaks from a song of mine about the passage of
time and looking backward, it's grown wings of its own. (12)()(^)
"Still Life With Blues" (H. Reid) (4:00) Improvised
one evening, unlike most blues songs, which involve waking up
in the morning. Sometimes guitar strings seem to want to be bent
and snapped instead of stroked or plucked.(T)
"Daybreak In Dublin" (H. Reid) (4:16) Being mostly
Scottish by blood, I love traditional Celtic dance music as well
as coarse bread and single malt scotch. I'm usually too lazy to
learn the tunes so I write 'em instead. This one was created for
a concert on St. Patrick's Day, 1989. (^)(T)
"Moon River" (H. Mancini) (3:14)I'm not quite
sure how it ended up here, probably another refugee from brunches.
It's almost certain to cause drunks to sing along, which must
mean something. I think I like it most now because I used to hate
it, or at least I thought I did. (T)
"Dirty Dish Rag" (H. Reid) (2:21) Written in
a driveway in Kent, Ohio, this one pits a Scruggs roll in the
treble against a Travis thumb line. For those who don't know what
that means, it is supposed to evoke ragtime piano moods. Should
go well with beer and pizza. Capo 2 (T)
"The Elves And The Shoemaker" (H. Reid) (3:07)
The first solo guitar piece I ever wrote, it arrived in '72 or
'73. The story gets told a bit hastily, and there isn't time to
build proper suspense. The story really warrants a 9 or 10 minute
piece. That's Elves, not Elvis.(G)()
"Sailing In The Lowlands" (Trad.) (3:13) A haunting
sea song, to finish up. This one is part of the "Golden Vanity"
family of ballads. To some extent it's an excuse to use the quietness
of digital recording to play achingly slowly and just let the
wood sing the song. (^) (T)
These 9 songs and 10 instrumentals include 7 new releases plus 6 re-recordings and 6 reissues of earlier material. Collectively they paint a musical portrait of a remarkable and complex artist, who has a deep knowledge and respect for traditional music styles, as well as a rare gift for song-writing and composing. Captured here in pristine, natural, mostly-digital sound are many facets of Reid's highly acclaimed 6-string, 12-string & slide guitar styles, as well his innovative 6-string banjo, autoharp and mandolin work. If you've already discovered Harvey Reid, this album should provide you with plenty of new musicp; and it's an excellent introduction to the man if you haven't...
Harvey Reid: Guitars, autoharp, mandolin, banjo, foot,
lead vocals
Rick Watson: Guitar, vocals, keyboard, piano ()
Brian Silber: Violin, viola on "Fyvio", "Coming of Winter",
"Johnny the Fisherman"
Anne Dodson: Harmony vocal on "All or Nothing"
Dan Crary: Lead guitar on "All or Nothing"
David Surette: Rhythm guitar on "Maggots /Flowers"
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing: Harvey Reid
Engineering Assistance: Jeff Landrock, Rick Watson
() Engineered by Ron Freeland at TRACK studios, Silver Spring, MD, 1983.
(§) Recorded at FISHTRAKS, Portsmouth NH; direct-to-digital except"All
or Nothing"
(·) Recorded at the artist's dining room table.
All other tracks recorded by Harvey Reid at The Cottage, near Bath, Maine.
Guitars: 1984 & 1990 Taylor rosewood dreadnought 6-string, early
1970's Metal body Dobro, 1987 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string, 1974 Mahogany Gallagher
on "California Blues"
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Design and Graphics: Aphro-Graphics
Cover photo: Nancy Moulton
Special Thanks: Dawn Richardson, Rick Watson, Tom Daly, The Reidclan
(^) A Third Hand Capo was used on the guitar. Contact
(°) an additional track was overdubbed; all other tracks recorded live.
Most of this recording was recording direct-to-digital and digitally mastered to CD. "Johnny the Fisherman" was recorded and mixed to analog, and "All or Nothing", "Streets of Fyvio", and "The Coming of Winter" were recorded analog and then mixed and mastered to digital.
All or Nothing * (H. Reid)(3:50) Written in Nashville
in 1980 about previous and subsequent relationships. Real life
is full of gray areas and rarely as simple as it ought to be in
Nashville songs. Two 6-strings, piano, 3 vocals. (§)()
Prelude: From the Minstrel's Dream *(H. Reid)(3:59) The
opening part of a monumental, 22 minute guitar piece from 1984.
Inspired by a Bach Brandenberg concerto. 6-string. (^)
Vigilante Man (W. Guthrie)(5:14) My all-metal guitar is
constructed such that even after I worked on it with a hammer,
it is hard to play without bumping the body with my right hand.
So I figured I'd just use the sound for percussion. Sure doesn't
hurt the guitar. Metal Dobro, vocal.
Off To Adventure (H. Reid)(3:22) Reminds me of a bagpipe
record my folks had when I was a kid that was recorded as the
band paraded by. It's eerie to think that my ancestors marched
off to war to stuff like this, and to think about all the centuries
of music before there were recordings. 12-string. (§)
Too Old to Ride (H. Reid)(3:38) Partly inspired by a retired
rodeo cowboy I met at the Cheyenne rodeo, this isn't supposed
to be sad. When you retire from active stuff you have to be a
spectator or tell stories. I hope I can play guitar right till
the end. 6-string.
Listen to the Mockingbird (Trad.)(2:33) This chestnut of
a tune, originally known as "Sweet Hallie" I believe,
features some old-fashioned, down-home style picking. 6-string.
