NEW REVIEW (JULY 2010)

DADDY LONGLEGS - DADDY LONGLEGS

Published by Terrascope Online, July 2010
Written by Nigel Cross

Oh, kiss the fucking stars! Finally, finally this wonderful slice of rural rock has been reissued on CD, and not before time.

Daddy Longlegs were four Americans, who because of the Vietnam War and the brutal draft, ended up in England in the dying months of the 1960s. The group comprising Steve Hayton, Moe Armstrong, Clif Carrison and Kurt Palomaki was fermented in the madness of Haight Ashbury, forged in the wilds of New Mexico and given life in the green fields of Castle Carey, Somerset.

After a major fanfare in the British version of Rolling Stone magazine, they signed to Warner Bros and released their eponymous debut LP in the early summer of 1970 - a joyous brew of blues, country, and folk rock all filtered through the psychedelic funnel of the times. The LP arrived just as the British big sky bands were reaching their peak - a bunch of like minded groups, not so much related by blood but by their love of getting it together in the country, LSD and pot, and living the counter culture ideal. Influenced by the sounds of the Band, the Byrds, the Burritos, Cat Mother & the All Night News Boys and the Buffalo Springfield, they played a kind of hybrid back woods music that was the perfect backdrop for the all the longhair outdoor gatherings that were happening across these fair isles in 70/71. We're talking about groups like Bronco, the early Brinslies, Cochise, Greasy Bear, Help Yourself, Gypsy, later Mighty Baby,  Matthews Southern Comfort, Quiver, Terry Reid, and latterly Byzantium, Global Village Truckin’ Co and Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers. This little scene was authenticated and spearheaded by a handful of expatriate American combos - Gospel Oak, Formerly Fat Harry and most of all by Daddy Longlegs. By 72/73 it had all but evaporated and booze and public houses had replaced the bucolic retreats and home grown weed as many of the bands effortlessly switched track to become the backbone of the pub rock movement. But whilst the British acid country scene lasted, it gave those of us who strayed on to its path, a lot of pleasure.

It never quite delivered a work of the calibre of Music from Big Pink, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, or The Gilded Palace of Sin but all these bands knew how to hit the groove and how to provide a breath of sweet fresh air to the big downer outfits like Zepellin, Sabbath, Purple et al. that dominated proceedings back then. Musicianship was of a high order but most importantly they understood feel, and a good joint before the set was paramount! Alongside River, Despite It All and Silver Pistol, Daddy Longlegs was the closest we came to getting a stone(d) British country classic record.

There isn't a dud in the pack - the album starts off with a call to arms of sorts, the celebratory country honk of 'Tell the Captain' (a longstanding favourite of Terrascope contributor Colin Hill) sung and co-written by the amazing Moe Armstrong who, by the time he joined the band had lived more lives than most of us get to live in just the one. Someone should publish his autobiography. This is the kind of tune that just makes you want to break out into a huge grin! 'New Mexico Song', a love song of sorts is a light-hearted rustic romp, reminiscent of some of the tracks on the still unissued Greasy Bear album. 'Lady in Waiting' is the closest you get to a pure rock song with one of those punchy riffs that stays in your head for days after (or as in my case 40 years after!). My mate Pete Nelson, who bought the album the week it came out and I were fading out of school at this time and this number was a favourite we'd play every lunch time - i can't tell you how much it cheered our teenage lives! 'Bad Blood Mama' is a dirty blues rocker with some mean lead guitar from Steve Hayton - as this readily attests, Daddy Longlegs were a real tight band musically too. Next up is the band's theme song about the pleasures of rolling up another doobie - close in style to Country Joe & The Fish or the Holy Modal Rounders, this would have undoubtedly been a top 10 hit on the radio had it not been banned, it was certainly a hit (no pun intended) with live audiences. Side 1 of the original LP finished with another Hayton-Armstrong composition, the almost acoustic and achingly beautiful 'Waiting for the Snow to Fall'.

