Stefan Grossman

Recorded in 1980, this album presents guitar solos as well as arrangements with Sam Mitchell and Tony Roberts.

“What Stefan achieved with the blues is a musical ideal that other folk musicians, working in different fields, might have followed if they'd had the skill or the imagination. From his base in Rome, he spends part of his time writing books on the early blues and guitar technique, part of his time touring, and part of his time writing. His songs are ‘totally blues influenced’, he insists, ‘though some may not sound like it. Some may sound like jazz or Bach, but it's blues-influenced, because that's my base, that's where I learned about music’. At a Stefan concert, one might hear John Hurt's ‘Satisfied And Tickled Too’, Rev. Davis' ‘Candyman’, medleys of ragtime styles, all mixed with Stefan's highly individual compositions. He's written everything from childrens' songs to bleak, surreal ballads, and a whole variety of instrumentals. He moves from the traditional to the experimental, and back again, in a way that British traditionalists, with only one or two exceptions, find quite unthinkable.”
– Robin Deselow (from The Electric Muse, 1980)

Track Listing (click for samples):
(All tunes except From Berne to Perth have been transcribed and included in a pdf tab/music booklet on the CD)

1. Thunder On The Run
Stefan - Guitar
Sam Mitchell - Slide Guitar
Tony Roberts - Flute, Alto- Flute and Saxophone

2. The Assassination of John Fahey
Stefan - Guitar

3. From Berne To Perth
Stefan - Guitar
Duck Baker - Guitar

4. Medley: Sergeant Early's Dream & Red Haired Boy
Stefan - Guitar

5. Blind Mary
Stefan - Guitar
Tony Roberts - Flute

6. Callahan's Hornpipe
Stefan - Guitar

7. Pretty Girl Milking A Cow
Stefan - Guitar
Tony Roberts - Flute and Recorder

8. Peak's Puzzle
Stefan - Guitar

9. Kicking Up The Dust
Stefan - Guitar
Duck Baker - Guitar

10. Medley: St. Andrews & The Fiddler's Contest
Stefan - Guitar

11. Silver Swan
Stefan - Guitar

12. Medley: Billy In the Lowgrounds & Greenfields Of America
Stefan - Guitar
Duck Baker - Guitar

Review: Thunder On The Run, originally issued in 1980, ranks among [Grossman's] most ambitious, envelope-pushing albums. Though Stefan states that his songs are "totally blues influenced," the slant here is decidedly Celtic, mixing originals with hornpipes and the haunting "Blind Mary" - the latter from the pen of famed Irish harpist/composer Turlough O'Carolan.

The opening title track finds Grossman’s bouncy fingerpicking shadowed by Tony Roberts' saxes and flute, before it left-turns into an electric slide solo by the late Sam Mitchell. [Duck] Baker shows up on three tracks, including "Kicking Up The Dust," which finds the pair swapping solos in 1/4 time. And the original tablature booklet is replaced by a pdf, in case you want to attempt this at home.
– Dan Forte/Vintage Guitar

cdSGGW129 Enhanced CD   $15.00