EIGHT QUESTIONS For RICK N. HARPER

Pete Townshend does it. So do John Fogerty and Lindsey Buckingham. Les Paul has been doing it since WWII, and McCartney is STILL doing it. And nowadays, with the advent of affordable home studio gear, it seems almost EVERYBODY’S doing it. Or at least trying to.

Without doubt however, one of those most melodically versed in the delicate art of not only Music making, but RECORD making, is Kentucky’s one and only Rick Harper. Listening closely since the Sixties, writing and performing since the Seventies (including stints with Billy Swan, a Kentucky Fried jingle with Jerry Reed, and his very own Breathers band), Rick has spent the last couple’a decades home-recording up an absolutely monstrous catalog of hand-crafted gems, a few dozen of which are now proudly floating around digital domains both far and wide, and to deservedly great acclaim too I’ll have you know.

Rick gamely took time out from his next session to let US know…

1. "MUNSTERS" OR "ADDAMS FAMILY": WHICH ONE'S FOR YOU, AND WHY?

"Addams Family." Anything with John Astin (that his name)? is OK w/ me. He should be given a grant and a small state someplace just for his role in "Candy." Lurch was cool. Thing was pretty happenin'. Probably works the adult stalls on Carnaby Street these days. "The Munsters" was about as cerebral as "Car 54."

2. WHO IN THE WORLD, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO PLAY A GAME OF "TWISTER" WITH?

Jane Asher.

3. HOW MANY SID KING & THE FIVE STRINGS RECORDS DO YOU OWN?

'fraid I don't know who he is. Send me a tape? Wait! Wasn't he the editor of the old Avant Garde and Evergreen Review magazines?

4. IF YOU HAD BEEN WORKING THE FRONT GATE AT THE DAKOTA THAT NIGHT BACK IN 1980 WHEN NASTY MARK DAVID CHAPMAN SHOWED UP, PISTOL IN HAND, TO AVENGE THE CHIEF BEATLE FOR HIS "BIGGER THAN JESUS" WISECRACK, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

If I'd known his intentions: Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Groin. Bats are legal. Even in New York, so I'm told.

5. "GINGER" OR "MARY-ANN": WHICH ONE'S FOR YOU, AND FOR HOW LONG?

Mary Ann. Absolutely. She seemed like she'd be a good mother. Ginger was probably frigid, tho she put on a good, uh, front. "How long" ? About 42 picas I've been told. (Perhaps I don't understand the gist of the question?)

6. WHAT SINGLE SONG, LIVING OR DEAD, DO YOU MOST WISH YOU'D WRITTEN? AND WHY DIDN'T YOU?

"Eight Miles High." Or "Let's Get Together," which The Byrds SHOULDA recorded...

7. WHOSE BASS HARMONICA WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO BE REINCARNATED AS? Tommy Morgan’s or Charlie McCoy’s. There's a good, driving, bass harp on "I Will Not Be Afraid of Women" by Dar Williams. Who was the guy in the Harmonicats? Y'know, bass harps are all "blow" only ...no draw notes. Tough to play and tough to maintain. I bought mine in '81 when they were relatively cheap ($250); now the bastards (Hohners) are $1000! They use accordion reeds, y'know... I hear there's decent Chinese ones around these days...

8. IN 2000 WORDS OR LESS: YOUR HOPES, ASPIRATIONS, AND GOALS -- MUSICAL AND OTHERWISE -- FOR YOUR LIFE AND YOUR COUNTRY?

Aspirations? Goals? Gulp! Don't feel like trying to be clever, though PAY THE FUCKING RENT ON TIME just sprang immediately to mind. …And I am proud to be an American who does not watch television.


RICK HARPER: RickenHarper

Those not already happily familiar with the power-poppin’ pride of Middletown, Kentucky have absolutely NO excuse now to plead ignorance: On this one snappy, wonderfully packaged (not to mention long, long, long overdue!) CD lie twenty-five examples of why Rick Harper just must be this nation’s best-kept musical secret.

Compiling the best from his three prior "Demo Teaser" cassette samplers, "RickenHarper" demonstrates not only what a fine songwriter/instrumentalist the man is ("One Too Many Lies," "I Bring Her Down" and "Hey Now Baby" are AT LEAST the equal of any material currently being spewed from the New York or Nashville hit factories), but just how well versed he is at the nearly-lost art of Home Recording as well (what this guy can do with a mere four tracks and a single microphone is a wonder in of itself).

The absolute magnitude of musical riches present on this one single disc can be a bit overwhelming at first - especially for those of us used to hearing a mere two or three winners per each new CD they grab - but "RickenHarper" is the kind of big, expansive, multi-faceted collection you’ll be finding plenty to chew on over for months and, yes, years to come. In other words: a keeper, a killer, an all-round CLASSIC …and that last word’s not one I’ve had cause to throw around much during the past decade or so, believe you me!

[HiVariety Recordings, 214 Bliss Avenue, Middletown, KY 40243] Rknhrpr@aol.com

RICK HARPER: Hoot

Has anyone reading these words not already fallen head-over-ears in love with the musical magic of Kentucky’s veteran "pop spaceman"? Then here’s ANOTHER chance: Eleven new tunes fresh from the home studios of Rick Harper that, as always, never fail to twist and turn that idiom often so carelessly referred to as Rock into wickedly delightful, always dumbfounding new forms. And unlike his previous disc - the long and more than colorful career retrospective known as "RickenHarper" - this new hoot sheds hitherto unimaginable clearview onto a couple’a Bert Jansch and even Byrds tunes (Rick’s take on Gene Clark’s "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" in particular rings nothing short of miraculous, while "Lover Of The Bayou" absolutely wallows in the kind of swamp John Fogerty, for one, only seems prepared to dip a well-placed toe into every now and then these days).

Still, the true, fine stars across this album are Rick’s own compositions: "Light Of Love" is just about the most expertly constructed song the man has yet to produce (WHAT a master of the mixing board Rick is!) and "On Sundays I Leave It Alone" deserves to spend the rest of its natural life presiding all over "contemporary" Country radio.

About halfway through the proceedings, "Hoot" gets kinda lushly tense - not to mention invitingly dark - with the "Salty Tears Can Sting" / "Can’t Trust Nobody Blues" / "Bucket Fulla Brains" trilogy of happy, harmonious horror. This kinda hurt-fest can get cloying when left in the wrong hands, but Rick’s tongue’s forever deep in cheek, I’m pleased to report, especially on the ratched, gut-buzzing "Bucket." Detour completed, the truly remarkable "Sing" continues your ride (quintessential Harper!) followed by one indisputable, drop-down MASTERPIECE entitled "Mantra" (a ten-minute-plus left-base epic which brings to mind the other-worldly songwriting of Beach Boy Carl during his "Holland" days …but even that sells this monstrous creation quite short). Whew!

Gush all you care to, then, over comparative light-weights like the new Wilco or Lucinda: HERE, I guarantee to you, is the honest-to-gawd, not a single note or word wasted or misplaced Real Thing …and here’s where to get it Right Now from:

[HiVariety Recordings, 214 Bliss Avenue, Middletown, KY 40243] Rknhrpr@aol.com


(C) 1999 - Gary "Pig" Gold