Dying A Little (H. Reid)(4:23) Recorded the day it was
written; a complex and noir song about the complex task of living
in a world full of complex problems. 6-string (^)
Maggots in the Sheepside/Flowers of Edinburgh (Trad.)(2:23)
Two of my very favorite traditional fiddle tunes that date back
to my street music days. I learned the first from a street fiddler,
and I never met anybody since who either knew the tune or a better
name for it. The 2nd tune is well-known, for good reason. Mandolin,
guitar (§)
The Coming of Winter (H. Reid)(4:34) Written during a cold,
gray September day at The Cottage in Sept 1986, recorded moments
afterwards, never played since. Autoharp, violin.
Dreamer or Believer *(H. Reid)(3:10) A composite sketch
of many starving artist friends, written in Wisconsin in 1982,
cleverly put in the 3rd person, so no one suspects anything autobiographical.
There seems to be an unfair relationship between earning a decent
living and giving up your dreams. Two 6-strings & vocals.
(^)()(§)
The Bonnie Streets of Fyvio (Trad.)(2:07) Learned the melody
when I was a child. The words, that I probably should have sung,
tell of a tragic love affair between a Scottish girl and an Irish
soldier, I thinkp; maybe vice versa. Autoharp, viola.
Restless Man* (H. Reid)(4:39) A freedom song, written posthumously
for Lowell George, recorded at my dining room table. Metal Dobro,
vocal. (·)
Cindy/Cripple Creek*(Trad.)(3:24) After 20 years of playing
traditional music I finally found a way to get mountain banjo
style sounds on solo guitar. Here I play it on a 6-string banjo,
tuned like a guitar. It's done on guitar on album #105. Same but
different. Hmm. (^) 6-string.
Waltz of the Waves (H. Reid)(4:02) Written for and about
the autoharp on my birthday , before coffee, if you can believe
it. It almost got words. I even started to write words for it.
Autoharp, keyboard. (§)()
Johnny the Fisherman (H. Reid)(3:21) Arrived while singing
in the car after a trip to Newfoundland, it's an old-time fiddle
tune with words. I can't sing it in the fiddle key, so it's in
2 parts. PART 1: 12-string , autoharp, 4 vocals; PART 2: 6-string,
violin, rhythm 6 string ()(^)()(°)
Cryin' Shame*(H. Reid)(4:05) Completed in Illinois in 1983,
it's almost a protest song, and a too-common story: "Man
gets drunk, shoots somebody, people wonder why..." Slide
guitar, vocal.
Chanoyu (H. Reid)(4:06) The banjo accidentally sounded
very un-occidental one night. Guitar tuning, though the piece
doesn't work on guitar at all. Chanoyu is the traditional Japanese
tea ceremony, that is purported to result in a state of serenity.
(^)(·) 6-string banjo.
California Blues (J. Rodgers)(2:47) A favorite old blues
tune, recorded spontaneously one night at The Cottage during a
very cold rain, which you can definitely hear. I felt like a hobo,
though I did have a roof and a fire and dry clothes. Reminded
me how much I like the mood Jimmie's songs evoke. Ragged but right.
6-string, vocal.
Danny Boy(Londonderry Air)(Trad.) (3:36) The other great
sing-along for drunks, and the only tune I ever heard my grandfather
play on his fiddle. 6-string (§)
* These cuts are re-recordings of selections that have
appeared on earlier albums.
Note: For CD freaks with headphones... With a few exceptions,
this music was recorded direct to digital, and there is no tape
noise. However, the thin walls of The Cottage did not always block
out the sound of the rather strong winds and the quite large waves
that at high tide were almost perilously close, and that sound
like hiss.I like to play music there and if I am playing well,I
just roll tape. If you hear things, it is the faint sound of the
world around me, gently covering that deadly digital silence in
a kind of analog and natural way. A way to make both analog and
digital fans happy, and much better than applause and coughing
and other "live" music noises. If you don't hear anything,
ignore this paragraph.
These 19 traditional ballads, folk songs and tunes feel like they belong to me, though in truth they belong to all of us. Most are them are very well known, though they won't stay that way unless we play them. Since people rarely make their own music now, entertainment has become big business; and because there's no big money or status in traditional music it isn't getting heard. Every so often it's time to play the old songs again; to make them new and alive and young again. Some of these were left plain and simple; others I dressed up with fancy picking. There was a great temptation to invite my musician friends to help; but I felt that folk songs are preserved properly only in the memories of individuals, and that the right way to present this music in its purest form was completely solo. So it went straight into the digital recorder- no tricks, no makeup, just me and my hands, feet, voice and various instruments- with essentially nothing between you and the music except two microphones chosen and placed by me and two speakers chosen and placed by you.
Harvey Reid 6-string, 12-string & slide guitars,
autoharp, 6-string banjo, foot, vocals
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing Harvey Reid
All tracks recorded at The Cottage, near Bath, Maine, September & October
1991
Guitars 1984 & 1990 Taylor model 810 6-strings, early 1970's Metal-body
Dobro, 1987 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string, 1965 round-neck Dobro on "Red
River Valley"
Banjo 1988 Deering maple 6-string, in guitar tuning
Autoharp 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Design, Type & Graphics Aphro-Graphics
Cover Art & Illustrations Duane Bohlman
Liner Notes Harvey Reid
Special Thanks Dawn Richardson,The Reidclan, especially my mother, whose
love of music apparently started it all.
(^) A partial capo was used on the guitar.
This album was recorded in "living stereo" by the artist, direct-to-digital,
using only a pair of Audio-Technica AT-4051 microphones, a Panasonic SV-255
DAT recorder, and a Lexicon digital reverb unit. No overdubs, splices or edits
were done, though the temptation was great at times.
