[features the 1970 LP "Woodsmoke And Oranges"]
"...Long Afternoons..."
A little like Fred Neil –
New Yorker PAUL SIEBEL made a couple of rather gorgeous but commercially
unsuccessful albums and then left the industry abruptly.
This truly beautiful
sounding CD for Siebel is part of the '2 Classic Elektra Albums' Series that
started in late 2001 and continued into the summer of 2004 (see list below).
The series primarily gathered together two rare Elektra Records Folk albums
from the Sixties and Seventies onto 1CD (including some Blues and Country acts
too). Paul Siebel's two lone albums "Woodsmoke And Oranges" (1970)
and "Jack-Knife Gypsy" (1971) are firmly in the Country Rock vein with
occasional flourishes of Folk Tunes and singer-songwriter Rock. Both have been
compared both vocally and stylistically to Bob Dylan's "Nashville
Skyline" from 1969 where the Bobster embraced Country Music big time – and
that’s an accurate comparison. Let’s get to the nasal details...
UK released August 2004 – "Woodsmoke And Oranges/Jack-Knife Gypsy" by PAUL SIEBEL on Elektra/Warner Strategic Marketing 8122 76507-2 (Barcode 081227650728) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and breaks
down as follows (77:15 minutes):
1. She Made Me Loose My
Blues
2. Miss Cherry Lane
3. Nashville Again
4. The Ballad Of Honest Sam
5. Then Came The Children
6. Louise [Side 2]
7. Bride 1945
8. My Town
9. Any Day Woman
10. Long Afternoons
Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut
album "Woodsmoke And Oranges" – released February 1970 in the UK and
USA on Elektra EKS 74064. Produced by PETER K. SIEGEL – all songs were written
by Paul Siebel.
PAUL SIEBEL – Acoustic and
12-String Guitar
DAVID BROMBERG – Acoustic,
Electric Guitar and Dobro
DON BROOKS – Harmonica (on
"Then Came The Children")
RICHARD GREENE – Violin (on
"Miss Cherry Lane" and "The Ballad Of Honest Sam")
JEFF GUTCHEON – Piano And
Organ
WELDON MYRICK – Pedal Steel
Guitar
GARY WHITE – Bass
JAMES MADISON - Drums
11. Jasper & The Miners
12. If I Could Stay
13. Jack-Knife Gypsy
14. Prayer Song
15. Legend Of The Captain’s
Daughter
16. Hillbilly Child [Side 2
– see Note]
17. Pinto Pony
18. Miss Jones
19. Jeremiah’s Song
20. Uncle Dudley
21. Chips Are Down
Tracks 11 to 21 are his 2nd
album "Jack-Knife Gypsy" – released March 1971 in the UK and USA on
Elektra EKS 74081. Produced by ZACHARY – all songs were written by Paul Siebel.
Note: Side 2 of original UK
and US vinyl LPs had the track running order as follows 21, 17, 16, 20, 18 and
19. For some unexplained reason the CD track list lines them up in a different
configuration (as listed above).
PAUL SIEBEL – Rhythm Guitar
And Vocals
BOB WARFORD and CLARENCE
WHITE – Lead Guitars
JIMMY BUCHANAN – Violin and
Viola
BUDDY EMMONS – Pedal Steel
Guitar
DAVID GRISMAN – Mandolin
RALPH SCHUCKETT – Piano and
Organ
BILLY WOLFE – Bass
RUSS KUNKEL – Drums
Other Sidemen – Paul Dillon,
Peter Ecklund, Doug Kershaw, Peter Kuvashka, Bernie Leadon (of Dillard &
Clarke, Flying Burrito Brothers and Eagles), Ralph Lee Smith and Gary White
BONUS TRACK:
22. Nervous (Take 5 -
Previously Unreleased Outtake)
The card-wrap that accompanies
all of these '2 Classic Elektra Albums' CDs lends the release a very classy
feel. The 12-page booklet features most of the original artwork for these two
rare early Seventies albums - the track lists, musician credits and a small
essay on the reclusive singer by Peter Doggett of Record Collector magazine
fame (author of several music books too). There’s even lyrics to "The
Ballad Of Honest Sam" and "Louise" against the backdrop of
colour photos. It’s nicely done. But the really big news for fans is a truly
gorgeous remaster from original tapes by DAN HERSCH – an Engineer familiar to
many collectors who’ve bought any Rhino CD reissue in the last 30 years. This
CD sounds stupendous – clear, warm and never over-amped for the sake of it.
