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Tarkio

Brewer and Shipley

Initial release : February 1971

Kama Sutra 2024

The third Brewer and Shipley LP. Garcia plays pedal steel on one track. John Kahn also plays on this LP.

Tracks

The original LP comprised the following tracks;

  • One Toke Over The Line (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Song From Platte River (Brewer / Shipley)
  • The Light (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Ruby On The Morning (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Oh Mommy (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Don't Want To Die In Georgia (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Can't Go Home (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Tarkio Road (Brewer / Shipley)
  • Seems Like A Long Time (Ted Anderson)
  • Fifty States Of Freedom (Brewer / Shipley)
CD reissues of the recording include two additional tracks;
  • This Seat Is Occupied (Fly, Fly, Fly)
  • The Mighty Quinn
.Musicians

The following musicians are credited on the the LP cover;

  • Michael Brewer - guitar, vocals
  • Tom Shipley - guitar, vocals
  • Mark Naftalin - piano, organ
  • John Kahn - bass, wah-wah
  • Fred Burton - electric guitar
  • Bill Vitt - drums
  • Bob Jones - drums
  • Noel Jewkes - flute
  • Jerry Garcia - pedal steel (only on Oh, Mommie)
  • Danny Cox - vocals
  • Nick Gravenites - vocals
  • Diane Tribuno - vocals
Other musicians were possible involved but were not credited. It's thought these could include;
  • Mike Bloomfield - guitar
  • Spencer Dryden - drums
  • Nicky Hopkins - piano
  • Jim Messina?
  • Leon Russell?
Credits

  • Producer - Nick Gravenites
  • Engineer - Steve Barncard
  • Artwork - Bill Sandiford
  • Graphics - Gary Peterson
  • Photo - Mort
  • Lettering - Maple
  • Recorded at Wally Heider Recorders, SF
Notes

It is sometimes stated that Garcia also plays on One Toke Over The Line but this is not the case. Stephen Barncard who was present during the recording sessions categorically states that Garcia was not present during the recording of that song.

The CD reissue includes an interview with Tim Shipley in which he say;

Essentially it was the Butterfield Blues Band. There was Mark Naftalin on piano, Mike Bloomfield on guitar; all these heavy R&B guys and folkies Mike and Tom. Jerry Garcia played on one track "Hey Mommy (I Don't Wanna Be A Commie)..... Spencer Dryden from the Airplane was there, and Nicky Hopkins, who played with the Stones.
In an interview Mike Brewer spoke of the recording sessions;
We were recording many of those albums at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. Part of the Jefferson Airplane's original record deal was unlimited studio time there, so Studio A was basically their room and either the Airplane or offshoots of the Airplane were there all the time. The Dead had kind of the same deal and they were upstairs in Studio B or D. So for us, it was just like going to the office, when you needed a guy you just went down the hall and go 'Hey Jerry, you want to play pedal steel on this?
The track that features Garcia is referred to by Shipley with a different title and is sometimes referred to with a variety of titles.

Mike Brewer, from Oklahoma and Tom Shipley, from Ohio, both started as solo folk singers in the mid 60's. By 1967 they were recording together in Los Angeles for a subsidiary of A&M records. Their first LP, Down in L.A., was released in 1968. They signed for Kama Sutra in 1969 and subsequently produced Weeds. Tarkio Road was their second release on Kama Sutra. It was supposedly named after Tarkio, Missouri because that was one of the endless small towns in which they regularly played.

However it seems that Brewer and Shipley never played in Tarkio, or possibly only played nearby once. If that's the case then possibly Tarkio was an ironic choice, representative of the small towns that would not welcome their presence. There again maybe they just liked the name.

Related releases

Two singles were released in conjunction with this LP;

  • One Toke Over the Line, Brewer & Shipley, 1971
  • Tarkio Road, Brewer & Shipley, 1971
One Toke Over The Line, Oh Moomy, The Light, Tarkio Road, Ruby On The Morning, Don't Wanna Die In Georgia and Seems Like A Long Time were included on; Oh Mommy, One Toke Over The Line, Song From Platte River, Tarkio Road, Ruby On The Morning, Don't Wanna Die In Georgia and Fifty States Of Freedom were included on; Can't Go Home, Oh Mommy and Don't Wanna Die In Georgia were included on; One Toke Over The Line, Oh Mommy, The Light, Tarkio Road, Fifty States Of Freedom and Ruby On The Morning were included on; The complete Tarkio album was included on the 2-on1 release; The track that features Garcia, Oh Mommy, appears to have only been released on Brewer and Shipley albums. However some of the other tracks, especially One Toke Over The Line, have been included on various artist compilations over the years.

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