This music came from and still belongs to the people, and as such, no copyright claims of authorship, composing or arrangement are made by the artist. What royalty monies that ordinarily would be paid to a songwriter will be duly computed and used to purchase guitar strings that will be donated to worthy and struggling folk musicians.
John Henry (4:38) Unlike Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill,
John Henry was a real man and he did swing two 20lb. hammers and
he really did drill 14 feet while the steam drill only drilled
9. And he did die that night of a burst blood vessel in his head
and his grave does say "Here lies a steel drivin' man".
This event most likely occured at the Big Bend tunnel in West
Virginia in about 1870. A shaker is the boy who holds the drill
or spike while the man hits it. If there is a modern-day John
Henry he might be a musician, since mechanized entertainment is
everywhere. Even as a child I felt strongly about the drama of
this story, although as one who lives happily with many machines
that do unpleasant things for me, it might be better to let machines
drill holes in rocks and let us do more interesting things. Metal
Dobro + vocal
Arkansas Traveler (2:30) There are references to this tune
dating back hundreds of years, (it's traditionally performed in
between bouts of "Howdy stranger..." jokes.) I know
some funny words to it, but spared you and thought I'd just play
the tune with a flatpick. 6-string (^)
Otto Wood (4:04) It's hard not to like these outlaw guys
that tote their 44's around, even though they do kill people.
This has become my favorite "bad man ballad" , and it's
not as well known as it should be. I love the rhythm of the words,
though I have no idea where or when he lived. 6-string (D tuning)
Ain't No More Cane (3:34) The Brazos River in Texas was
the site of a prison camp where the inmates were leased by the
state to cut cane, and this beautiful song somehow came from that
ugly situation. I recently spent a few days on the river and couldn't
keep from thinking about this song. Old Hannah is the sun. This
was recorded during a wild storm at the cottage that almost took
it out to sea. 12-string
Great Speckled Bird/Wildwood Flower (2:36) The first tune
is the most overworked melody in country music, having been 5
songs already and the 2nd is one of the best-known and loved.
The lyrics to both these tunes are kind of dumb, so they don't
get sung much, at least by me. Autoharp
Railroad Bill (2:46) This has been a fingerpicking standard
for some time, and though it is not clear who this Bill guy is
from the song. According to the Lomaxes (folklorists), he was
one Morris Slater who became a fugitive in the woods of Alabama.
He killed a few people including a Sheriff MacMillan, and became
a local bandit-hero,until he was killed in 1896. I never was all
that curious who he was from hearing the song; and knowing doesn't
change my feeling that it's just a feel-good pickin' tune. 6-string
Blind Fiddler (4:04) A mournful Appalachian song and another
primal banjo song I have been playing a lot the last few years.
Some pretty stark songs came out of the coal mining regions of
Appalachia when the miners had almost nothing to enjoy but the
music they could make. Before there were any special education
programs, a lot of blind people became musicians, since there
weren't many other ways to earn a living. 6-string banjo (^)
Frankie & Johnnie (5:43) There are more versions of
this than you could count, and as mentioned in the song, they
have many different plot variations and outcomes, though the story
remains pretty much the same. It's a timeless story, and juries
have been in the difficult spot over and over again of deciding
if a crime of passion is punishable. 6-string
Jack Tarr the Sailor (5:29) Learned from a local woodworker,
David Behm, who says he learned it 30 years before while working
on the canals in Canada. Jack Tarr is the English generic name
for a sailor, and this song is obviously English, but if cuckoo
songs are now American, why not Jack Tarr songs? All the American
music I do has roots elsewhere, since I don't play any Native
American music. This one really makes me think about what it was
like before 800 numbers and faxes. People didn't know for years
what happened to their young men who were sent off to war, and
the emotional strain is probably something us modern people cannot
even imagine. Autoharp+ vocal
The Water is Wide (3:14) This song has beautiful words
and deep roots in folk music, making up almost a whole branch
of the ballad tree. I couldn't resist just playing it as an instrumental,
though it makes me want to sing when I hear it. 6-string, tuned
low (^)
The Fox (2:36) Learned when I was a kid, and it is still
as much fun to sing as it was then. It was my dog's favorite song.
Luckily we haven't killed or run over all the foxes, though I'm
not sure if the wily critters are confounding farmers quite like
they used to. 6-string + vocal
Duncan & Brady (2:23) Even though there is a Cadillac
in it, this is traditional. It gets a near-rock &roll version
here; I used to play it in bars years ago when I wanted to shout
and stomp. I get the impression that this took place during the
gangster era, though the plot is hardly anything new. To be honest,
I don't think anything about the meaning of the song when I play
it- just the groove. Metal Dobro Eb tuning
Texas Rangers (5:17) One of my very favorite American ballads,
and not a well-known one. It is classic storytelling, and always
makes me really think about what it would have been like to be
suddenly caught in the middle of a nighttime battle with no radios
or air support, limited ammunition, and a lot of second thoughts
about the value of leaving home to go adventuring. 6-string +
vocal
Camptown Races/ Oh Susanna (2:14) Steven Foster songs have
become folk music, and though his music is loved all over the
world, he never profited financially from it and died penniless
while some music publishers made a bundle. Out of respect for
him, I don't feel right changing his words or singing his now-racist
lyrics, so he gets an instrumental. 12-string (^) tuned DFCFAD
Rising Sun Blues (3:47) This song apparently started out
as a woman's blues in New Orleans, and somehow got a new tune
and chords and became a 60's rock + folk classic. This bluesier
version feels like it fits the words better than the popular version,
though I like both. Metal Dobro, Eb tuning
Danville Girl (3:54) This has always been a favorite hobo
song, and back in my street music days I remember singing this
a lot for no apparent reason, since there are a lot of good ones.
