Customer Reviews

Circle Game

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first time I saw and heard Tom Rush perform was at the old Club 47 in Cambridge, MA soemtime in the late 1960s. His distinctive and singular vocal style and intricately lyrical guitar work sets a mood that I've never seen surpassed. All of the music here is terrific, from "Urge For Going" to "Shadow Dream Song" to the long and dreamy "Rockport Sunday/No Regrets" guitar solo (which sounds to the untrained ear like a instrumental guitar duet but is just Rush alone working his special magic on both ends of the guitar frets masterfully). There isn't a 'dog" in the set, and if you want to get a good idea of what folkies are referring to when they talk about spellbinding singer/songwriter/artists, try on Mr. Rush and this CD. Nice to know that he is still around and still recording and singing, and that he also has a new "Greatest Hits" album, which is also quite good. I recommend that as well, though I must confess I prefer the version of "No Regrets" on this CD, as it is fresher, cleaner, and not so heavily orchestrated. This is the absolutely essential New England folk music album, the singular creative product of a talented home-grown New Hampshire boy who gravitated to the big city, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English Literature even as he began his casual walk toward his special place in sixties folk history. Buy the CD, listen to it, and ENJOY! Believe me, you'll have 'no regrets', and no 'urge for going' anyplace but right here in front of your stereo listening to this timeless music.

Late 60's, out of college, can afford an album a week, and can't decide between protest, rock or stuff you love that isn't either of those. That was Tom Rush and me for a couple of years. I liked all kinds of music, tried to own some of every genre, but "Circle Game" was a favorite and I wore my vinyl out. Part folk, part blues, a little bit country, even a little rock and pop flavor...this one had it all. He taught us who Joni Mitchell was before she could sell us records on her own...did the same for James Taylor, Jackson Browne and others. He found and elevated young songwriters of genius, sang well, played great guitar, took his time with the tunes. Rush balanced fun and melancholy, a beat and thoughtfulness, better than anyone else at that time. It is still a hugely enjoyable record, and worth owning if you like this kind of art. Tom moved from the Elektra label to Columbia shortly after this one came out, and sold more copies, but he never made a better album overall.

I have been a fan of Tom Rush for as long as I can remember him. His honest clean baritone is synominous with the late 60s early 70s feel. His versions of "The Circle Game" and "Urge for Going" are poetic and as great as the originals by the creative giant Joni Mitchell. He stands toe to toe with Eric Anderson and Miss Mitchell in elegant and earthy phrasing. I love folk music, and Tom Rush is one of the best. This LP(cd) is a landmark in the genre!It will always be fresh.

This is a wonderful album that any fan of singer-songwriter music should own. The covers here of Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going" and "Circle Game" are as beautiful as any folk interpretations I've heard. And Tom's own "No Regrets" is one of the few perfect break-up songs ever written. His performance of it is equal to the song itself. Pick this one up, you won't regret it.

Heavily steeped in the American Folk, Blues & Roots movements of the early to mid Sixties, Tom Rush was already a 27-year old 5-album veteran by the time he released "The Circle Game" in April 1968. The CD version of this lovely, but long-forgotten gem of an album has been available for almost 20 years with a slip of paper as an insert and useless hissy sound. Thankfully Rhino's May 2008 reissue finally addresses that travesty by giving this album the sonic upgrade its long deserved - a remastered 40th Anniversary Edition - complete with an upgraded booklet and 3 rare bonus tracks.

Here's the layout (52:12 minutes):
Tracks 1-11 make up the album "The Circle Game" issued on Elektra EKL 4018 (Mono)/EKS 74018 (Stereo) in April 1968 in both the USA and UK
Track 12 is the "UK Single Mix" to "Something In The Way She Moves" issued on Elektra EKSN 45032 which is different to the album version
Track 13 is the "US Single Mix" of "Urge For Going" issued on Elektra EKS-45607 again different to the album version
Track 14 is a previously unreleased version of "The Circle Game" (it's Take 1)

The 8-page booklet has an new essay and interview with Rush by the respected reviewer PETER DOGGETT and is filled out with session details, trade paper reviews and pictures of US and UK singles. The album artwork is beneath the see-through tray and the CD itself reflects the colour of the original US vinyl album label - all nice touches - and typical of Rhino's attention to detail.