One of the biggest joys of getting this reissue was rediscovering the halucinatory 'Farewell' - a spacey folk rock masterpiece with modal electric 12-string tunings that could have fallen straight off 'Younger than Yesterday' or 'Notorious Byrd Brothers' - great harmony vocals here too. 'Motorcycle' is another Longlegs classic, another crunchy rocker with superlative drumming and that catchy ' Motorcycle and a cowboy hat' refrain - good stuff - that sets us up for one of my fave cuts, the evocative 'Behind the Waterfall', a Working Man's Dead-style chugger that always puts me in mind of the sequence in the Easy Rider film where Billy and Captain America stop off at the commune! Hayton’s lead work is again pure genius. Hallelujah indeed! 'Bein' Here Blue' continues the feel - again conjuring up the spirit of McGuinn and co from the Dr Byrds-Ballad of Easy Rider era - ah the halcyon daze of yore! It's over all too soon and we're played out on 'Whiskey Moan', another fully-revved blues featuring Delivery's Steve Miller on delightful honky tonk piano and some nimble clarinet playing from Palomaki.

The good news is that this CD version offers up a further two cuts, both sides of the group's first single - an alternate version of 'High Again' - and better still the thinly-veiled, highly sexual 'To the Rescue (Wet Putso)', one of their best efforts that really kicks into gear on Steve Hayton's blistering solo which would give Quicksilver's Gary Duncan a good run for his money.

The original LP presumably didn't sell and by year end Hayton had jumped ship for Daylight, Amalgam, Bridget St John and a solo career - he sadly passed away in 2006. The band recruited guitarist Gary Norton Holderman and keyboardist Peter Arneson and signing with Vertigo put out Oakdown Farm, a sophomore set that certainly had its moments but never quite lived up to its illustrious predecessor - the band would carry on in with different line-ups for several more years (saw a great show at Amethyst Club, Preston in autumn 72), recording two albums for Polydor. Bassist Kurt Palomaki eventually quit too, and towards the end, drummer Clif Carrison even recruited various members of West Country acid rockers Stroll On and Over the Hill to fulfil live commitments including a legendary show at Bristol's Granary club.

Clif returned to New Mexico where he still lives today, Kurt Palomaki is still making music in North Carolina, Moe Armstrong has been working with US army vets, and is still writing poetry and prose - Oakdown Farm is currently still in print on CD but this overlooked debut really does stand the test of time so come on all you earth signs, why not do what the man says and take the back road to the canyon, walk around the pine tree tall - there's a bunch of nice folks there who have some fabulous music they'd like to play for you.

Nigel ‘Booger’ Cross with a tip of the cowboy hat to Chill Hill

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DADDY LONGLEGS: “Daddy Longlegs”

(Warner Brothers WE 3004) Four Americans who have made their home in London, and brought with them the knowledge of combining straight musical talent with original humour. Their artistry is such that one has to sit down and listen to the different movements, especially on “Tell the Captain” which contains a beautifully constructed guitar movement. An enchanting album that could be a big seller.

Music Business Weekly, April 18, 1970

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Heavy/Heady?

DADDY LONGLEGS: "Daddy Longlegs" (Warner Bros. WS 3004)

A lot of groups make the mistake of recording exactly what they put out on stage. On record Daddy Longlegs have produced a listening album, sure the tracks are similar, but their reproduction is not. The group want the listener to get out of their record the same atmosphere but have realized that to listen to an album lit home is a totally different concept to that of a 'live' performance. On stage every-thing is electric and heavy, on record, much is acoustic and heady and a little is heavy. Listen to the words of 'Behind The Waterfall', one of my favourites, or 'Waiting For The Snow To Fall', sing along with them on 'Getting High Again' (should be the 'A' side of their single), travel with them on their 'Motorcycle', every track a different story - told with love! The whole group produced the album and I hope that you dig it too!