I never liked doing anything fancy to this song, so I didn't.
The Danville I think of is a pretty town in Virginia near the
North Carolina border, though there is a Danville, New Hampshire
and several others I know of. 6-string
The Cuckoo (6:53) There are no cuckoos in America except
in zoos and clocks, but the family of cuckoo songs is widespread,
so who am I to change that? The word has a musical sound. The
foot is important in this cut, and after some years of performing
with a foot for a drummer and trying to record without it I realized
it's better to look at it as part of the music. Sort of primal
banjo. 6-string banjo (^)
Streets Of Laredo (2:58) There is a whole family of these
ballads where the dying guy asks for 6 guys to carry the coffin
and 6 women to sing the song, although I think I'd like some sturdy
women to carry my coffin, and only 4 sturdy cowboys to sing me
the song, rather than 6, which makes for confusing harmony parts.
This is the cowboy version, sometimes called "Cowboy's Lament"
or "The Dying Cowboy". This was the first song I ever
learned on guitar when I was 13 or 14. Autoharp
Red River Valley (1:49) At the Cottage, the rain on the
roof often plays cat & mouse with me. I released a cut years
ago with some rain noise on it that people said they weren't sure
they could hear. Well it happened again; this was clearly the
best take, and 15 seconds into it the rain started. Just a mostly
cowboy, slightly Hawaiian version. Wood- body Dobro guitar
You may have seen (P.D.) or (Trad.) on album covers and wondered
what it meant. (Trad. is short for traditional). The U.S. Copyright,
Patent and Trademark laws provide a period of ownership for creative
works, inventions and product names, after which ownership is
supposed to expire and pass into the Public Domain, which means
that they are available for any use by anyone without threat of
infringement lawsuits. However, law allows the copyright of an
"arrangement" of a public domain work, and there are
thousands of arrangements on file for well-known P.D. works, and
it is unclear exactly what is privately or publicly owned.
ASCAP and BMI are private licensing organizations that monitor
radio,TV, movie, restaurant, store & live performances of
copyrighted music, and require users to pay yearly license fees
to create a fund (now a yearly amount of about $320 million),
from which royalty payments are made according to statistical
samples of airplay and various calculations. If an arrangement
of a public domain piece is sampled during such a survey, the
copyright owner receives less money (about 1/5) than an
original work.
Many of us feel that the current system is not ideal, for several
reasons. It discriminates statistically in favor of major artists,
since money is paid out based on very small samples, when the
computer power exists to actually log airplay, as is done in many
countries. It prevents popular artists and record companies from
recording and disseminating traditional music because they will
make a lot less royalty money, thus making it hard to find traditional
music on mass media. (If you play your own songs on TV, you make
a lot more money) There are also many songs (including some extremely
well-known songs) that have traditional melodies, but that are
registered as original music. The copyright owners receive royalty
money for music that belongs to everyone. Many familiar songs
that were learned as folk music or collected as folklore were
copyrighted by folklorists and musicians in the 1920's and 1930's.
Club owners and promoters who hire traditional music performers
must pay license fees to ASCAP and BMI that are paid out based
on sampling of radio airplay and thus tend to end up in the pockets
of the rich rather than the actual authors of the music. (ASCAP
samples public radio at a rate of .000066 or only 27.6 minutes
a year per station!) Many of us feel that public domain music
has been used for personal profit rather than to benefit the public,
much like our public lands and resources, yet the system is set
up such that there has never been legislation passed (except by
irate states that tried to outlaw ASCAP and lost in federal court)
by elected officials to regulate it.
For more information or suggestions as to what you might do to
help our traditional arts, send a SASE to me c/o Woodpecker. I
am currently researching the issues of public domain copyrights,
and will gladly pass along my findings. Our national musical treasures
must be cared for and remain available for all of us to enjoy,
just like our natural resources and parks.
This collection of songs and instrumentals includes baroque, ragtime and Celtic solo guitar pieces, an epic ballad, a gospel harmony song, two mandolin instrumentals, a couple of rocking songs, some introspective art songs, an autoharp march, an almost-protest song, an anti-love song, a love song, a country song, a vocal duet and some folk songs. They were recorded at about 7 different locations, including several motel rooms, my home, a cabin in Maine, a house in New Mexico, and a tavern. All the tracks were recorded with only a digital tape recorder and a pair of microphones, in hopes that the music could be captured "alive" in its natural habitat. I hate to over-season things or cook the natural juices out. If you eat fish, then think of this as one pulled right out of the stream and tossed into the skillet. If not, think of a fresh ear of corn, picked from the garden when the water was already boiling...
Harvey Reid: 6-string, 12-string &
slide guitars, autoharp, mandolin, bouzouki, foot, lead vocals
David Surette: Guitar on Crossing the Badlands & Maplewood
March (§)
Lynn Rothermich: Harmony vocals (*)
Moondi Klein: Guitar on Oh Marie, harmony vocal on Oh Marie
& How in This World ()
Jay Smith: Bodhran (Irish drum) on Planxty Denny
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing: Harvey Reid
Recorded at The Cottage, near Bath, Maine; at home; in
several motels, and other locations
Guitars: 1984 & 1990 (T) Taylor model 810 six strings,
early 1970's Metal-body Dobro, 1987 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string,
1992 Larrivee mahogany L5-05 (L)
Bouzouki: 1992 Trinity College model 335 octave mandolin
Mandolin: Old Gibson model F-3, borrowed from David Surette
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Design, Type & Graphics: Aphro-Graphics
Cover Illustration: Photo by Joe Stevens
Liner Notes: Harvey Reid
Special Thanks: Dawn Richardson, Lynn Rothermich
(^) A Third Hand Capo was used on the guitar. Contact Third Hand
Capo Co. c/o Woodpecker Records for information or to mail-order
a capo or book.
