Amos Garrett

Amos Garrett - The Acoustic Album - 2004 - Stony Plain Records

The title pretty much sets the mood for this all new recording from this venerable musician. The title also indicates just how modest and low key his approach to music is. He comes from the less is more side of the equation. It’s a mix of originals and covers from the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Jelly Roll Morton, Leadbelly and others. Fans of the Grisman and Garica recordings will want to add this to their collection of acoustic must have. He’s been around forever so it’s easy to take a musician like him for granted. However he doesn’t record much these days and that makes this one even more special. © http://www.villagerecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=2072

In his career, guitarist/singer Amos Garrett has played country, folk, rock & roll, jug music, and some jazz. Born in Detroit, he has primarily worked in Canada, being a busy studio guitarist in addition to having his own solo projects. Acoustic Album lives up to its name, featuring Garrett on a variety of good-time music that includes some swing (including a couple Hoagy Carmichael tunes), country, folk, and roots music. Garrett's easygoing and warm baritone voice, friendly style, and fluent guitar picking make Acoustic Album a delightful set, one well worth savoring. © Scott Yanow © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/acoustic-album-r703947

This CD is placed in the blues category for only one reason; the media kit states File Under Blues. The music of master guitarist Amos Garrett has always defied classification. From his early work with Geoff and Maria Muldaur to Anne Murray and a half dozen years with Paul Butterfield’s classic band Better Days, Garrett played whatever the occasion demanded and he played it better than most. With more than 200 studio sessions under his belt, he has become the definitive studio guitarist. Born in Detroit, Garrett moved to Canada as a youngster with his family. After 40 years in the music business and much of the studio work behind him, the guitarist lives quietly in rural Alberta. He continues to tour and just returned from performances in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland in time for the Edmonton Folk Festival. Amos Garrett has led the house band at the esteemed festival for twenty years. This is his first acoustic album and Garrett’s laid back style comes to the forefront. Since coming to international prominence with the beautiful guitar solo on Maria Muldaur’s Midnight At the Oasis in 1973, Garrett became famous for performances that are both relaxed and classy. In fact, the guy is so relaxed that fans who purchase a CD from his website receive a fishing fly, hand-tied by Amos. If a musician of Garrett’s high standing decides to record an acoustic album in Canada, it’s almost an obligation to hire Ken and Chris Whiteley for the session. The Whiteley brothers have more acoustic blues and good time music experience than anyone in the country. From their Original Sloth Band in the 70s to their recent Old Friends albums with Mose Scarlett and Jackie Washington, the brothers offer a timeless quality and sincerity in their music. The addition of David Wilkie on mandolin is another asset to this album. When these folks jam together, nothing is sacred. From Hoagy Carmichael’s classic Small Fry and Hong Kong Blues to Garrett’s own Bailey Hill Requiem the session is pure pleasure. If you’re a traditional guitar fan, you’ll enjoy the record. If you like Leon Redbone, you’ll LOVE this CD. Redbone and Garrett have much in common and one of those things is the pure joy and satisfaction that comes with a great session. Rating: Four Stars Written by & © Richard Bourcier © 1997 - 2011 jazzreview.com | All rights reserved http://www.jazzreview.com/reviews/latest-cd-track-reviews/item/21438-.html