I first noticed Steve Hayton's guitar playing when I was gigging with them at the Greyhound, Croydon. Steve was tuning his guitar to the sound of Hummel's Trumpet Concerto that I was playing on my plastic dream-machine. I'd never heard anyone play the guitar quite like that and I asked him how long he'd been playing, "Since I was knee high to a daddy long leg" was his reply. "I've played all over, never had a 9-5 job, just played my guitar and bummed along, got a group together called Buffo with Cliff and Kurt and a guy named Jeff Pearl, who played jazz-piano. Jeff left and we formed 'Daddy Longlcgs' and came to England."

What do I think of Daddy Long Legs? I hear you cry! I like them very much because whenever and wherever they play, they create really beautiful feelings within the audiences and that's me and you and you and you! I hope that they will stay in this country for a long, long time! I know that they want to, they told me so today.

I see and hear a lot of groups and an awful lot of good groups at that. but the groups that stay my mind the longest are the groups with stage-personality, like King Crimson. Robert Fripp was a salesman, you know, he sold houses and he was one of the main selling points behind the group. At gigs, he would go out and talk to the people and sell the group to them. Another group with a similar personality in their lineup is 'Daddy Long Legs'. Their singer, Moe Armstrong, was a salesman and gospel-shouter, back in the States and now he stands on stage and sells himself and the group to the audience. All the rest of group are first-class instrumentalists and play and sing, really enjoying the nice vibrations you are giving them, but it’s Moe you remember above all the others.

Moe Armstrong was born in Keokuk, Iowa, "Lived in the Midwest my whole life till I was 18”, then he went to do his conscription and ended up in Vietnam in the Marines as an instructor. After three years and nine months, he left the services and went to San Francisco where he met the band’s present roady, Jim, and Steve, their lead guitarist. He went to work as a forest ranger, but really hated it and travelled from there to New Mexico, got married and lived in the woods singing and with his friends, Steve, Kurt, Clif and Jim. Around that time, Steve Clif and Kurt left for England, arriving there in July. (I heard them at Apple Studios, where I met their present manager, Tim Sharman. If you kept your back copies of ‘Top Pops’ you’ll find a mention of them.) February 1970 marks the time when Moe and his wife, Joan, arrived in England to join-up with the band.

Clif Carrison was born in Chicago and by the time he was six, was playing rhythm in the kindergarten band. He also played in a 70-piece orchestra. He started playing rock because “No one told me what to play!” A friend introduced him to the ‘blues’ and he started to collect albums by people like Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and Howlin’ Wolf, He left college to work with a group called ‘Chicago Slim’ who were playing ‘white blues’ Chicago style. Left the group and went to San Francisco and met Steve and Kurt. Kurt plays bass, bas guitar, saxophone, clarinet and piano. S.S.

MUSIC NOW
Week Ending May 16, 1970

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DADDY LONGLEGS

(Warner Brothers, stereo WB 3004; 40s 6d)

A three-piece American band now seeking their fortunes in Britain, Daddy Longlegs have in a short space of time made quite a name for themselves as a club attraction.

This first album is an excellent introduction to their highly-personalized brand of country inspired music, entertainingly laced with a humorous streak.

With a spontaneous quality that invokes images of “hoe downs” and “barn dances,” they come across in their less serious moments as a kind of light-hearted Band.

Tell The Captain, New Mexico Song, Whiskey Moan with Steve Miller on piano, and High Again are sitting on the doorstep songs, particularly the last, and make a pleasing relief from the seriousness of so many of their contemporaries. Here it’s Steve Hayton’s country style on steel guitar that sets the mood.

On others, like the slower Waiting For The Snow To Fall and Farewell, bassist Kurt Palomaki and drummer Clif Carrison give evidence of what is a very sound backdrop. They leave the impression of an entertaining and personable young band into new avenues of entertainment. — NL

Other titles: Lady in Waiting, Bad Blood Mama, Motorcycle, Bein’ Here Blue, Behind the Waterfall.

NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
Friday, Week ending May 9, 1970

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