All selections © ,r 1979-1993 by Harvey Reid (Quahog Music,
BMI) except Oh Marie © by Click Horning (Shine Music, BMI)
used by permission
This album was recorded in "living stereo" by the artist, direct-to-digital, using only a matched pair of Audio-Technica AT-4051 microphones and a Panasonic DAT digital tape recorder. No overdubs or multi-tracking of any sort were done.
Oh Marie (Click Horning) (4:03) A song by a friend,
accidentally recorded when Lynn and Moondi heard me playing some
of it while exploring a new tuning, and they wanted to learn it
instead of my songs that we were supposedly working on. Sounded
so good I left it on. Moondi plays lead guitar. Tuned E-A-D-E-B-B
(^)(*)()
Missing A Train (H. Reid) (2:53) Written while driving
with cruise control somewhere in the Midwest. I had imagined this
to be a slide guitar tune, but I never could make it work any
better on guitar, so here it is with just the octave mandolin.
Sounds best cranked to distortion volume on a car stereo. Somehow
resisted the obvious temptation to record it with a rock and roll
band. Maybe I'll do a rock & roll album called Plugged.
Red In The Sky, Blood On The Water (H. Reid) (3:27) There
is a rock on an island on the coast of Maine where my mother has
made a shrine to her mother who lived 96 years and to her grand-daughter
who lived 3 weeks. This tune immediately appeared following my
introduction to that rock during a Thanksgiving Day walk with
an extremely red sunset. I think of it as a requiem, though technically
it's a slow jig. (^)
Circles (H. Reid) (4:31) Written on a drive to Albany,
New York. It lay fallow for months until I sang it in a songwriter
workshop at a festival in Ohio. Only after many people asked about
it did I realize that it was one of my most communicative songs.
Duh. Tuned Dropped-D, lowered 1, capo 2. (T)
Star Island Jig (H. Reid) (4:14) I always thought the fingerpicked
12-string had a good Celtic sound, with the double strings sounding
not unlike mandolin family instruments and hammered dulcimers.
I don't know anybody else who uses one this way. Splitting the
pairs is very tricky. Star Island is off the coast of New Hampshire,
which is about 15 miles long, unless you consider it from a fractal
geometry viewpoint, in which case it is infinitely long. (^)
Shake It Loose (H. Reid) (3:15) I hear this as a song for
a soul band with 3 horns, moustaches, matching suits, sunglasses
and possible substance abuse problems, but I just play it on the
steel bodied guitar and imagine the band. Open Eb tuning, capo
2.
Five Cent Cigar (H. Reid) (2:26) The third in my "series"
of ragtime style guitar pieces. I always loved the sound of down
home Merle Travis-style picking, though it seems to be an increasingly
lost art and no longer the cutting edge of cool it was in 1948.
Maybe it will just skip a generation. Standard tuning, C position.
(T)
Love Like Lightning (H. Reid) (4:36) For a while I thought
this song was too caustic to perform, but several people who had
presumably recently ended relationships said they liked it. Recorded
in a living room near Santa Fe. It was a demo tape for a band
to learn it and I liked it the way it was. (^)
Crossing The Badlands (H. Reid) (3:07) Written on mandolin
while driving across South Dakota, captured on film in auto-timer
photo. I drove through the badlands in an incredibly beautiful
snowstorm listening to the Lakota Nation radio station, and the
visuals have haunted me ever since. That's David Surette on guitar.
(§)
Like An Orphan Child (H. Reid) (3:18) Finished during the
recording of the project. Written to be a vocal duet, kind of
like those brother duet "mother" songs Lynn and I have
been singing for years. Sort of a prayer and a lullaby both. Capo
7, standard tuning. Recorded during a rehearsal, sounded sweet
so I kept it. (L)
Good Old Days Blues (H. Reid) (4:37) Written on the 4th
of July, 1986. A hard look back at the 60's and people who look
back at the 60's and at those who look at those who look back.
Long-dormant, it sprang to life in a motel cabin in 29 Palms,
California. (^)
Golden Rule (H. Reid) (3:11) A sort of tribute to Mississippi
John Hurt, but when I listen to the way I play it, it doesn't
really remind me of his playing all that much. Too fast. Written
in a recording studio in Portland, Maine, while waiting to do
some playing on a friend's album.
The Maplewood March (H. Reid) (3:24) An old-fashioned kind
of tune where the rhythm and melody lend themselves to the autoharp
and take advantage of some of the quirks in the instrument. Uses
a lock bar in key of C on a chromatic harp. Written on Maplewood
Avenue on an instrument made of maple wood. (§)
Waiting For The Day (H. Reid) (3:47) The first song of
my adult life, written while living in Maryland in 1979 after
I spent 7 years not writing while learning to play guitar. It
finally made it onto an album after numerous failed attempts dating
back to 1983. The golden days of driving interstate highways with
no traffic or construction are already gone forever. I-81 along
the crest of the Blue Ridge ending in Bristol, Tennessee was my
favorite, back before there were any gas stations or motels along
it. If you don't think you like country music, just drive across
the country by yourself and you'll be hooked. (L)
Once Upon A Time (H. Reid) (7:37) A creative lightning
bolt that hit me while driving down Interstate 93 in northern
NH in 1989. I had nowhere to hide and nothing to write on, and
wrote all over my calendar, almost as fast as I could write. Had
to pull off the road a couple times. It was intended to be a children's
song that would show today's video game kids with short attention
spans that the ancient art of ballads is just as effective now
as it ever has been. Have been too chicken to play it for any
kids for fear of rejection and disinterest. When I sing it to
a girl it becomes sort of an Escher drawing- a song about a dream
about a story about a song about a musician who sings a girl a
song. (^)
Planxty Denny (H. Reid) (1:42) Written in 1992 in a non-luxury
motel in New Jersey that shared a parking lot with a certain 24-hour
chain restaurant. Recorded one night after hours at the Press
Room in Portsmouth, NH with the proprietor, Jay Smith, on the
bohdran or Irish drum.
