La Belle Poisoneuse
Guthrie Thomas
Eagle Records
1979
I had never heard of Guthrie Thomas before, a fact that I deeply regret. He's had quite a career, with a ton of albums (most of seem to be very hard to find, even the ones released on CD recently) and a ton of connections. He's played with Ramblin' Jack, Arlo Guthrie, and Ringo Starr. He's also a pharmacist. And a damn good singer/songwriter.
This album is a collection of acoustic songs. It's just Guthrie and a guitar and a set of well-crafted songs. There's some good fingerpicking on these tracks, but it's not the focus. He's got an earth baritone voice that is expressive and appealing and imbued with confidence and urgency. He reminds me of one of my heroes, the great John Stewart. Lyrically, he is more straightforward than Stewart. His songs don't have the poetic imagery or clever hooks that Stewart has, but there's something warmly honest about these songs, in their archetypal nature, and in their balance between sorrow and joy. I don't think any of these songs could be called "sad" or "happy," they are a mixture of the two. On one hand, these songs celebrate life and love, on the other, they regret the toll of the road, and loneliness and uncertainty. He mentions his daughter more than once, and I get the sense that the "poisonous beauty" alluded to in the title is the life of the folksinger - the allure and freedom of the open road, the compulsion to write and sing, offset against the responsibilities of fatherhood and the loved ones left behind. My personal favorite is "Knowin' that She's Waitin'."
Released in 1979, only 500 copies were pressed. It's now a pretty rare find. I really want to get some more of his albums. His web site is really the only source of information about him, and it doesn't give any details about tour dates, and it doesn't have an online store, which is frustrating. I don't know about the rest of you, but with a lot of my favorite artists, I try to buy their albums directly from them, at a concert, to make sure the money's not going to some chain store or something. If anyone's seen him in concert, I'd love to hear about it.
Here's his official page. Looks like he's a jack-of-all trades, selling guitar picks and such as well.
Guthrie Thomas Official Web Site
Tracks
- You Can't Buy No Love Songs
- You Make it Easy
- Knowin That My Baby's Waitin'
- Come to a Road
- What Must I Do
- Will I Love Again
- If I Could Find the Words
- Sarah Maris
- Catch the Clown
- Lady on the Piano
Download Album Here
Enjoy!
9 comments:
Hi - thanks for sharing this. I have a couple more CDs by Guthrie Thomas, and if you're interested, I could rip and send them to you. My email: lyoh@terra.com.br
Hi there;
is it possible to post these CDs/LPs lossless in flac?
I have an Alan Bangs Archive and Guthrie Thomas was a guest in a Radio Show called Night Flight (BFBS Germany).
That was in September 26, 1982 and Guthrie played a lot of Songs acoustiv in this Programme. Anyone interested in this?
Contact:
http://www.cologneshark.com/
Ahhh flac is not really possible right now. My whole digitizing setup is teetering on the brink, it's all jerry rigged and temporary. Next year I may have enough money to invest in a better system. Eventually, I'll have to re-digitize everything and do proper restoration work on them. The problem is that the records need to be cleaned, played with a better turntable, and then run through digital noise reduction software. Right now, I'm just trying to get the music out there ASAP, because I think it's important stuff and there's probably nobody else who will do it.
you'll find the Guthrie Thomas Session on BFBS from 1982 here:
http://www.cologneshark.com/nightflight26september1982/
Hey Johnny, can you please u/l the Guthrie Stuff you have?
It's very, very hard to find the CDs especially the LPs here in Germany.
MP3 is not the problem, I'll take 'em.
Thanks very much in advance.
I'd love to get the Guthrie Thomas radishow w/ Alan Bangs. I've checked the link but found no download feature. I can offer a live SBD recording in italy 1993 in exchange.
Well, I am surprised by the interest in my works..for this I thank all of you...Some of these LP's and CD's go back 30 or more years...Some of my works are up on YouTube, and if you get a YouTube Downloader you can doanlaod most of the songs...I certainly don't mind...Again, my thanks for the interest..after all these years of writing and playing, perhaps my time has not been wasted after all...All my best..Guthrie Thomas gtpicks@aol.com
3 new albums and 2 compilations are now available from www.cdbaby.com
He's actually not that hard to find. I met him on youtube and he's very responsive there.
I found an Alan Bangs Archiv here:
https://www.alanbangsarchiv.com/guthrie-thomas-special/
https://www.alanbangsarchiv.com/nightflight-26-09-1982/
very interesting.
Post a Comment