JOHN HARTFORD – You and Me at Home – (Flying Fish) – 1981

Yes, I know. Some people are saying, "not another John Hartford". What can I say except I have a large pile of records with quite a few Hartford's in there. Oh, and I like him.

It’s funny that as the Nick Drake cult juggernaut rolls on, John Hartford, who had a more substantial and influential career remains, in international terms, relatively obscure.

Admittedly, the Nick Drake cult is mainly fanned by English music journalists, probably because there is precious little else coming out of England at the moment, but it seems to have taken a life of its own.

I mean, for fucks sake, where were all the Nick Drake fans in 1974, or 1984, or 1994, or even 2004.

“I was into Nick Drake years ago” – “Yeah, yeah, sure you were”

The muso journalists have been digging these singer songwriters up for the last few years – and there are millions of them that followed in the wake of Dylan. All you need is the internet or a subscription to Mojo or Uncut.

But what about Hartford?

He also followed in the wake of Dylan but he was probably listening to the same original source mausic as Dylan. Dylan opened the door for him but he didnt  necessarily influence him directly. 

Hartford, perhaps, is not dark enough. Fans seem to understand darkness more than happiness or optimism – perhaps that explains the cults around Cave, Cohen and Drake…and possibly it explains why Cash wasn’t popular with the hipsters until the end of his career when his music got darker. It seems to be an respected artist you have to be tortured ….

My criticism isn’t of Drake’s minor joys but of the nature of fandom and the parasitical, dilettante nature of music listeners.

Drake is more comparable to David Ackles though he has lifted from Donovan, Nilsson and Bob Lind but I see no increase in their cultural capital.

It’s a pity.

Until the hipsters learn to think outside the box Hartford, Mickey Newbury, David Ackles, Val Stoecklein and others will remain obscure.

Maybe Hartford hasn’t been dead long enough, maybe he put out too much material, maybe he had too many happy songs, maybe his royalty check for writing “Gentle on My Mind” was too big.

But I digress.

John Hartford was an amazing singer songwriter with a country bent.

And he isn’t being revered enough.

And that annoys the fuck out of me.

OK, admittedly, the whole post “O Brother Where Art Thou” old timey thing increased his profile but the volume of his work leaves so much to be discovered.

Google this site for more on Hartford.

Hartford was reasonably prolific in the recording studio and clearly, due to the volume, could write songs in his sleep.

I suspect that his large output was because his songs don’t rely on trickery, just vocals and couple of instruments so he would have worked quickly in the studio.

The songs have to sell themselves without any fancy accessories. And more often than not they do. There really aren’t any, from what I have heard, “bad” John Hartford songs. There are those that are better than others though.

This album is casual and laid back and has the feel of a lounge room sing a long, or rather a front porch sing a long. Backing vocals mimic the singer, instruments are few, and the arrangements are playful.

Personnel: John Hartford – fiddle, vocals  / Charles Dungey – bass / Kenny Malone – percussion / Jeanie Seely, Jackie Greene – vocals / Jack Greene –vocals / John Hartford – fiddle, vocals / Benny Martin – vocals / Buddy Emmons – steel guitar

The album is singer songwriter, country, alt country, folk, bluegrass, new grass but it is also unmistakeably John Hartford.

All songs written by Harford.

Tracks (best in italics)

• You and Me at Home   – quirky Hartford vocals are played against more standard and straight vocals from the other personnel which is jarringly pleasant. This is a simple repetitive song which at first doesn’t seem like much but eventually it gets under your skin, much like the wooden marionettes at old Disney theme park doing the “It’s a small world after all” …you don’t want to shoot yourself here though.
• Tonite We're Gonna Boogie  – I nice gentle boogie with some great guitar work which though a little obscure is a bit like Marc Ribot meeting Scotty Moore  … and that’s a good thing.
• Your Stuff   – excellent
• River of Life    – starts off like a 70s hymn with the other singers then Hartford joins in.
• Ladies Live Such a Long LongTime  – astute!
• Once You've Had the Best – a gently rollicking ode.
• Don't Go Away –   excellent

We play these games with each other

Looking for something wrong

        Picking out words and phrases

To hang each other on

• I Believe in You –  much like the first track.
• My Love for You – Williams  – much like the first track.
• Imagination Fired by Books –

I love you so much

So much more than a touch

So much more than your touch and looks

I love what I find when you show me your mind

Expanded and nurtured by books

Its love of a kind

That’s perfected with time

Enhanced by your touch and your looks

And goes on to your dreams

And the beautiful scenes

And imagination fired by books

• You and Me Reprised – the first song reprised which ends with a bit of a Christmas song, ‘Silver Bells”, I think.

And …

Not the best Hartford album I have heard but with a fair share of good tracks and any Hartford is good Hartford ….. I'm keeping it.

Chart Action

US

England

… nothing no where

Sounds

Tonite We're Gonna Boogie

attached

John Hartford – Tonite We're Gonna Boogie 

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=996TpkBH2gk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNHqG9lPcaE

Review

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Bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hartford

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifrxql5ldse~T1

http://www.johnhartford.org/ZHome%20Page/JohnHartfordBiographyandDiscography/John'sBiographyandDiscography.htm

Website

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Trivia

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