Some might moan that the album's original MONO mix should have been included as well as the STEREO version - I'd take that as a valid point - but two of the bonus tracks are a real find and collectors I'm sure would prefer them.

In an odd sort of way, "The Circle Game" isn't remembered so much for Rush himself, but for the astonishing singer-songwriters he introduced to the world via the record - JONI MITCHELL, JACKSON BROWNE and JAMES TAYLOR - all three unsigned at the time. With these enormous talents providing the bulk of the songs and two cracking originals of his own, this unassuming little folk album practically kick-started the entire Californian singer-songwriter movement - culminating of course in the brilliance of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1969 - and onwards to the Eagles a few years later.

The album's title track takes its name from one of Joni's best compositions "The Circle Game" which she eventually put out on her 3rd album "Ladies Of The Canyon" in 1970. The other two Joni covers are "Tin Angel" which turned up on her 2nd LP "Clouds" in 1969 and "Urge For Going", as beautiful a song as she has ever written and for me one of the real beauties on this record. Her own version didn't find its way onto vinyl until 1972, when it turned up as a B-side of "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio". Its CD debut is on the wonderful "Hits" set from 1996 - a HDCD remaster in truly beautiful sound quality. When you hear just how touching her original is, it's easy to see why Rush nabbed the song as fast as he could!

James Taylor's two tracks fare less well. First up is "Something In The Way She Moves" which Rush unwisely speeds it up with funky brass fills ruining the beauty of the song - it's dated and awful. A few months later, Taylor left for London, signed to The Beatles Apple label and released his debut LP "James Taylor" in 1968 with his softer version of the song on it. It was such a lovely tune, several artists covered it almost immediately - best of which is MATTHEWS SOUTHERN COMFORT's version on the "Second Spring" album from 1970. However, Taylor aced all of them - including his own original - by re-recording the song for his first hits set in 1976 - the white covered "Greatest Hits" - it's the definitive version of a beautiful song. The 2nd Taylor track is "Sunshine Sunshine" - a far better jaunty love song complete with strings and 60's upbeat message.

Jackson Browne's voice and sound is immediately evident in the chorus of "Shadow Dream Song" - a good song - and a pointer to what was to come years later in 1974's sublime "Late For The Sky".

The other two covers are "The Glory Of Love" made famous by Benny Goodman in 1936 with The Five Keys doing a number 1 doo-wop version of it in 1951 - Rush's version is more uptempo and only ok in my books, while "So Long" is an old Charlie Rich song from his days at Sun Records. But then - for me - comes the lethal double whammy of his own two compositions - the gorgeous instrumental "Rockport Sunday" and the classic and magical "No Regrets" (made a huge hit by The Walker Brothers in 1975). To hear them both in this improved sound quality is a genuine blast. The 6-second string curio that is "(Coda)" is just that - a curio tagged onto the end of the record. Two of the bonus tracks, Joni's "Urge For Going" and "The Circle Game", are sparse bare acoustic versions - and beautiful for it - a real treat for fans.

Soundwise the improvement is enormous - it's still a little hissy on a lot of the tracks, but the clarity of the instruments and the depth of his huge voice are so much more to the fore now - a muscular and fabulous remaster by Rhino's tape-masters BILL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH.

To sum up - flawed in places for sure, but the good stuff is breathtaking - and this remastered reissue finally brings that out. A job well done and an album you need to investigate.

I agree with the other reviewers that his interpretations of "The Circle Game," Urge for Goin" and "No Regrets" are among the most heartfelt, soulful expressions on vinyl, (now cd) of all time. The other songs don't compare in intensity or artistry, but these few are beyond discussion. I don't know what alignment of stars and planets produced this particular serendipity, but they are among the most beautiful songs ever recorded. I too am moved almost to tears every time I replay them. And I don't consider myself the sentimental type as a rule.