Guitar Player magazine called him "one of the most lyrical and original guitarists playing today...his single note solos and melodic figures are so distinctive that it is virtually impossible to mistake them for anyone else’s. The late Chet Atkins, and Richard Thompson and Mark Knopfler have all lauded Garrett's unique guitar technique. Amos Garrett is a fabulous musician, and vocalist, and although he remains unfamiliar to many people, he is an amazing talent, and has played with some of the greatest musicians of all time, including Bonnie Raitt, Geoff Muldaur, Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Jesse Winchester, and Paul Butterfield. His guitar playing has to be heard to be believed. "The Acoustic Album" features tracks written by Leadbelly and Hoagy Carmichael, among others. It was nominated for a 2005 Juno Award. The album has elements of jazz, swing, soul, R&B, rockabilly, country, and of course The Blues, and is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Try and find the 1978 "Geoff & Amos" album, which Amos recorded with the great American folk/roots blues legend, Geoff Muldaur. Try and listen to his "Go Cat Go" album. Buy his superb "I Make My Home in My Shoes" album. Amos' "Buried Alive in the Blues" album is @ AMOSG.BAITB [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 96.6 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 She Don't Go Nowhere ('Till the Stars Come Out at Night) - Paul Geremia 2:35
2 Sam's Song - Jack Elliott, Lew Quadling 5:07
3 Perfume and Tobacco - Chris Whiteley 4:09
4 Judgement Day - Jim Condie 3:19
5 Hong Kong Blues - Hoagy Carmichael 2:57
6 Michigan Water Blues - Traditional 3:10
7 I Hate Myself - Jeff Gutcheon 3:11
8 Bailey Hill Requiem - Amos Garrett 2:47
9 Always Got Your Hands on That Guitar - Ken Whiteley 3:30
10 Grasshoppers in My Pillow - Traditional 3:05
11 Small Fry - Hoagy Carmichael 3:21
12 Some Musician Was to Blame - Chris Whiteley 3:43

MUSICIANS

Amos Garrett (6 & 12 string guitar, vocals)
Ken Whiteley (guitars, banjo, mandolin, accordion, percussion, tenor vocal, background vocals)
David Wilkie (mandolin, mandola, mandocello, vocals on 5 tracks)
Victor Bateman (string bass on 8 tracks), choir, chorus
John Hyde (string bass on 4 tracks)
Bucky Berger (percussion on 1 track)
Chris Whiteley (trumpet on track 8)
David Wall - tenor vocal, background vocals
Chick Roberts, Brently Titcomb, Liam Titcomb, Dave Lang, Eve Goldberg, Sandy Crawley - choir, chorus

ABOUT AMOS GARRETT

Detroit native Amos Garrett began working as a professional guitarist north of the border in Toronto. There he played with the Dirty Shames, a folk jug band, before moving on to the country-rock-oriented Great Speckled Bird at the invitation of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" features his guitar playing, as does Anne Murray's "Snowbird." Other artists who have utilized his talent include Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Jesse Winchester, Paul Butterfield, Hungry Chuck, and Geoff Muldaur. His studio work led him to California, and he continued to record with other artists. Later, with the Eh Team backing him, Garrett also put out his own recordings, more than half a dozen on Stony Plain Records. In 1989, his album The Return of the Formerly Brothers, garnered a Juno Award. The release also featured Gene Taylor (formerly of Downchild, the Blasters, and later with the Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Doug Sahm of the Texas Tornados. Garrett and the Eh Team continue to play nightspots in Canada, where he resides in Alberta. He toured Japan in 1990, with stops in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. The concerts there found their way onto a live album. © Linda Seida, allmusic.com

