CHRIS DARROW
''ARTIST PROOF (BONUS TRACKS)''
2013
1972
46:21
1. Beware of Time /3:02
2. Lovers Sleep Abed Tonight /3:00
3. Shawnee Moon /3:32
4. Move On Down the Line /2:49
5. Song for Steven /2:45
6. Cocaine Lil /1:43
7. Alligator Man /2:27
8. Keep On Trying /2:53
9. New Zoot /2:29
10. The Show Must Go On /2:53
11. The Sky Is Not Blue Today /3:55
12. We Can Both Learn to Say I Love You /3:00
13. Beware of Time (Bonus Track) /2:54
14. Song for Steven (Bonus Track) /2:28
15. Keep On Trying (Bonus Track) /2:14
16. Move On Down the Line (Bonus Track) /1:54
17. The Sky Is Not Blue Today (Bonus Track) /2:23
Ed Black /Guitar (Electric), Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar
Russel Brooker /Vocals (Background)
Steve Cahill /Autoharp, Guitar, Vocals
Chris Darrow /Dobro, Fiddle, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Kalimba, Mandolin, Marimba, Slide Guitar, Triangle, Vocals
Jeff Hanna /Guitar, Vocals
Claudia Lennear /Vocals (Background)
John London /Bass
Mickey McGee /Drums, Drums (Steel)
Arnie Moore /Bass
Loren Newkirk /Accordion, Organ, Piano
Earl Schackelford /Vocals, Vocals (Background)
John Stewart /Guitar (Rhythm)
John Ware /Brushes, Congas, Drums, Percussion
Bob Warford /Guitar
Jennifer Warren /Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
Chris Darrow may not be well known to the populace at large, but in Los Angeles recording studios he certainly is. As a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, and singer, Darrow was an integral part of developing the "Nashville West"/country-rock sound as we know it today. He was a founding member of Kaleidoscope with David Lindley, and has played on works by Leonard Cohen, Gene Vincent, James Taylor, John Stewart, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Hoyt Axton, and John Fahey, to name a few. Along the way, Darrow released a slew of his own records. Drag City, which has been reissuing classic works of Americana, has remastered and repackaged his 1972 debut, Artist Proof, in handsome fashion. The original album and art are reproduced with a bonus handful of demos -- some of which were recorded at Sergio Mendes' studio. Darrow plays acoustic, electric, and slide guitars, as well as Dobro, mandolin, fiddle, marimba, and kalimba. The music on these 17 cuts is classic L.A. country-rock. Fans of the early Flying Burrito Brothers and post-Sweetheart of the Rodeo Byrds will hear the Nashville West sound as it drew heavily from Bakersfield country music. While Gram Parsons' influence looms large, Darrow is a fine songwriter on his own. Check the whining pedal steel and singalong choruses in "Shawnee Moon," or the Laurel Canyon-inflected singer/songwriter drama in the tender "Lovers Sleep Abed Tonight." The only cover on the set is Floyd Chance and Jimmy C. Newman's faux Cajun "Alligator Man," where Darrow's production, driven by swirling multi-tracked fiddles, a tight bassline, and cracking snare, makes it a near psychedelic exercise in back-porch stomp. "New Zoot" is '70s country boogie at its best. "The Sky Is Not Blue Today," with its use of marimba and kalimba, melds Cajun fiddle to folk and country in an intoxicating tearjerker. Darrow's not a great singer, but he's not bad either. Besides, when your backing vocalists are Jennifer Warnes and Claudia Lennear, who cares? This is not a "lost classic" per se, but a seminal recording. It nails the very seam where the Nashville West era made its last stand, just before it tipped toward the meld of soft rock and country-rock heard on the Eagles' debut, Poco's Crazy Eyes, and the early Pure Prairie League and embraced by the record-buying public in large numbers. Artist Proof isn't as polished or as tame as these records are; Darrow liked his edges and his record is better for it. Artist Proof is solid and enduring; it shows its age to be sure, but that's part of its charm.
BIOGRAPHY
by Tom Kealey
Chris Darrow was born on July 30, 1944, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to a military dad who soon afterward moved his family to Southern California, where Darrow still makes his home. He began learning to play anything he could get his hands on that had strings, and over the course of the next 30-plus years, became one of the most sought-after multi-instrumentalists in professional music. Shortly after high school graduation, Darrow put together a bluegrass band called the Dry City Scat Band with David Lindley, Steve Cahill, Richard Greene, and Pete Madlem. Within a couple of years, the Scat Band would become one of the hottest bluegrass ensembles in Southern California. During the summer of 1964, the Scat Band got a gig at Disneyland, which was steady work, and Darrow was able to support his new bride. During this period, signs were starting to appear indicating imminent changes in the hearts of some of the purest bluegrass musicians. Bandmate Richard Greene introduced Darrow to a friend of his who played in the Chad Mitchell Trio and who had just returned from England raving about the British music scene. Darrow had never before seen anyone with Beatle boots and long hair. The gentleman happened to be future Byrds founder Roger McGuinn. Later that summer, the Scat Band was replaced by the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers and mandolinist Chris Hillman, a hardcore bluegrass purist who quietly and sheepishly said to Darrow, "I joined a rock & roll band. I need the money. They're called the Byrds."