I bought this album on vinyl around 1968, one of the first albums I every purchased. Now it is famous as the first record to feature Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. Then it was just this amazing, heartfelt, darkly melodic collection of songs by unknowns. "Urge for Going" and Tom Rush's "Rockport Sunday/No Regrets" are so moving that, 30+ years later, I still get a chill listening to them. This album is a historical document and great music.

I attended a small college in southern Maine in the late sixties. Some of my friends listened to this record, Circle Game (vinyl discs existed then). I remember the cold winds in the Maine woods announcing the arrival of winter. There is no song in my mind that conveys that feeling better than "Urge for Going". My other favorite from this collection of songs is "No Regrets". Tom Rush's music has such an evocative, plain elegance that always makes me think of the late 60's and all the experiences of being in the eastern U.S. during turbulent and challenging times.

A masterpiece. Rush is an outstanding guitarist and singer, and the arrangements are superb. Everything magically came together for Rush on this recording. "Urge For Going" and "No Regrets" are highlights, but there is not a weak track on the album. Thank you Tom Rush!

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

When Joni Mitchell showed those lyrics to Tom Rush, she was a 23-year-old nobody. He was the most famous folk singer ever to graduate from Harvard --- the king of a category of one. But he had a record deal, and she was two years away from one. And so, when it came time for him to go into the studio again, he not only used three of Mitchell's songs, he took "The Circle Game" as the title of that 1968 record.

1968. If you're of a certain age, that year sparks so many memories. But if you're younger, just the opposite --- you're almost surely sick of hearing about "The Sixties". Well, here's a surprise. I'm of a certain age, and I published a book about my generation in 1968 --- Notes from the New Underground, if you must know --- and, believe me, I too am way over that terrible/wonderful year.

Or was, until I started listening to Tom Rush again. "The Circle Game", his first record to get a big label push, was released late in 1968, and it sure fit the mood of my gang. Rush was a baritone, his voice reassuring as oatmeal. He was as unhurried and relaxed as Leonard Cohen. But he was a folkie who was only gently electric; this was no Dylan, rocking your world at every turn. And Rush had an ear for talent. In addition to Joni Mitchell, he more or less discovered the as yet unrecorded James Taylor and Jackson Browne.

But there was something more. Tom Rush was just 27, but he seemed to... know stuff. For "The Circle Game" was a song cycle. Not trippy like "Sgt. Pepper" but oddly mature, charting the enthusiasms of youth --- love and energy and what Joni Mitchell calls the "urge for going" --- and then moving on to breaking up with a lover and leaving your parents and being okay about being alone. And maybe, given the title song, even looking down the road a few years. Or decades.

Now the decades have passed, and Tom Rush is still at it. In his 60s, he has a young daughter --- "I thought I'd have my own grandchild and cut out the middle man" --- and gives a sane number of concerts a year. He has impressive restraint. He made ten albums in the first dozen years of his career, but either the stream dried out or he became allergic to recording. No matter. New material is unimportant when we're talking about Tom Rush; the old more than suffices.

You have only to watch the video of "Remember", the novelty song that is a winner when he performs and is closing in on four million viewers on YouTube, to grasp his appeal. The guy who more or less invented the persona of the laid back singer/ songwriter --- the performer who was James Taylor before there was a James Taylor --- is an evergreen. His voice holds up. His guitar is still spare and evocative. He still has the wry wit that would go so well with a mug of coffee and a thin smoke around a campfire.

That Tom Rush still has it has to be reassuring to his aging audience. His confident survival sends the clearest possible message: "You're not getting older, you're getting better." But the coin has another face. We are, as the song says, "captive on the carousel of time." And so, when boomers consider who we were when we first heard certain songs and who we are now, we blink and ask ourselves: Why do I need glasses and wear relaxed-fit pants --- where did the years go? So every Rush concert is an irony; his fans are people who first heard his music when they were leaving home and are now the ones being left.

Tom Rush isn't flashy. He never had the hit song everyone can hum. But if you're looking for a Harvard man who knows how you feel and wouldn't mind singing your feelings for you... well, here's an overlooked boomer god tipping his hat and inviting you to settle in for a listen.