The lovelorn ballads of DC-based singer/songwriter Bob Brown are about to become more widely known thanks to Tompkins Square. This month (13th May) sees the world-wide release (on CD / LP) of the first legit reissues of two of his Richie Havens-produced albums which have been largely overlooked: The Wall I Built Myself (1970) and Willoughby’s Lament (1971).
Richie Havens took Bob under his wing, produced both albums, and released them on his Stormy Forest label distributed by MGM. Although they failed to make a commercial impact at the time, cosmic-folk enthusiasts and vinyl-heads have long placed these albums in high esteem alongside the works of exploratory greats like Tim Hardin and Tim Buckley.
Known to go the extra mile for their artists TS had Bob perform with Ryley Walker’s band at their recent 10th Anniversary show at Rough Trade (poster left), and he’ll also be making special appearances to celebrate the reissues on June 29th at Joe’s Pub, NYC (9:30pm).
It Takes The World To Make A Feather Fall, is our Song of the Day.
Available Worldwide May 13th, 2016
The Wall I Built Myself (CD : TSQ 5111 / LP : TSQ 5128)
Willoughby’s Lament (CD : TSQ5135 / LP : TSQ 5142)