The Gray Man (H. Reid) (4:53) Accidentally written on Oct.
6 1986; I had no intention of writing any such thing. The only
song of mine that was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe. Very noir,
but I like it and it does what it was intended to do whether you
like it or not; maybe especially if not. (^) (T)
How In This World (H. Reid) (1:41) An old-fashioned gospel
harmony song I'd love to hear done by a good old-fashioned quartet
with a bass voice and a chaw of Red Man between their cheeks and
gums. ()(*)
The Unknown Soldier (H. Reid) (4:07) Written on the 6-string
banjo, and I have always thought of it as being best suited to
that instrument's sound. But I couldn't get it to sound quite
right, tried it on my new little guitar and it sounded so sweet
I left it alone. (^) (L)
All of these songs have words, though this is an instrumental
album. Most are in the old songbooks that sat on the piano in
the days before recorded music, and the rest are still pretty
commonly played around campfires and jam sessions- "Here's
an old chestnut..." they'll often say...
Link here to press release and reviews for Chestnuts
Harvey Reid: 6-string, 12-string & slide guitars, autoharp, 6-string
banjo
David Surette: guitar (9), mandolin (13), bouzouki (4,17)
Moondi Klein: guitar (5,8)
Brian Silber: viola (3,8,14)
Dan Crary: guitar (2,18)
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing: Harvey Reid
Recorded at The Cottage, near Bath, Maine & Woodpecker Towers, York,
Maine, Bill Bailey recorded Juniper Studios, Burbank, CA. engineer Jim Emrick
Harvey's Guitars: 1984 & 1990 (T) Taylor model 810 six strings, 1967
Wood-body round-neck Dobro, 1987 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string. FP = fingerpicks,
BF= bare finger ST= standard tuning.
Bouzouki (Octave Mandolin): 1994 by Bob Abrams, Portsmouth NH
Mandolin: 1920's Gibson model F-3
Banjo: 1988 Maple 6-string (guitar tuning) Deering Banjos Lemon Grove,
CA.
Autoharp: 1973 Oscar Schmidt 21-chord Appalachian
Design, Type & Graphics: Aphro-Graphics, Fil Kennedy, Eileen Healy
Cover Painting: Fil Kennedy
Liner Notes: Harvey Reid
Special Thanks: Eileen Healy
(*) A partial capo was used on the guitar or banjo on tracks 1,3,5,6,10,11,12,16,19.
(^)
All selections Public Domain, arrangements © r 1994 by
Harvey Reid (Quahog Music, BMI)
This album was recorded in "living stereo" by the artist,
direct-to-digital, using only a matched pair of Audio-Technica
AT-4051 microphones and a Panasonic DAT digital tape recorder.
No overdubs or multi-tracking of any sort were done.
1- Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen Foster) My
Mother's favorite Foster song, learned from her. A lot of people
are singing it lately, which is good. [Sept 1994 (*) Esus capo,
ST tuned low. FP]
2- My Grandfather's Clock (Henry C. Work) The author wrote
many popular songs of the era. A standard with campfire guitar
pickers. [June 1994 (*) I play fingerstyle FP, ST,both guitars
capo 5]
3- Scarborough Fair An unusual tuning, and a re-working
of Paul Simon's pirating of Martin Carthy's arrangement of this
old English song. [Sept 1994 (*) Guitar tuned Open Db, E-minus
capo. BF (T)]
4- Gathering Flowers From The Hillsides A Southern mountain
song, about lost love. [Oct 1994 (*)]
5- Jesse James The ballad of Jesse James, the outlaw and
folk hero, shot on the sly by his friend Robert Ford. An odd form
of fake clawhammer banjo I invented for the guitar-banjo that
sounds an awful lot like traditional 5-string mountain style.
[Sept 1994 (*) Capos 5 & 7, Open A capo, ST FP]
6- The Minstrel Boy An old Irish air called The Moreen.
Thomas Moore wrote the words that gave the song its modern name.
The minstrel was captured and refused to play his harp in prison,
destroying it instead. [May 1990 (+) Esus capo, BF]
7- Down By The Riverside/Old Time Religion I like playing
spirituals and Southern gospel songs in Southern blues, slide-guitar
style. [Sept 1994 (*) Eb tuning. Wood-body Dobro FP]
8- Banks Of The Ohio A beautiful and grisly murder ballad,
sung by a lot of old-time and bluegrass musicians. [Sept 1994
(*) Guitar capo 3, dropped D tuning]
9- The Old Spinning Wheel A parlor song, the kind you might
hear at the circus on a calliope. [Oct 1994 (*) Breaks 1 &
3 is me, ST, C position capo 2, David: breaks 2 & 4, dropped
D tuning. Both guitars flatpicked.]
