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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | beeman <beeman@istar.ca> |
| Subject | Chris Harford = great rock/folk |
| Date | Tue, 10 Jun 2003 12:24:23 -0700 |
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No, I'm not on amphetamines, but while on a roll I wanted to give
"props" to the most excellent Chris Harford (who I just discovered --
where have I been?!). I have both the cd's listed below in Ira Robbin's
Trouser Press entry (Chris is in the 90's book). I think Ira sums it up
just about right, a musicians musician type w/a lovely voice.
Someone else described as a cross between Freedy and Bruce Springsteen.
I'd say keep yer eyes out for his stuff and, by all means if you see
any other titles, I'm interested. PLUS Chris was in Three Colors (who I
haven't heard yet) w/Dana "Morphine" Coley on sax (!). His website is
here: www.chrisharford.com
regards, Judith
CHRIS HARFORD AND THE FIRST RAYS OF THE NEW RISING SUN
Be Headed (Elektra) 1992
Comet (Black Shepherd) 1996
Neil Young demonstrated that sensitive singer/songwriters and roaring,
distorted guitars could mess around and make beautiful music together;
Princeton, New Jersey's Chris Harford (ex-Three Colors) is one happy
result of that union. On his exceptional solo debut -- a handsome quilt
of gentle country rock, simple acoustic soliloquies and raging
noise-rock storms (occasionally mixing approaches within a song) -- the
well-connected guitarist with the hoarse whisper receives assistance
from such eclectic guests as Richard Thompson, Ween, the Proclaimers,
Loudon Wainwright III, Matt Sweeney (ex-Skunk, pre-Chavez) and the
Rollins Band rhythm section. But what really distinguishes Be Headed is
Harford's finely crafted writing and the emotion-laden resonance of his
delivery. Collectively, "Unsaid Things," "You Know Me the Best," "Living
End," "My Little Sadness," "Road With You" and "Sing, Breathe and Be
Merry" richly portray the artist as an incisive empath with as strong a
sense of self as of song structure. Whether ripping into a meltdown
guitar solo or barely breathing a lyric into the silence, Harford is a
singular voice, and Be Headed captures all of his facets and subtleties.
Harford made a second album, but it ran into label resistance and never
appeared. In early '96, he self-released some of it, along with a
handful of 8-track demos for other tunes, all recorded between 1989 and
1994, as Comet. The absence of marquee names and the occasionally
skeletal arrangements have no adverse effect on the nine tasteful,
incisive songs, simply performed with help from longtime associates
Kevin Salem (guitar), Dave Dunton (piano), Claude Coleman Jr. (drums)
and others. Forged in Harford's artistic furnace, quiet numbers like
"Dying to Be Free," "Second Guessing" (with an explosive Salem solo) and
"Long Time Friend Gone" are the easy equals to Be Headed's best.
[Ira Robbins]
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