These Slow Riders Bring You...All Pearls And No Swine!

Welcome to the second themed edition of an 80s set version of All Pearls, No Swine. Much like Vol. 19, the countryfied edition, his one was borne out of necessity. When I started to assemble the 80s volumes, I realized that I kept pushing off certain songs of the editions, mainy because they didn' fit in with the rest of the line-up. I had songs like Katy Feeney's very trad-folk "Shepherd Song", Dave Keir's "Last Night" and Turiiiya's "Thread Of Gold" early on, but kept putting them onto the 80s set volumes, then quietly replacing them with other songs better fitting with the 80s aesthetic these Pearls had. So, as in the case of Vol. 19 I realized that these tracks would never find a home, until I created one. 

Fortunately, at around the same time, I laid my hands on a bunch of tracks that fit the new assignment: A bunch of slower songs, mostly folk, with some dipping a toe (or horseshoe) into country. The title of the collection - a first in the series! - comes from the opening number from Stetson, a resolutely DIY private press country folk outfit from Bellevue Idaho. "Slow Rider" with its rural slow motion rhythm embodies the theme and sound of this compilation. Slow and introspective are the key words of the day. 

Well, they're a friendly looking bunch of folks...and one is even wearing the titular Stetson!

True to the series' roots, almost all here is obscure and comes from private press or mini-label sources. The biggest names on here are probably Bob Weston, short-time member of Fleetwood Mac (then fired in short order for sleeping with Fleetwood's wife) and perennial One Buck Records favorite Gene Clark. Weston's album Studio Picks, from which "If I Knew" comes, seemingly was only ever released here in France, of all places. And Fleetwood seemingly doesn't hold grudges for long, as he provides drums on one of its tracks! Gene Clark's number is an early version/elaborate demo of, in my opinion, the last classic song he cut in the studio during his lifetime, So Rebellious A Lover's "Del Gato", sung as a duet with Carla Olson. This version features a tentative keyboard arrangement, that didn't make it into the final version, and it's definitely an interesting, if ultimately superflous, addition. 

Paisley Park fanatics will of course also recognize Rainy Day, here with Kendra Smith instead of Bangle Susannah Hoffs on lead vocals, covering Neil Young's "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong", that fits in well with the rest of the slow riders around. Such as Chuck Dunlap's "Wander On'", from the Stillwater, Oklahoma native's only album Daze Gone By. From the same year, 1980, comes folkie Stan Moeller's "Changes" (not the Phil Ochs song), also from the single full album he completed. Dave Keir is already an All Pearls, No Swine veteran, having been featured all the way back on APNS Vol. 3, the first 80s set volume of the series (and arguably one of its best...), he's leaving lead vocals here to Mandy Carlton while doing the usual fine fingerpicking. Country/folk rock combo Broken Bow out of Wisconsin are also already known to old school One Buck Heads, having debuted on the same volume and having also been featured on Volume 10. Here's another track from their sole record Arrival, "Song To You In The Morning".   

I gotta say, unexpectedly attractive cover art for a private press release (there's a reason why I didn't feature Stetson's album front cover up there...)

1980 was definitely a bridge year between the old and the new, with many of these artists still reveling in 1970s-associated singer/songwriter style songs. Such is also the case of Eric Bibb, son of folk singer and activist Leon Bibb, who launched his career in Sweden where he lived for over thirty years. The ultra lovely "Takin' Your Time" is from an  acoustic duet album with Bert Deivert, with these two being a duo act for a couple of years in the late 70s and early 80s. The Silver Canyon Band from Tuscaloosa, Alabam, add a bit of a bluegrass feel to "Sundance". Kiwi folk trio Turiiya recorded an EP in 1986, from which the aforementioned "Thread Of Gold" is taken, and expanded that EP to a full album in 1989 that was only ever issued on cassette and sold at their concerts.   

Anyway, this is getting long, so I'll let, uh, the music do the talking. So, this is definitely more of a sunday morning listen than a saturday night one, but it's - as usual for this series, I would hope you agree -  a good one. It's certainly one of the loveliest. So have a slow ridin' easy goin' sunday mornin' with this... 

Okay, this is what most private press covers look like...don't you just want to spend your hard earned money on a record with this cover?