Monday, June 20, 2016

White Boys Getting Down to the Heart of Hep (An Occasional Series)

From 1966, please enjoy eclectic singer/songwriter Tom Rush and his sprightly cover of Buddy Holly's wonderful "Love's Made a Fool of You."




Rush has always been my favorite of the first generation of 60s folkies, in part because, as you can hear, he was the least doctrinaire. In any case, after seeing Al Kooper live last week, I remembered that he had produced the above album for Rush, and that it was one of the first examples of one of the aforementioned folkies treating the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs of their youth as, essentially, folk music. I'd had the album on LP back in the day, but hadn't thought about it (or listened to it) in years. So I snagged a CD reissue and was pleasantly surprised to find that it holds up pretty well. The thing isn't exactly what you'd call a classic, but as period pieces go it's highly listenable (and the version of Bo's "Who Do You Love" kicks a surprising amount of ass).

Incidentally, on the Holly song, that's producer Kooper on celesta, an instrument that, of course, figures prominently on the actual Buddy's classic hit "Everyday."
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8 comments:

  1. Mark6/20/2016 10:46 AM

    I no longer have this album (or Rush's preceding album, TOM RUSH) on vinyl, but I still have THE CIRCLE GAME, which contains Rush's versions of The Circle Game and No Regrets, both of which are as beautiful as songs come. I did NOT know of Al Kooper's work with Rush.

    I remember coming across a nice piece on TAKE A LITTLE WALK WITH ME online a while back. Here 'tis: http://www.richieunterberger.com/takealittle.html

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  2. steve simels6/20/2016 11:29 AM

    Kooper talks about it, fondly, in his autobiography. Which is a great read, BTW.

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  3. BG in Q6/20/2016 12:37 PM

    I second what Mark said about The Circle Game and No Regrets ---

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  4. pete6/20/2016 2:55 PM

    Opened for TR a couple of times. Nice guy.

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  5. edward6/20/2016 6:49 PM

    And I'll second what Steve said about "Who Do You Love." I can't believe the folkie purists weren't burning this record in the streets.

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  6. Anonymous6/21/2016 5:35 PM

    I'll take the Bobby Fuller Four. Better for dancing. I like some of Rush's stuff. The Circle Game LP has many moments. Tin Angel and No Regrets are very nice. But, despite some decent session playing, I find him far too white when it comes to tackling vocals on bluesy stuff. But maybe that's the point. He's not exactly Bob Seger when it comes to Who Do You Love.

    VR - Urge For Going

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  7. rob6/27/2016 2:01 PM

    Was introduced to pot in a third floor walk up in New Haven, CT while listening to Rush/Circle Game.

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  8. buzzbabyjesus6/28/2016 8:57 AM

    I recognize in where that cover picture was taken in Central Park.

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