When you play the two stunning acoustic-only tracks on "Woodsmoke And
Oranges" – "My Town" and "Long Afternoons" – the audio
can only be described as perfection.
The first album opens with
the hick Country of "She Made Me Loose My Blues" with the Pedal Steel
of Weldon Myrick to the fore. We get a little Randy Newman with "Miss
Cherry Lane" which was actually put out as a single in the UK (B-side) in
March 1970 on Elektra EKSN 45085 with "Bride 1945" on the A-side. Of
all the Country tracks on here my personal fave is "The Ballad Of Honest
Sam" – a song about a card cheat who fooled sad-eyed losers by appearing
to be 'honest' (Siebel sounds identikit to Dylan on "Nashville
Skyline" – a good thing in my book). Both the lovely "Louise"
and "Any Day Woman" were covered by an 18-year old friend of Siebel –
Bonnie Raitt (as well as others after her). But my crave on this superb debut
album is the two acoustic-only tunes – "My Town" and "Long
Afternoons" – both as gorgeous as Seventies singer-songwriter gets.
"My Town" laments a friend who gave his life in Vietnam while
"Long Afternoons" is a straight-up love-song about a lady with a
kindly touch and "...soft brown hair in the sun on long
afternoons..."
Despite the larger crew of
musicians (some big names too) - the second LP is weaker in my eyes than the
first. On the upside you get “Prayer Song” where he successfully mixes Pedal
Steel with Richard Green strings – a lovely builder of a song. “Pinto Pony”
jaunts along nicely too while “Chips Are Down” pours on the melodrama about
being a man when the "chips are down". The Bonus Track turns out to
be Take 5 of a song called "Nervous" - it's good but hardly great. In
fact Siebel’s nasal whine and the over-reliance on Country Rock with Pedal
Steel can make some of the songs seem repetitive – but that first album
“Woodsmoke And Oranges” has magic on it more than once or twice - it really
does. And with that gorgeous audio – and those powerfully humane lyrics - this
CD reissue is a shoe-in to touch your heart more than you would guess. Dig in
and enjoy...
PPS: other titles listed in
the 2 Classic Elektra Albums CD series are:
1. David Blue (1966) /
Singer Songwriter Project (1965) - DAVID BLUE
2. Tim Buckley (1966) /
Goodbye And Hello (1967) - TIM BUCKLEY
3. The Paul Butterfield Blues
Band (1965) / East West (1967) - THE BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND
4. The Resurrection Of
Pigboy Crabshaw (January 1968) / In My Own Dream (August 1968) - THE
BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND
5. Heads & Tails (March
1972) / Sniper And Other Love Songs (October 1972) – HARRY CHAPIN
6. A Maid Of Constant Sorrow
(1961) / Golden Apples Of The Sun (1962) - JUDY COLLINS
7. Judy Collins No. 3 (1963)
/ The Judy Collins Concert (1964) - JUDY COLLINS
8. Wildflowers (1967) / Who
Knows Where The Time Goes (1968) - JUDY COLLINS
9. Back Porch Bluegrass
(1963) / Live!!!! Almost!!!! (1964) - THE DILLARDS
10. Earth Opera (1968) / The
Great American Eagle Tragedy (1969) – EARTH OPERA
11. Judy Henske [Live]
(1963) / High Flying Bird (1964) - JUDY HENSKE
12. The Incredible String
Band (1966) / The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of Onions (1967) – THE INCREDIBLE
STRING BAND
13. Blues, Rags &
Hollers (1963) / Lots More Blues, Rags & Hollers (1964) –
"SPIDER" JOHN KOERNER, DAVE "SNAKE" RAY & TONY
"LITTLE SON" GLOVER
14. All The News That's Fit
To Sing (1964) / I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965) - PHIL OCHS
15. Ramblin' Boy (1964) /
Ain't That News (1965) - TOM PAXTON
16. Outward Bound (1966) /
Morning Again (1968) - TOM PAXTON
17. Tom Rush (1965) / Talk A
Little Walk With Me (1966) - TOM RUSH
18. Woodsmoke And Oranges
(1970) / Jack-Knife Gypsy (1971) - PAUL SIEBEL
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