Hunter Muskett - Every Time You Move (1970 uk, sophisticated well arranged folk rock with warmly harmonic vocals, Lilith 2007 digi pack edition)

While at College Chris formed a folk band called "Hunter Muskett" with songwriter Terry Hiscock (writer of "Silver Coin" - voted as one of the best folk songs of 1973) and guitarist Doug Morter (later with Magna Carta, Richard Digance, Maddy Prior, Jerry Donahue etc.).

The trio gigged the folk clubs and released an album on the Decca label called "Every Time You Move" in 1970. Muskett then gained a bass player, Rog Trevitt, (later to gig with Doug Morter in the pub rock band Peco Orange and numerous country and western bands, most noticeably with pedal steel player Gordon Huntley of Matthew's Southern Comfort fame).

The now four piece, played George acoustics and electrics, toured at home and abroad for about four years and released a second album, produced by Keith Relf of the Yardbirds fame, simply titled "Hunter Muskett" on the newly formed "Bradleys" label.

Chris George

This debut from little-known, but highly regarded folk trio Hunter Muskett is an underground gem. Packed full of earthy, original songs, it masterly skirts the boundaries of baroque pop and folk-rock. The opening title track lays out their stall perfectly: layers of acoustic guitars, a delicate beat and some lush vocal harmonising. 

The songs are purposely poetic but it never sounds forced, even on the darker tracks, such as Midsummer Night’s Dream, where the melancholy just about hangs together without sounding passe. It’s a delicious balance.

by Jan Zarebski

Tracks
1. Every Time You Move (Hiscock) - 4:24
2. Hey Little Girl (George) - 5:01
3. Midsummer Night's Dream (Hiscock) - 4:06
4. Pres Gang (Hiscock, George) - 5:08
5. Storm On The Shore (Hiscock) - 4:06
6. Castle (Hiscock) - 3:39
7. I Have A House (Hiscock) - 4:14
8. Inside Mine (Hiscock) - 3:30
9. The Wait (Hiscock, George) - 2:37
10.Cardboard Man (George) - 2:18
11.Davy Lowston (Trad. Arr. Hiscock, George, Morter) - 5:09
12.Snow (Morter) - 2:05

Hunter Muskett
*Terry Hiscock - Vocals, Guitar
*Doug Morter - Vocals, Guitar
*Chris George - Vocals, Guitar
with
*Kim Margolis - Percussion
*John Punter - Drums

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Sir Douglas Quintet - Mendocino (1969/73 us, classic texas garage psych, Acadia bonus material reissue)

Listening to Doug Sahm can be like unfolding a musical road map; taking a journey from Norteno Texas dust, through Gulf Coast big band R&B and honky tonk country, on to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury psychedelic heyday in 1967. 

Doug Sahm had an amazing gift for embodying, just plain being, his musical roots. A child prodigy steel guitar player, he had achieved regional hit-record status by the time he was a teenager, scoring a national hit with “She’s About a Mover” not much later. 

Mendocino, with its title song a top 40 charting single in 1969, is the Sahm-led Sir Douglas Quintet’s finest hour, the exhilarating record of a musical heart, mind, and soul in perfect accord. Long out of print, this 1960s milepost is at last available on CD. 

The title song is teeny-bopper pop set to a bouncy Tex-Mex beat and shot through with a dose of soul. After that sweet start, the album finds one great groove after another, from twangy fiddle-driven road epics that move along like a slightly stoned Ray Price shuffle, to distorted blues guitar freak-outs, to wide-open white soul laments. But it’s all rooted in a tight musicality that is as far from self-absorbed as pop music can possibly be. Harvey Kegan and Louie Perez, on bass and drums respectively, are a rock-solid rhythm section; Frank Morin’s horns are at least as sweet and soulful as anything Jack Schroer came up with for Van Morrison in the 70s; and Augie Meyer’s trademark roller rink-accordion organ sound is precise and brilliant, adding a sort of dusty uplift to the proceedings. 

The real miracle here, though, is Sahm’s voice: a coarse growl, sweet and warm around the edges, it sounded perfect on blues, country, soul, or even Dylan-esque folk balladry. Sahm’s voice and delivery would have made him an icon even if he’d not been such a pioneer of crossroads and borderland American music. 

Mendocino was an early peak in a legendary career. One of the album’s themes is its slightly self-mocking look at what it means to be a country boy in a big, strange, confusing world. But the real message lies in the feeling of pure joy in making music that runs through every track. 

I bought my LP copy of Mendocino in 1972 for .99 cents from a cut-out bin at a Mammoth Mart in New Hampshire. The same day, for the same price, I scored a copy of another essential Texas document, Live at Cain’s Ballroom by Ernest Tubb and his Texas Troubadours. Both records got played a lot; they helped shape my listening –and playing – from that time on. 

In some ways, Texas and the Southwest were America’s greatest musical frontier. In Stetson hat, buckskin, or tie-dye, Doug Sahm always did that frontier proud.

by Kevin Macneil Brown

Tracks
1. Mendocino - 2:40
2. I Don't Want - 3:45
3. I Wanna Be Your Mama Again - 3:10
4. At The Crossroads - 4:30
5. If You Really Want Me To I'll Go (Delbert McClinton) - 2:35
6. And It Didn't Even Bring Me Down (D. Sahm, Frank Morin, Martin Fierro) - 2:30
7. Lawd I'm Just A Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City - 2:45
8. She's About A Mover - 3:20
9. Texas Me (D. Sahm, F. Morin, M. Fierro, John Perez, Augie Meyer) - 2:35
10. Oh, Baby, It Just Don't Matter - 3:15
11. Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day - 3:26
12. Sir Doug's Recording Trip - 3:00
13. The Homecoming (T.T. Hall) - 3:20
14. Hello Amsterdam - 2:48
15. At The Crossroads (Alternative Mix) - 4:37
16. Texas Me (Alternative Mix) (D. Sahm, F. Morin, M. Fierro, J. Perez, A. Meyer) - 2:36
All songs by Doug Sahm except where noted.
Bonus tracks from 11-16

Sir Douglas Quintet
*Doug Sahm – Vocals, Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Fiddle
*Frank Morin – Vocals, Horns
*Harvey Kagan – Bass Guitar
*Augie Meyers – Organ, Piano, Keyboards
*John Perez – Drums

To Jamie (Tacobueno) for his great support
Thanks my friend

For more Sir Douglas
1964-66  The Best Of ....Plus

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