Mac Gayden died last year. There was always something otherworldly about him, and now he's gone there ahead of us. He could bring out the exotic, the otherness, in a banjo. Listen to the opening instrumental, Queen Anne's Lace. In his hands it was the primeval instrument, as natural as birdsong, a long way from the hootenanny. Then it's Rising Sun, haunted by his slide playing, his voice straight from the heart, and the wordless ooohs that shiver your nerve endings. There's textures in Mac's music you don't hear anywhere else, that impossibly yearning guitar, and his distinctive voice, the leap into falsetto that carries you with it.
McGavock Gayden is an insanely rare album. Recorded in Nashville, only released in the UK. They did it proud with a nice and suitably enigmatic gatefold, but it barely made the shelves before being forgotten. I think Mac made it briefly available as a CDROM, but it never got a re-release, somebody lost the tapes. Brilliantly produced - layer upon layer - by Bob Johnston, it sounds like a heavenly host, but it's mostly just him, some help with backing vox, and Kenny Buttrey on drums. Look it up on Allmusic if you want to see the impact it made.
It's been on th' IoF© before, but only in a crackly vinyl rip, the best anybody could find at that point. So when my pal Andy sent me this pristine rip, it was like hearing the album for the first time. It's not lots of things; not Americana, not folk, not country and/or western, not rock or folk-rock, not prog, nor any other file-under. Songs stretch out and wander where they will, regardless of market potential. It's a very long album, fifty minutes, with no hint of a hit single, and not a note wasted.
He'd make two other superb albums in the seventies, before ducking out of whatever spotlight managed to find him, a respected session guitarist and performer. But it's those three albums, McGavock Gayden, Skyboat, and Hymn To The Seeker, that'll find new fans as long as there's music in the air and hearts to hear it.
Pass it around.
Thanks to Andy!
https://www.imagenetz.de/edaos
ReplyDeleteOther albums available on request (do a search here for screed).
I get a 404 Error for this album, which I'm now dying to hear. I have "Skyboat" and
Delete"Hymn to the Seeker," never knew "McGavock Gayden" existed. Any chance of repost or derisive response pointing to an obvious link I've overlooked?
Try again, The Big A! I just downloaded it, no problem.
DeleteThank you, sir! (And many compliments on such a fantastic website!)
DeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteI thank ye!
ReplyDeleteThanking you.. much appreciated
ReplyDeleteWe shall see. A nice complement to a rainy day would be nice, heck even a compliment would more than suffice. Got one?
ReplyDeleteI have a condiment - any use?
DeleteIf his vocals sound familiar, it might be because he was an original member in Barefoot Jerry (in the US only known for the most part due to their song, In The Summertime When the Weather is Fine). Barefoot Jerry was much more than that one US hit and had a decent following in the UK. Really eclectic lp.
ReplyDeleteThank you Farq. @pmac: I thought that In The Summertime was a hit for Mungo Jerry (they all wore shoes as far as I know).
ReplyDeleteI was seven when Mungo Jerry had the hit with In The Summertime in the UK, it's one of my earliest musical memories, and I still love that track.
DeleteFive Barefoot Jerry albums:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.imagenetz.de/qMUAw
Southern Delight features Mac Gayden. Play that one first - more interesting than the others, but they're all swell.
(Can someone please check on pmac? He was last seen wandering into town in his underwear talking to an oven mitt.)
Mungo is Barefoot's half brother via another mother.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.royalpralinecompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/recipe-oven-mitt_1800x1800.jpg
ReplyDeleteSNORT! My paternal grandmother actually worked for the Royal Praline Company. She was a typical WW2 housewife, who did whatever her husband told her. My grandfather died around 1973, and she then started to live a real life. Learned to drive, got a job in the French Quarter, and started hanging out in the clubs.
Delete... and that's how I met yo mama.
DeleteA very fine album indeed, though we could argue on the 'not a note wasted' thing (I'm looking at you, Genevieve, love!). Have had a slightly retooled version of this album lying around forever in my stuff to post, and will one fine day. Happy to check out your new rip for audio improvement. With all the stuff that got reissued, hard to believe that no one got this out on CD...
ReplyDelete... and a very small initial pressing. I agree about Genevieve - either there's not a note wasted or they all are. But it has a bonkers appeal.
DeleteMorning Glory was played a lot on Radio London by Charlie Gillett but when I got the album I agreed with him at the time that it was a bit dull. I shall try again down to your enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteMorning Glory is from the album Skyboat. McGavock Gayden was his first solo record and hard to find.
DeleteIf you found Skyboat dull, you'll find this dull too, regardless of my enthusiasm.
DeleteThanks so much for this. It has a real open-skies feel, moving between solitude and communality. Really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteWould you like the others?
DeleteI would like the others, very much, but please don't go to that trouble on my behalf. Or was that just a rhetorical question?! Thank you again, anyway.
ReplyDelete*punches Fred playfully on upper arm*
Deletehttps://www.imagenetz.de/nbmgS
ReplyDeleteHymn To The Seeker, Skyboat (technically, I think, the name of the band), the later and lesser Nirvana Blues, and the last and not least Come Along.
Wonderful! Very generous of you. Hope i find many more things to sponge in the future. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciated your perceptive comment. "... open-skies feel, moving between solitude and communality" is as nice a description of his music as any I've read. I f there's anything else you want - explore th' IoF© at your leisure - let me know.
DeleteOoh ta! There is certainly something about exhilarating music that lifts up the ceiling of one's own thoughts. Thank you once again.
ReplyDeleteOkay, intrigued and will download when I return from work this evening. Bio says he wrote "Everlasting Love" which is a catch-as-hell song with multiple chart placements PLUS the wonderful "She Shot A Hole In My Soul" by Clifford Curry AND was a session musician on Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" (which I hear was popular with you older kids...).
ReplyDeleteThe three albums are best approached as a whole, and require some relaxed attention to get the most out of. He could write hits, but his heart was somewhere else - a more interesting and rewarding place to visit. He has something in common with Van Morrison, another artist who let the muse take him without being led by market forces (and Morrison could write hits, too).
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