CHRIS SMITHER. " DON'T IT DRAG ON " POPPY USA 1972 LP. ORIG G/F.
£
20
$
26
Favourite Auctions
To save auctions to your favourites, please login
If you don't have an account, please register
Description
Chris Smither ?– Don't It Drag On
Label:
Poppy ?– PYS 5704
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:
US
Released:
1972
Genre:
Rock, Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style:
Country Blues, Folk Rock, Folk
TracklistHide Credits
A1 Lonesome Georgia Brown 2:40 A2 Down In The Flood Written-By – Bob Dylan 3:13 A3 I've Got Mine 2:56 A4 Statesboro Blues Written-By – Willie McTell* 3:14 A5 Another Way To Find You 3:47 A6 No Expectations Written-By – Keith Richards, Mick Jagger 3:07 B1 Friend Of The Devil Written-By – Jerry Garcia, John Dawson, Robert Hunter 3:35 B2 Don't It Drag On 3:20 B3 Every Mother's Son 3:26 B4 Mail Order Mystics 2:15 B5 I Feel The Same 3:23Companies, etc.
- Manufactured By – Poppy Industries, Inc.
- Distributed By – United Artists Records, Inc.
- Recorded At – Bearsville Studios
- Published By – Poppy Music
- Published By – Homunculus Music
- Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Credits
- Arranged By [All Basic Arrangements], Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals – Chris Smither
- Art Direction, Design – Milton Glaser
- Backing Vocals – Bonnie Raitt, Kathy Rose, Maria Muldaur
- Banjo – Happy Traum
- Bass Guitar – Rod Hicks
- Drums – Roy Markowitz
- Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Autoharp – John Bailey
- Engineer – Nick Jameson
- Management – Young/Hunter Management
- Mastered By – RL*
- Photography By – Duane Michaels*
- Piano – Eric Kaz
- Producer – Michael Cuscuna
- Resonator Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar – Ben Keith
- Violin, Fiddle – Stu Schulman
- Written-By – Chris Smither (tracks: A1, A3, A5, B2 to B5)
Notes
Recorded November 30th-December 4th, 1971 at Bearsville Sound Studios, Woodstock, New York
Included a gatefold insert with the song lyrics printed on it.
Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur appear courtesy of Warner Brothers Records
Artist Biography by Richard Skelly
Like John Hammond and a handful of other musicians whose careers began in the 1960s blues revival, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Chris Smither can take pride in the fact that he's been there since the beginning. Except for a few years when he was away from performing in the '70s, Smitherhas been a mainstay of the festival, coffeehouse, and club circuits around the U.S., Canada, and Europe since his performing career began in earnest in the coffeehouses in Boston in the spring of 1966. Smither is best known for his great songs, items like "Love You Like a Man" and "I Feel the Same," both of which have been recorded by guitarist Bonnie Raitt. Raitt and Smither got started at about the same time in Boston, though Smither was born and raised in New Orleans, the son of university professors.
Smither's earliest awareness of blues and folk music came from his parents' record collection. In a 1992 interview, he recalled it included albums by Josh White, Susan Reed, and Burl Ives. After a short stint taking piano lessons, Smither switched to ukulele after discovering his mother's old instrument in a closet. The young Smither was passionately attached to the ukulele, and now, years later, it helps to explain the emotion and expertise behind his unique fingerpicking guitar style. Smither discovered blues music when he was 17 and heard a Lightnin' Hopkins album, Blues in the Bottle. The album was a major revelation to him and he subsequently spent weeks trying to figure out the intricate guitar parts. Smither moved to Boston after realizing he was a big fish in a small pond in the New Orleans folk/coffeehouse circuit of the mid-'60s. Also, acoustic blues pioneer Ric Von Schmidt had recommended Smither check out the Boston folk-blues scene.
Smither recorded his first couple of albums for the Poppy label in 1970 and 1971, I'm a Stranger Too and Don't It Drag On. In 1972, Smither recorded a third album,Honeysuckle Dog, for United Artists, which finally saw release on the Heavenly label in the mid-2000s. On the sessions for that album, he was joined in the studio by his old friends Bonnie Raitt and Mac Rebennack, aka Dr. John. After a long bout with alcoholism, Smither launched his recording career again in the late '80s, although he hadn't stopped performing. His return to a proper recording career, due to a deal with Flying Fish Records, didn't happen again until 1991, when the label released Another Way to Find You, a folk-blues album. Smither recorded It Ain't Easy for the Adelphi label in 1984; the album was re-released on CD ten years later. Since then, he's more than proved his mettle as an enormously gifted songwriter, releasing albums mostly of his own compositions for the Flying Fish, Hightone, and Signature Sounds labels. Smither's albums during the '90s and into the 21st century include Happier Blue (1993, Flying Fish), Up on the Lowdown (1995, Hightone), Drive You Home Again (1999, Hightone), Live as I'll Ever Be (2000, Hightone), Train Home (2003, Hightone), Leave the Light On(2006, Signature Sounds), and Time Stands Still (2009, Signature Sounds), a career highlight. Any of Smither's releases are worthy of careful examination by guitarists and students of all schools of blues and folk music. Smither is still, to some extent, an unheralded master of modern acoustic blues. Fortunately, his recordings and festival bookings during the '90s and into the 21st century have elevated his profile to a higher level than he's ever enjoyed previously.AllMusic Review by Brett Hartenbach [-]
With his debut, I'm a Stranger Too!, Chris Smither had already proven himself to be a rare combination -- a Cambridge folkie with roots in New Orleans, a great writer who knows when to look elsewhere for material, a masterful guitarist who understands simplicity and a powerful singer with restraint. Released in 1972, Don't It Drag On continues this mix and is every bit as good as its predecessor, maybe better. Smither's folk-blues have a soul and intelligence that mesh well with current covers by Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead, yet seems as ageless asBlind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" (also included here). Tracks such as "Another Way to Find You," "I've Got Mine" and "Lonesome Georgia Brown" are as enduring as contemporary blues and folk get. And while the bulk of Smither's material has a ruminative, melancholic tone, don't expect typical singer/songwriter fare. There's a maturity and depth to songs such as "I Feel the Same" (also recorded by Bonnie Raitt), "Every Mother's Son" and the title cut that's beyond that of most of his peers.Smither's originals may not have the energy of "Statesboro Blues" or Dylan's "Down in the Flood," but there's an easy, rolling assurance and plainspoken eloquence at work that more than make up for it.Smither went on to record one more album for Poppy, but was dropped by the label before its release.
price rating
