Track Listing
1. Another Time
2. Playmate
3. Ballad to an Amber Lady
4. (Oh Dear) Miss Morse
5. Drop Out!
6. Morning Song
7. Regions of May
8. Uncle John
9. I Shall Not Care
10. Surrealist Waltz, The
11. Trumpeter Landfrey
12. Translucent Carriages
13. Images of April
14. There Was a Man
15. I Saw the World
16. Guardian Angels
17. Suzanne
18. Lepers and Roses
19. Florence Nightingale
20. Ring Thing
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Al Shackman, Joe Farrell | | Producer: | Richard L. Alderson | | Distributor: | NAIL Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Contains 2 LPs ON 1 CD: ONE NATION UNDERGROUND (1967)/BALAKLAVA (1968).
Pearls Before Swine: Lane Lederer (vocals, guitar, sarangi, English horn, celesta, bass guitar, finger cymbals); Tom Rapp (vocals, guitar); Wayne Harley (banjo, autoharp, mandolin, vibraphone, background vocals); Lee Crabtree (flute, piano, organ); Jim Bohannon (piano, Clavinet, organ, marimba); Roger Crissinger (harpsichord, organ).
Additional personnel: Al Shackman (guitar); Joe Farrell (flute, English horn); Bill Salter (double bass); Warren Smith (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Impact Sound Studios, New York, New York (1967 - 1968).
When Tom Rapp and his folk-rock collective Pearls Before Swine began
toiling in obscurity in the late 1960s, no one could have imagined that
the group would become a key influence on a cutting-edge musical
movement some three-and-a-half decades later. Nevertheless, Pearls
Before Swine's first two albums--both made for now-legendary NYC
avant-garde indie label ESP on a shoestring budget--tend to come just
after the work of the Incredible String Band on the "Our Influences"
list of early-2000s neo-psych-folk bands (Animal Collective, et al).
It's immediately apparent that Rapp's songwriting was heavily influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen (there's a memorable cover of Cohen's
"Suzanne" here), and Tim Hardin. However, Pearls Before Swine took
things a step further, daring to be as expansive sonically as those
artists were with their lyrics. Rapp and company were among the first to
combine introspective/poetic songwriting with a swirling, atmospheric
rock sound, effectively making them one of the first psych-folk groups.
The lo-fi production, occasional artistic overreaching, and Rapp's
ever-present lisp merely add to the highly endearing (and ultimately
artistically satisfying) qualities of the two albums so conveniently
combined here on one disc.
Editorial Reviews
5 stars out of 5 - The delicately layered harpsichords, celestes and vibes conjure up the finest in lysergic chamber music.
Uncut
The music is completely removed from time, set in a place reminiscent of Hieronymous Bosch's 'Garden Of Earthly Delights' with lightning strobe....Rapp's voice was at its unearthly best...
Dirty Linen
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