Genre: psych
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Red Hash
Company: Nufusmoon
Catalog: WMI 3673
Year: 1973
State/Country: Connecticut, US
Grade (cover/record): NM/NM
Comments: small promo stamp on cover; lyric sheet is missing
Available: SOLD
GEMM catalog number: SOLD
Price: SOLD
We've always marveled over the way popular success works ... While a certain amount of talent is necessary, frequently success seems to be largely a result of fate and dumb luck. Take a guy like Connecticut's Dave Higgins. Basically a folkie, he's every bit as talented as someone like Michael Murphy, or Dan Fogelberg. Unlike Murphy and Fogelberg, Higgins never enjoyed anything even remotely akin to popular success. How come?
The early-'70s found Higgins imprisoned in a Connecticut jail. With help from States Attorney Francis McDonald (thanked for her assistance in the liner notes), in 1973 he cut an album for the small Nufusmoon label. (We're not sure whether he was still imprisoned, or whether he cut the album after getting out of jail.) Co-produced by Higgins and Chico Cardillo,
"Red Hash" was surprisingly accomplished. Material such as "Telegraph Tower", "I Pick Notes from the Sky" and "Unable To Fly" was largely acoustic folk in nature, though "It Didn't Take Too Long" and a couple of other songs featured a full band. For his part Higgins' had a great voice, played great acoustic guitar, injecting most of the set with an engaging "real person" edge (to check out those credentials be sure to check out the dark and disturbing "Cuckoo" and the mystifying "Down On the Farm"). Interestingly, a number of references compare the album to Merrell Fankhauser and Mu. The comparison is certainly there. Tracks such as "Thicker Than a Smokey", "Windy Child" and "I Can't Sleep At Night" have the same drifty, pseudo-psych feel that makes the Mu records so cool. While many hyped
micro-presses are simply shit*y, this one's an exception and is well worth the asking price. (In case you care, this one's also listed in Han's Pokara's 3,001 Record Collector's Dreams.)
By the way, just so nobody thinks we're trying to pull a fast one here, the
image shown above isn't the original LP, rather that of a '80s reissue we
stole from someone's website. The copy we're selling is an original
(that looks similar), but we were too lazy to take a digital
photo.
"Red Hash" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Thicker Than a Smokey (Gary Higgins) - 3:29
2.) It Didn't Take Too Long (Gary Higgins) - 3:58
3.) Windy Child (Gary Higgins) - 3:23
4.) Telegraph Tower (Gary Higgins) - 2:52
5.) I Can't Sleep At Night (Gary Higgins) - 3:48
(side 2)
1.) Cuckoo (Gary Higgins) - 2:08
2.) I Pick Notes from the Sky (Gary Higgins) - 4:43
3.) Stable the Spuds (Gary Higgins) - 5:16
4.) Down On the Farm (Gary Higgins)- 3:04
5.) Unable To Fly (Gary Higgins) - 4:08
6.) Looking for June (Gary Higgins) - 3:43