All Pearls, No Swine: The Return!

Woah, it's been a while since I pulled out one of these, but no year here on One Buck Records should end without a visit of our flagship series, All Pearls, No Swine. It's also in classic mode, taking us back into the 70s with yet another batch of unknown and little known tunes from unknown to little known folks. 

This volume features the return of some cool APNS alumni like Jim Wise & Sky High, Dennis Linde (both previously featured on the most excellent Volume 11) on the high energy opener "Keep My Feet On The Ground" or West Virginia folkrockers Kiddog (who showed up on Volume 15). It is also, as should be, just slathered in a sound that only the early-to-mid 70s have, from the flute that weaves through Rick Neufeld's "Nothing Changes But The Season to the organ that somewhat messily accompanies Michael Behnan's chronicle of "Night Shift Life" or the brass that has James Taylor's "Country Road" seemingly lead right into New Orleans, courtesy of Al Kooper. It reaches from the art/prog sound of Trees to the country rock of Country Weather to the acoustic fingerpicking of Joseph Brunelle and Tom Rush to the husky folk rock of Mary Asquith's take on "Man Of Constant Sorrow". 

Tom Rush covers Wayne Berry's minor classic "Indian Woman From Wichita", and while the string arangement on his version is almost MOR and can't ever compete with the eerie strings on the original, it's another chance to hear a really good song. Rush, Jansch and Kooper are probably the most high-profile names around here, but that of course doesn't reflect on the contributions from lesser knwon folks like Dan Lewis, Doug Day or Michaels & Hack. One personal highlight for me is Brent Titcomb's beautiful "Flow On The River". 

Really, the same thing I've said about the other 70s-bound volumes in this series still hold true, and will continue to hold true in 2025. So while away the last days of 2024 with some very fine, lovingly crafted music from the 70s...