10- Blue Bells Of Scotland The blue bell is a flower; the
song is about a woman lamenting her Hieland Laddie, who was drafted
to fight for the English. Not heard much nowadays; learned from
my mother. [Oct 1994 (*) Esus capo, tuned to Eb, BF]
11- Simple Gifts I play this melody on every instrument
I pick up. This is a re-make of a version I recorded on my first
album in 1982. [Sept 1994 (*) Open A capo, tuned low. FP]
12- Wayfaring Stranger Another tune I have tried for years
to find a way to play solo, that uses same odd minor-key tuning
as track 3. [Recorded Sept 1994 (*) (T) E-minus capo, tuned very
low, BF]
13- Buffalo Gals A late-night jam session, sort of Bluegrass,
Zen and Calypso, but it worked so we kept it. [Oct 1994 (*) Guitar
capo 2, C position, ST FP]
14- Four Marys The ballad of Mary Hamilton, part of the
collection of Childe Ballads. "There was Mary Beaton, Mary
Seaton & Mary Carmichael & me"sings one of the many
ill-fated wives of King Henry VIII. Learned from The Simmons Family
of Missouri. [Sept 1994 (*)]
15- Listen To The Mocking Bird Written in 1854 by someone
named Alice Hawthorne, also often called "Sweet Hallie";
most often heard played these days by contest fiddlers, who sometimes
include bird calls. [May 1990 (+) ST capo 2, FP]
16- Old Black Joe (Stephen Foster) A perfect example of
a song that's uncool to sing these days, yet a stirring melody
that deserves to live. Slow banjo is a rare & poignant sound.
[Oct 1994 (*) Esus capo, capos 5 & 7, ST, BF]
17- Annie Laurie One of Scotland's grandest melodies, and
my grandfather Charles MacKay's favorite song. Spelled Annie Lawrie
in some old books. [Oct 1994 (*) Dropped D tuning, BF]
18- Bill Bailey A vaudeville-type song, heard these days
mostly as a polka. [Feb 1989 Guitar ST capo 5 Banjo ST no capo.
FP]
19- Londonderry Air Has two sets of nice words, and is
the only song I ever heard my grandfather play on the violin.
[Oct 1994 (*) Esus capo, tuned to Eb. BF]
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Link to special
page of album release information
The 6-string banjo, essentially a guitar neck on a banjo body,
has existed in a small corner of the music world for over a century,
never becoming either popular or totally obscure. The instrument
has been made sporadically by various manufacturers over the years,
and is one of many members of the banjo family; the 5-string being
the most common, followed by the 4-string (used in Dixieland and
Celtic music), plus a number of odd bass, baritone, ukelele and
mandolin-banjos.
Playing the 6-string banjo it is not simply a matter of playing
guitar music to get a different sound, since it responds very
differently than a guitar. It seems to frustrate both banjo players
and guitar players, who can't seem to make it sound like either
instrument. Though the 6-string is often ignored as a mutant hybrid,
I find it to be an alive, subtle, sensitive and expressive instrument
(as is the 12-string, which I use on 3 of the cuts [*]) with many
voices, capable of expressing the various moods of classical,
folk, old-time, bluegrass, celtic, ragtime, blues, and even rock
& roll music. I have been constantly surprised by what music
works well on it, and also by what doesn't.
I have never seen anyone really play one, and have had no signposts
or maps to guide me as I try to pry it open and play the music
that lurks beneath its innocent, hermaphrodite exterior. My success
stems from many years of playing fingerstyle guitar and traditional
music, from my invention of a partial capo on guitar for achieving
drone effects similar to the 5-string, and above all the re-design
of the instrument by the Deering Banjo Company, who make the extraordinary
instruments I play.This album marks the extent of my explorations
thus far. HR (July '95)
CREDITS
Harvey Reid 6-string & 12-string banjos, vocals
Guitar David Surette on Mock Orange, Sailor's Hornpipe
Moondi Klein on Jesse James
Dan Crary on Bill Bailey
Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing Harvey Reid
Recording info No overdubs or multi-tracking of any sort were done. All
cuts recorded 1994-1995 at Woodpecker Towers, York, Maine in "living stereo",
direct-to-digital, using only Audio-Technica AT-4051 microphones, Mackie mixer
pre-amps and a Panasonic 3700 digital tape recorder except: #15,16,20=recorded
1990 at The Cottage near Bath, Maine, with Panasonic SV-255 DAT machine; #10=
recorded 2/89 at Juniper Studios, Burbank, CA
Digital Mastering Toby Mountain, Northeastern Digital, Southboro, MA.
Banjos Wide-neck 1988 Deering Maple-Blossom 6-string (MB-6), 1995 Deering
12-string (D-12)
Design, Type & Graphics Aphro-Graphics, Urchin Graphics,Glenn Reid,
Fractal Design
Cover Photo Kathleen Lloyd
Liner Notes Harvey Reid
(*) A partial capo was used on the banjo. Contact http://www.partialcapo.com
SPECIAL THANKS This album and the music on it owe their
existence almost entirely to Greg & Janet Deering and the
folks at Deering Banjos of Lemon Grove, California. I did not
feel myself filled with 6-string banjo music and go searching
for someone to make the instrument to express my dreams. I did
not find a tablet in the desert, nor was there any hint that the
world needed this music or any market or groundswell that I was
following. I simply found an instrument in my hands which opened
up the spigot and let the music come out. I had seen quite a few
other 6-string banjos, and dismissed them as uninteresting and
unresponsive. This instrument has continued to yield music and
surprises since 1988 when I began to play it, and the folks at
Deering have been constantly helpful and supportive. Thank you.
All selections © r 1988-1995 by Harvey Reid (Quahog Music, BMI) except as noted. All rights reserved.
