Sock Free Hideaway

BEATS OF LOVE

37. Shiloh Town by Tim Hardin

PRIOR TO writing anything I like to have something physical in my hands before playing it through my modest sound-system. Preferably vinyl. So I'm really looking forward to Low Drift's self-titled LP landing. If taster track Deadwood is symptomatic of the quality, we're in for a masterpiece.  

Also, and against my better nature, I have a couple of Scandinavian CDs in the post that I will have to mention at length when they finally land coz they're really beautiful. Despite being lauded by Dylan, as a great composer, if there's one singer who could captivate me by singing just about anything, it's Tim Hardin. A voice of experience and tenderness quite like no other. 

This song, ridiculously cheap to buy, has been on constant rotation for many months now. I must thank Chris for turning me away from Mark Lanegan's faithful, sombre-toned rendition, and toward this. A proper tragi-comic backstory too, as, according to James Sullivan, he 'wasn’t careful with his copyrights. At one point...  he accepted a briefcase full of money in exchange for his song rights and fled to London, where he could register for free methadone.' 

Dropped by his major label, he had a point to prove in London, and while his song-writing understandably suffered, his achingly beautiful voice really delivered. And because of arranger Jimmy Horowitz, it hooked him up with the great Lesley Duncan who sang on backing vocals elsewhere on the album. Someone else I'll have to mention at length in the future. The purists will dig his more traditional earlier compositions but I prefer this more colourful song. A song that conveys so much more about his desperate predicament than mere words could ever hope to express. 

You have to wonder about the so-called vinyl revival when, for the price of a pint or a garlic bread starter, you can have this beautiful song playing on your turntable. Insane.