Rating:
Genre: Rock
Release Date: 08/03/2004

San Francisco's Water Records has certainly done right by Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine. Not only has the label reissued its Warner Bros. recordings in their entirety individually and as a box set, it has now come up with this 44-track, two-disc collection of rarities and live recordings from 1967-1976. This is a mighty artifact indeed. The first disc contains all sorts of demos and strange little live recordings. Some were made at home by the first edition of the band with Elisabeth Rapp and Wayne Harley, some are solo (including a stunningly beautiful original recording of "Butterflies"), some are with later incarnations, some are with notable musicians like David Bromberg ("City of Gold" and "Mary, Mary"), and some are Nashville session demos. There is also a slew of cover version demos, including highly original readings of Bob Dylan's "Oh Sister," Randy Newman's "Sail Away," Joni Mitchell's "Real Good for Free," the Spector and Bates classic "There's No Other (Like My Baby)," Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," and even Jacques Brel's "Love, You're Not Alone," along with poems by Shakespeare, W.H. Auden, and Sara Teasdale that Rapp set to music. Disc two features live recordings from a Goddard College show featured in its entirety as well as a Netherlands Radio performance and a performance from the Choate School in 1972. There is also a cut -- "Lesson of the 60s" -- recorded at Terrastock in 1999. Fans will no doubt find a treasure trove of material here; some exists on bootlegs, but it's awesome to have the cleaned-up quality of the material available officially. The sound, given the wildly varying nature of the tapes, is surprisingly good and the music is truly inspired. Rapp gave listeners no dregs here; this is a fascinating and compelling collection of tapes from the catalog of a genuine musical enigma.

~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

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Mort Shuman - Translation
Pearls Before Swine - Main Performer
Tom Rapp - Guitar
Tom Rapp - Singer
Tom Rapp - Liner Notes
Tom Rapp - Photography
Tom Rapp - Tapes
Tom Rapp - Melody Arrangement
Tom Rapp - Group Member
Morris Brown - Bass
Morris Brown - Group Member
Art Ellis - Flute
Art Ellis - Recorder
Art Ellis - Stylophone
Art Ellis - Group Member
Wayne Harley - Harmony
Wayne Harley - Group Member
Gordon Hayes - Bass
Gordon Hayes - Clarinet
Gordon Hayes - Group Member
Michael Krawitz - Piano
Michael Krawitz - Trombone
Michael Krawitz - Group Member
Harry Orlove - Banjo
Harry Orlove - Mandolin
Harry Orlove - Glockenspiel
Harry Orlove - Guitar (Electric)
Harry Orlove - Group Member
Bill Rollins - Bass
Bill Rollins - Cello
Bill Rollins - Group Member
Wally Sound - Pre-Production
Wally Sound - Tape Transfer
Jon Tooker - Bass
Jon Tooker - Guitar
Jon Tooker - Group Member
David Wolfert - Guitar
David Wolfert - Group Member
Gary Hobish - Mastering
Robby Merkin - Piano
Robby Merkin - Group Member
Patrick Roques - Producer
W.H. Auden - Poetry
Sara Teasdale - Poetry
Pat Thomas - Producer
Elisabeth Harley - Harmony
Elisabeth Harley - Group Member

Love Story 1966-1972
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Anthology 2
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Apache/Inca
    Maitreya Kali / CD / 2000
Love, Peace & Poetry: British Psychedelic Music
    Various Artists / CD / 2001
You've Come This Way Before
    Nancy Priddy / CD / 1968
The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings
    Pearls Before Swine / CD / 2005
Transit Rider
    Faun Fables / CD / 2006
In Concert: The Complete 1967 Anaheim Show
    Donovan / CD / 2006

Release Date: 08/03/2004
Genre: rock