In the latter part of the '60s, Darrow had his first major breakthrough by putting a band together, called Kaleidoscope, with David Lindley, Solomon Feldthouse, and Max Buda. American folk, Middle Eastern, country & western, and blues, which would have seemed an unlikely combination of musical flavors, proved to mix very well and ultimately became successful. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page was quoted as saying that, "Kaleidoscope was his favorite band of all time." Kaleidoscope went on to release several albums in the late '60s with no hit singles, but with a large cult following that is still growing.
In late 1967, Darrow was asked to join the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as a fiddle player/singer replacing predecessors Jackson Browne, who left to embark upon a solo career, and Bruce Kunkel, who left the band because of philosophical differences. As it turned out, the Dirt Band abruptly adopted a more electric sound anyway, which is what Kunkel had been campaigning for, but was resigned to defeat. In the meantime, Darrow's presence gave the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band some glory by virtue of their performance in the smash musical comedy flick Paint Your Wagon. The Dirt Band's short-lived and waning success would soon cause a breakup, but it would later reorganize with different personnel. Darrow, on the other hand, who has more sides to him than a mirror ball, hung out his shingle attracting a great number of new opportunities.
One of these opportunities was in the form of an intermittent working relationship with Linda Ronstadt that came as the result of an introduction by a primate. Former Monkee Michael Nesmith produced a couple of singles for a band called the Corvettes, founded by Darrow and former Dirt Band mate Jeff Hanna. The Corvettes would soon become Ronstadt's backup band. She had heard about them through Nesmith, who was the writer of her hit song "Different Drum." Darrow stayed with Ronstadt's band off and on for a number of years, witnessing a personnel change whereby Bernie Leadon came in to replace Hanna, who had decided to make his exit and re-form the Dirt Band.
Darrow was offered a recording contract by United Artists Records in 1972. He recorded the albums Chris Darrow, followed up by Under My Own Disguise the following year. "Whipping Boy," from the former, received critical acclaim and is still viewed as an attractive "cover" prospect. Over the years, he has continued to be called upon by other artists who wanted his multifaceted musical influence on their albums. Artists such as James Taylor, Sonny & Cher, Gene Vincent, Helen Reddy, and John Fahey are only a few examples.
In the mid-'90s, Darrow started recording for the Taxim label of Germany. In 2000, the label released a two-CD set, called Coyote: Straight from the Heart. It includes a 40-minute instrumental suite and 20 original songs. Taxim also released Fretless, Southern California Drive, Los Chumps with Max Buda, and Mojave, a Darrow-produced album featuring members of Emmylou Harris's band, Lone Justice, and the Byrds. In early 2001, BGO Records in England released Darrow's second and third albums, Chris Darrow and Under My Own Disguise, as a two-for-one package.
All of Kaleidoscope's early records have been re-released on Demon Records in England and Sony/Legacy in the U.S. Darrow's fabulous slide guitar work is featured on a compilation album called Everybody Slides, Vol. 2. The album features cuts by such slide greats as Lowell George, John Hammond, David Lindley, and Rory Block. It is on Sky Ranch Records in France with Virgin distribution, as well as Rykodisc in the United States. Darrow also appears on two Takoma Records compilations, Takoma Slide and Takoma Eclectic Sampler, Vol. 2.
Other sides of this mirror ball (metaphorically speaking) lay in business and photography. Darrow planned to publish a book containing photographs he has taken over the last few decades, many of which appear on album covers. By his own admission, he said he decided to take his photojournalism to a professional level after he learned that the man with whom his wife ran off was a photographer.
In retrospect, during the late '60s and through the '70s, there seemed to be a delicate balance of relationships that would influence the evolution of country rock music (as it would come to be known) for the remainder of the 20th century and beyond. Chris Darrow was right in the middle of all of this and played an integral part of the formation and ultimate success of more than just a handful of his contemporaries. In 2013, his 1972 self-titled debut was re-released by Drag City with great fanfare; the original album was appended with a handful of bonus tracks.
