GLENN YARBROUGH – and the Havenstock River Band – (Fable) – 1971

For a folkie, Glenn Yarbrough albums turn up in reasonable frequency in op shops and that’s because he has had some mainstream success.

 

He success was largely due to the fact that he straddled the bridge between political and or personal folk and pop folk.

 

Clearly, if you are a folkie and you want a career, that works given that Yarbrough has released around 50 or so solo albums (as well as around 20 albums as a member of the successful pop folk act The Limeliters).

 

His solo albums include Christmas albums, albums of Broadway standards, gospel albums, sea shanty albums, country pop albums, traditional pop albums as well as straight folk albums.

 

He has written the odd song but more often than not he leans towards covers of traditional numbers or of contemporary folk singers, even the more “controversial” ones like Phil Ochs.

 

Obviously he keeps his ear to the ground.

 

In many ways, if he had a film career, he would be a latter day Burl Ives. Unlike Ives though Yarbrough sings in a smooth velvet tenor so perhaps, musically, he is to folk what Jim Reeves was to country.

 

In saying all this I’m not taking anything away from him.

 

What Yarbrough was, was ahead of his time, in combining folk and pop music. He, The Kingston Trio and his other band The Limeliters all spearheaded the folk boom with their pop folk hybrid. Admittedly that pop folk was soon discarded by hard core folkies but it nevertheless opened the door of opportunity (by making folk commercially viable) for all the folkies, personal and controversial, in the 60s, including Dylan, Phil Ochs and others.

 

Bio – allmusic: Glenn Yarbrough’s high, clear tenor has served him well throughout his long career as a singer (that’s him singing "Things go better with Coke" on all those commercials), and although it has been many years since he placed a song on the pop charts, he continues to have a large and loyal fan base. He was born on January 12, 1930, in Milwaukee, WI, where he began singing at church functions as a child. His entry into the world of folk music came while he was a student at St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD, in 1951, where a late-night singing session with his roommate, Jac Holzman (who would later found Elektra Records — Yarbrough would release a handful of records on the label) and a visiting Woody Guthrie would prove to be pivotal for Yarbrough. He bought a guitar the next day.

 

He’s still performing and recording.

 

This album, about midway through his career, sticks to the formula he established … smooth versions of recent folk standards. The only difference is, here, he performs with the Havenstock River Band – I have little on them and there appears to be at least one other band from around the same time with the same name,

 

Hollywood stalwart Jimmy Haskell arranges the strings.

 

The songs are a mixed bag from 71 era popular folk songwriters – Ron Davies, Bobby Scott and Danny Meehan being less well known but nevertheless recorded and established singers.

 

Tracks (best in italics)

 

  • Friend of Jesus – (John Stewart ) – slick without the contemplative qualities of Stewart’s original. It’s bouncy enough though ….
  • Easy Now – (Bob Gibson) – nice.
  • Ease Your Pain– (Hoyt Axton) – country singer Axton in folky writing mould which he did on occasion. Pleasant. No grit, but a good song.
  • Where Will the Love Come From – (Dick Holler ) – quietly contemplative singer-songwriter song here given the emotive treatment. Dramatic but entertaining.
  • Put Your Hand in the Hand – (Gene MacLellan) – the big funky gospel hit …done by just about everyone in the 70s. It suits Yarbrough’s vocal.
  • Annie’s Going to Sing Her Song – (Tom Paxton) – A gentle nursery rhyme type of a song. Again, Yarbrough’s voice is a perfect fit.
  • Willoughby Grove -(Bobby Scott, Danny Meehan ) – lush
  • Silent Song Through the Land – (Ron Davies) – up tempo number with a gospel feel
  • Colorado Exile -(Jim Post) – a smooth reading on Posts wilderness existentialism.
  • Funky in the Country – (Bob Gibson) – certainly is …but only just. Can you fault any song with a kazoo? Or is it a comb?
  • Epistle -(Hoyt Axton) – a gently critical song on churchgoers …I think. It’s a little muddled but still it’s pretty good …

An’ to your marchin’ men in blue and silver,

Everyone for peace is just a lousy red.

You just can’t seem to figure out the reason:

The answer lies in what the shepherd said.

 

He said: "I’ll choose you one out of a thousand.

"Only two out of ten thousand more.

"And you shall stand as one again,

"On the sacred shores of the promise."

 

And …

 

Patchy …very patchy and perhaps a bit too slick. Yarbrough always works best when he has themed albums …. I think I will tape a couple of tracks and sell.

 

Chart Action

 

US

England

 

Nothing no where

 

Sounds

 

Epistle  

attached

Glenn Yarbrough – Epistle

 

Others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBfIaFr2Jfg (from the Steve McQueen film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IyNp_oS1KU&feature=fvst

 

Limeliters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FakIaWVelE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKsox3mKgIU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hO4qvEtPZ4&feature=relmfu

 

Review

 

Bio

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/glenn-yarbrough-mn0000556320

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

 

Website

http://www.glennyarbroughsinger.com/

 

Trivia

About Franko

Hi, I'm just a person with a love of music, a lot of records and some spare time. My opinions are comments not reviews and are mine so don't be offended if I have slighted your favourite artist. I have listened to a lot of music and I don't pretend to be impartial. You can contact me on franklycollectible@gmail.com though I would rather you left a comment. I also sell music at http://www.franklycollectible.com Cheers
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