All the selections except Sittin' On Top Of The World were
done in standard guitar tuning, though in some cases the instrument
is tuned flat or sharp. Tracks 2,10,13 were released in 1994 on
an album called Chestnuts; 15 & 16 were released in 1990 on
Overview. Tracks (11,12,16,19) were recorded in 1989 on guitar
on #105 Solo Guitar Sketchbook; comparing the banjo and guitar
versions gives an interesting insight into the instrument. Fingerpicks
and the banjo's resonator were used unless specified. A partial
capo was used on several tracks (*), mostly Esus (capo 3,4,5 strings
at fret 2) or Open A (capo 2,3,4 at fret 2)
1- The Entertainer I have played this on guitar for almost
20 years, though it definitely sounds more musical on banjo than
guitar. The hardest part of playing it, of course, is to make
it sound easy, which unfortunately it is not. Capo 3, A position.
2- Jesse James A technique I invented that uses 3 fingerpicks
and no thumbpick, to imitate a 5-string banjo technique known
as frailing or clawhammer style. It's a totally different hand
motion, but gives the same sound. Capo 5 + Open A. (*) No resonator.
3- The Gaoler's Jig Written during the recording of this
album, while exploring the 12-string banjo. Near me is the oldest
jail (gaol they spelled it then) in colonial America, built in
1653. Tuned 1 step low, Esus capo. Flatpick, no resonator. (*)
4- Six-Shooter Stomp A sort of a cross between Jerry Lee
Lewis rhythms and Chuck Berry guitar riffs that emerged late one
night while I was drinking far too much coffee. Turns out the
6SB has properties a lot like an electric guitar. This one shoots
blanks on acoustic guitar. Capo 2, A position.
5- Minuet In G A standard piece for classical guitar students.
The 6SB can sound very sweet and baroque when you lighten up on
it. Capo 5.
6- Mock Orange No tunings, tricks or capos. Key of D &
a few 5-string banjo rolls and it sure sounds like one. Created
late one night in the studio from a groove and chord progression
of David's.
7- Sailor's Hornpipe I had to flatpick at least one old
fiddle tune, so here is one that almost every guitar flatpicker
learns but you seldom hear.
8- Sitting On Top Of The World A surprise that came late
one night (notice that I never say "early one morning...")
while wrestling with the 12-string banjo. A banjo is fundamentally
a drum, and has a very explosive sound as compared to a guitar.
It gives a very rocking feel, funkier than I can get on guitar,
along with the thump of my foot and some almost rim shot and brush
drum sounds from slapping the strings. No resonator. Open D tuning
with slide.
9-Rickett's Hornpipe/Boys From Bluehill I arranged these
tunes for guitar in 1983. They have a lilt and a lighter quality
on the banjo that is more musical and less athletic. (*) Capo
5 + Esus.
10- Bill Bailey That's guitar flatpicking legend Dan Crary
with me, in an unrehearsed & spirited jam in 1989. No capo,
key of C.
11-Andelusia Revisited This started out to be a remake
of For Whom The Bell Tolls, a tune on my guitar album, though
it went off in new directions. A lot of improvisation, and not
something I expected would work at all. Somehow it conveys the
mood of Spanish guitar. No capo. No resonator.
12- Suite: For The Duchess Written for guitar in 1982,
when I was trying to imitate a 5-string technique called chromatic
or melodic banjo, where successive scale notes are played on different
strings in a sort of harp-like manner. Capo 3 + Esus = G, the
original key it was written in. (*)
13- Old Black Joe If you get quiet, the banjo has a lot
of sustain, and an achingly sweet tone on slow melodies, especially
poignant in the high registers. Hard to do on stage, though. (*)
Capo 5 + Esus. Bare finger.
14- Good For Nothin' Blues Improvised in the studio. (Guess
what time of day...) The banjo does not have much sustain, so
to play a slow blues you have to approach it more like a New Orleans
style piano with triplets. Capo 2.
15- Chanoyu One of the most unusual things I ever came
up with- written & recorded at my dining room table one night
and never heard from before or since. Chanoyu is a Japanese tea
ceremony; somehow the banjo sounds like the koto, a Japanese lap
harp. Capo 2 + Esus at fret 6 (*)
16- Cindy/Cripple Creek Uses a partial capo and "mock
frailing" in Esus configuration, plus a straight capo at
the 7th fret. No resonator. (*)
17- Bonaparte Crossing The Rhine A lovely fiddle tune that
I usually play on bouzouki. It's quite tricky to split the octave
pairs of the 12-string to play only the bass notes, which have
an unearthly sound. No resonator. (*) Capo Esus.
18- Pieces Of Eight My first piece for the 6SB, intended
to imitate some of the kinds of things that 5-string players do-
with chromatic runs, open strings and rolls. Re-recorded; the
original version was 1988. Capo 5 + Esus. (*)
19- Canal Street Strut Written for guitar. The 6SB may
be the ultimate ragtime guitar. Makes a happier sound than the
guitar. No resonator, capo 2.
20- The Cuckoo Normally I don't like to do mock frailing
unless it's capoed up pretty high so the treble rings, but this
has a low end roar that I like. You need decent speakers to really
hear my foot. Recorded on Steel Drivin' Man in 1991. No resonator.
(*) Capo 3 + Esus.
21- The Unknown Soldier Written for the 6SB, and recorded
on guitar on #108 Circles because I was unable to get a good recording
of the banjo. Here it is, somewhat tardy. When played slowly and
close-miked, the banjo's tone is powerful and haunting, though
hard to control. Capo 5 + Open A (*)
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