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Amos Garrett (born November 26, 1941, Detroit, Michigan, USA) is a Juno Award-winning American-Canadian musician, performer, and author. He holds dual citizenship and was raised in Toronto and Montreal. He is best known for his guitar solo on Maria Muldaur's recording "Midnight at the Oasis". Over the course of his career, Garrett has recorded with more than 150 artists, ranging from Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren and Pearls Before Swine to Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Martin Mull. He can be heard on Anne Murray's chart-topping rendition of "Snowbird". Garrett was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA on November 26, 1941. When he was five, he was moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He studied piano and trombone through the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. At twelve, Garrett relocated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he began playing guitar at fourteen. There, at the Esquire Club, he would learn while watching performers such as Ben E. King, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino and B. B. King. After an attempt to study English literature at a university in the USA, he chose a career in music and moved back to Toronto in 1962. Garrett's first professional gig was accompanying Mike Settle at Carnegie Hall in the winter of 1963. Settle was the opening act for comedian Vaughn Meader. From 1964 to 1967, Garrett played in the Toronto jug/string band, The Dirty Shames, which included Chick Roberts, Jim McCarthy and Carol Robinson. It was during this period that Garrett and Roberts took John Hammond, Jr. to see Levon & The Hawks for the first time. The Hawks would later be recommended by Hammond to Bob Dylan. In 1968, Garrett began a two-year stint of touring and recording with Canadian duo Ian & Sylvia, which led to becoming a founding member of Great Speckled Bird. This band is featured in the film Festival Express. They are shown playing the song "C.C. Rider" with members of the Grateful Dead and Delaney Bramlett in 1970. As a special feature on the DVD release of the film, Great Speckled Bird are shown playing the Dylan/Manuel song, "Tears of Rage". Garrett moved to Woodstock, New York in 1970 to play in Maria and Geoff Muldaur's band. Based there, he performed and recorded with artists that were part of Albert Grossman's Bearsville stable, such as Bobby Charles, Todd Rundgren and Jesse Winchester, and as a member of Paul Butterfield's group, Better Days. He was also a member of Hungry Chuck, another Bearsville act, which was formed of ex-Great Speckled Bird members. They released an eponymous album in 1972. Garrett also played trombone on two songs for Jerry Garcia's second solo album, Compliments, released in 1974. After living in Boston for two years, Garrett moved to San Francisco in 1976 to pursue session work. There, he continued as member and bandleader of Maria Muldaur's group until 1978, toured the R&B circuits of North America, and recorded with more than 150 artists. “I wanted to sing. I loved to sing, but there was no way I could do so being a hired gun for bands.” - Amos Garrett. In 1978, Garrett decided to pursue fronting his own project, left Muldaur's group, and began releasing material through Stony Plain Records, a label based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His first solo album was 1980's Go Cat Go, which was followed by Amosbehavin in 1982. He formed his back-up band, The 'Eh Team, around this time. Garrett shared performing and recording duties, and co-wrote two songs, on 1988's The Return of the Formerly Brothers with the late Doug Sahm and pianist Gene Taylor. Queen Ida sat in on accordion. The album was awarded the inaugural, 1989, Juno Award for Best Roots & Traditional Album. A follow-up live album, Live In Japan, was recorded in 1990 as Garrett, Sahm and Tayor played clubs and concert halls in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. In 1989, Garrett relocated to Turner Valley, Alberta. That year also brought the album I Make My Home in My Shoes, which paid tribute to his boyhood days, especially on "Stanley Street", a song written in recollection of the Esquire Club. Garrett began his intermittent role as bandleader and/or member of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival's Festival House Band in 1990, reprising it from 1994–2000, from 2002–2006, and from 2008–2011. With Garrett, the band has backed such acts as Richard Thompson, Solomon Burke, Ruth Brown, Rick Danko, Jay McShann, Johnnie Johnson and Rosco Gordon. Third Man In, released in 1992, was a collection of covers and originals. Garrett's covers were written by the likes of Bobby Charles and Percy Mayfield. Off The Floor Live followed in 1996. It was recorded live with the 'Eh Team at the Sidetrack Club in Edmonton. The Cold Club was a collaboration with Oscar Lopez, David Wilkie, Karl Roth and Ron Casat. They released an eponymous record in 1996. Maria Muldaur, Mike Lent and Teddy Borowiecki guested on the album. Garrett released Amos Garrett's Acoustic Album in 2004. It features tracks written by Leadbelly and Hoagy Carmichael, among others. It was nominated for a 2005 Juno Award. This was followed by 2008's release, Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield, which was also nominated for a Juno Award. Garrett was living in High River, Alberta in 2008. On November 6, 2011, Garrett will be conducting a clinic and then performing as part of the Sleepwalk Guitar Festival in Toronto. The festival is presented by Six Shooter Records and will be curated by Luke Doucet. Garrett has authored a number of instructional albums, books and videos. Garrett enjoys fishing, and hopes to one day catch an Atlantic Salmon of twenty pounds or greater.