''ARTIST PROOF (BONUS TRACKS)''
2013
1972
46:21
1. Beware of Time /3:02
2. Lovers Sleep Abed Tonight /3:00
3. Shawnee Moon /3:32
4. Move On Down the Line /2:49
5. Song for Steven /2:45
6. Cocaine Lil /1:43
7. Alligator Man /2:27
8. Keep On Trying /2:53
9. New Zoot /2:29
10. The Show Must Go On /2:53
11. The Sky Is Not Blue Today /3:55
12. We Can Both Learn to Say I Love You /3:00
13. Beware of Time (Bonus Track) /2:54
14. Song for Steven (Bonus Track) /2:28
15. Keep On Trying (Bonus Track) /2:14
16. Move On Down the Line (Bonus Track) /1:54
17. The Sky Is Not Blue Today (Bonus Track) /2:23
Ed Black /Guitar (Electric), Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar
Russel Brooker /Vocals (Background)
Steve Cahill /Autoharp, Guitar, Vocals
Chris Darrow /Dobro, Fiddle, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Kalimba, Mandolin, Marimba, Slide Guitar, Triangle, Vocals
Jeff Hanna /Guitar, Vocals
Claudia Lennear /Vocals (Background)
John London /Bass
Mickey McGee /Drums, Drums (Steel)
Arnie Moore /Bass
Loren Newkirk /Accordion, Organ, Piano
Earl Schackelford /Vocals, Vocals (Background)
John Stewart /Guitar (Rhythm)
John Ware /Brushes, Congas, Drums, Percussion
Bob Warford /Guitar
Jennifer Warren /Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
Chris Darrow may not be well known to the populace at large, but in Los Angeles recording studios he certainly is. As a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, and singer, Darrow was an integral part of developing the "Nashville West"/country-rock sound as we know it today. He was a founding member of Kaleidoscope with David Lindley, and has played on works by Leonard Cohen, Gene Vincent, James Taylor, John Stewart, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Hoyt Axton, and John Fahey, to name a few. Along the way, Darrow released a slew of his own records. Drag City, which has been reissuing classic works of Americana, has remastered and repackaged his 1972 debut, Artist Proof, in handsome fashion. The original album and art are reproduced with a bonus handful of demos -- some of which were recorded at Sergio Mendes' studio. Darrow plays acoustic, electric, and slide guitars, as well as Dobro, mandolin, fiddle, marimba, and kalimba. The music on these 17 cuts is classic L.A. country-rock. Fans of the early Flying Burrito Brothers and post-Sweetheart of the Rodeo Byrds will hear the Nashville West sound as it drew heavily from Bakersfield country music. While Gram Parsons' influence looms large, Darrow is a fine songwriter on his own. Check the whining pedal steel and singalong choruses in "Shawnee Moon," or the Laurel Canyon-inflected singer/songwriter drama in the tender "Lovers Sleep Abed Tonight." The only cover on the set is Floyd Chance and Jimmy C. Newman's faux Cajun "Alligator Man," where Darrow's production, driven by swirling multi-tracked fiddles, a tight bassline, and cracking snare, makes it a near psychedelic exercise in back-porch stomp. "New Zoot" is '70s country boogie at its best. "The Sky Is Not Blue Today," with its use of marimba and kalimba, melds Cajun fiddle to folk and country in an intoxicating tearjerker. Darrow's not a great singer, but he's not bad either. Besides, when your backing vocalists are Jennifer Warnes and Claudia Lennear, who cares? This is not a "lost classic" per se, but a seminal recording. It nails the very seam where the Nashville West era made its last stand, just before it tipped toward the meld of soft rock and country-rock heard on the Eagles' debut, Poco's Crazy Eyes, and the early Pure Prairie League and embraced by the record-buying public in large numbers. Artist Proof isn't as polished or as tame as these records are; Darrow liked his edges and his record is better for it. Artist Proof is solid and enduring; it shows its age to be sure, but that's part of its charm.
BIOGRAPHY
by Tom Kealey
Chris Darrow was born on July 30, 1944, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to a military dad who soon afterward moved his family to Southern California, where Darrow still makes his home. He began learning to play anything he could get his hands on that had strings, and over the course of the next 30-plus years, became one of the most sought-after multi-instrumentalists in professional music. Shortly after high school graduation, Darrow put together a bluegrass band called the Dry City Scat Band with David Lindley, Steve Cahill, Richard Greene, and Pete Madlem. Within a couple of years, the Scat Band would become one of the hottest bluegrass ensembles in Southern California. During the summer of 1964, the Scat Band got a gig at Disneyland, which was steady work, and Darrow was able to support his new bride. During this period, signs were starting to appear indicating imminent changes in the hearts of some of the purest bluegrass musicians. Bandmate Richard Greene introduced Darrow to a friend of his who played in the Chad Mitchell Trio and who had just returned from England raving about the British music scene. Darrow had never before seen anyone with Beatle boots and long hair. The gentleman happened to be future Byrds founder Roger McGuinn. Later that summer, the Scat Band was replaced by the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers and mandolinist Chris Hillman, a hardcore bluegrass purist who quietly and sheepishly said to Darrow, "I joined a rock & roll band. I need the money. They're called the Byrds."
In the latter part of the '60s, Darrow had his first major breakthrough by putting a band together, called Kaleidoscope, with David Lindley, Solomon Feldthouse, and Max Buda. American folk, Middle Eastern, country & western, and blues, which would have seemed an unlikely combination of musical flavors, proved to mix very well and ultimately became successful. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page was quoted as saying that, "Kaleidoscope was his favorite band of all time." Kaleidoscope went on to release several albums in the late '60s with no hit singles, but with a large cult following that is still growing.
In late 1967, Darrow was asked to join the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as a fiddle player/singer replacing predecessors Jackson Browne, who left to embark upon a solo career, and Bruce Kunkel, who left the band because of philosophical differences. As it turned out, the Dirt Band abruptly adopted a more electric sound anyway, which is what Kunkel had been campaigning for, but was resigned to defeat. In the meantime, Darrow's presence gave the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band some glory by virtue of their performance in the smash musical comedy flick Paint Your Wagon. The Dirt Band's short-lived and waning success would soon cause a breakup, but it would later reorganize with different personnel. Darrow, on the other hand, who has more sides to him than a mirror ball, hung out his shingle attracting a great number of new opportunities.
One of these opportunities was in the form of an intermittent working relationship with Linda Ronstadt that came as the result of an introduction by a primate. Former Monkee Michael Nesmith produced a couple of singles for a band called the Corvettes, founded by Darrow and former Dirt Band mate Jeff Hanna. The Corvettes would soon become Ronstadt's backup band. She had heard about them through Nesmith, who was the writer of her hit song "Different Drum." Darrow stayed with Ronstadt's band off and on for a number of years, witnessing a personnel change whereby Bernie Leadon came in to replace Hanna, who had decided to make his exit and re-form the Dirt Band.
Darrow was offered a recording contract by United Artists Records in 1972. He recorded the albums Chris Darrow, followed up by Under My Own Disguise the following year. "Whipping Boy," from the former, received critical acclaim and is still viewed as an attractive "cover" prospect. Over the years, he has continued to be called upon by other artists who wanted his multifaceted musical influence on their albums. Artists such as James Taylor, Sonny & Cher, Gene Vincent, Helen Reddy, and John Fahey are only a few examples.
In the mid-'90s, Darrow started recording for the Taxim label of Germany. In 2000, the label released a two-CD set, called Coyote: Straight from the Heart. It includes a 40-minute instrumental suite and 20 original songs. Taxim also released Fretless, Southern California Drive, Los Chumps with Max Buda, and Mojave, a Darrow-produced album featuring members of Emmylou Harris's band, Lone Justice, and the Byrds. In early 2001, BGO Records in England released Darrow's second and third albums, Chris Darrow and Under My Own Disguise, as a two-for-one package.
All of Kaleidoscope's early records have been re-released on Demon Records in England and Sony/Legacy in the U.S. Darrow's fabulous slide guitar work is featured on a compilation album called Everybody Slides, Vol. 2. The album features cuts by such slide greats as Lowell George, John Hammond, David Lindley, and Rory Block. It is on Sky Ranch Records in France with Virgin distribution, as well as Rykodisc in the United States. Darrow also appears on two Takoma Records compilations, Takoma Slide and Takoma Eclectic Sampler, Vol. 2.
Other sides of this mirror ball (metaphorically speaking) lay in business and photography. Darrow planned to publish a book containing photographs he has taken over the last few decades, many of which appear on album covers. By his own admission, he said he decided to take his photojournalism to a professional level after he learned that the man with whom his wife ran off was a photographer.
In retrospect, during the late '60s and through the '70s, there seemed to be a delicate balance of relationships that would influence the evolution of country rock music (as it would come to be known) for the remainder of the 20th century and beyond. Chris Darrow was right in the middle of all of this and played an integral part of the formation and ultimate success of more than just a handful of his contemporaries. In 2013, his 1972 self-titled debut was re-released by Drag City with great fanfare; the original album was appended with a handful of bonus tracks.
No comments :
Post a Comment