Customer Reviews

I Make a Wish for a Potato

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Maybe it's me, but I've always loved the Rounders music. Their first albums back in the 60s were such a refreshingly irreverent spin on "folk" music that it forced your ears and mind open, or at least it did mine. I followed them on through their encounter with the Moray Eels (exceptionally dark acid-folk rock)and on to the truly inspired "Have Moicy". Hearing this collection which features pieces not only by Mr. Stampfel and Mr. Weber, but by kindred spirits the Clamtones, Michael Hurley and others is a real joy to a twisted musician such as myself. Thanks again to Rounder Records Without you people, the world would be a much more dismal place.

East Coast fans of the HMR (& the gentlemen from Japan) may not realize that in the 20 year hiatus when Stampfel & Weber were not performing live, they were living on opposite coasts. And the Holy Modal Rounders (sans Stampfel)--Steve Weber, David Reich, Robin Remailly, Roger North, Richard Tyler and Teddy Deane were playing at least once per weekend every night of those 20 years in Portland Oregon. The band that is known as the Clamtones is the SAME aggregation, fronted by Jeffrey Fredrick and Jill Gross, without Weber. Reich and North are still in Portland, still performing, currently with the Freak Mountain Ramblers.

This is by far NOT what any devoted Rounders fan would have wanted it to be. It's totally understandable, to me, that the psych-rock-freakout weirdness of THE MORAY EELS EAT... and INDIAN WAR WHOOP aren't represented here, since a) they're just not of a piece with the rest of the music here; b) both those albums have little for song separation, everything runs together, and are meant to be appreciated as a "piece;" and C) they weren't released on Rounder in the first place. I can't say much about the disinclusion of material from GOOD TASTE IS TIMELESS, since the album is rare enough that I've never even heard it. What irks me, though, is just *how little* of ALLEGED IN THEIR OWN TIME and that Stampfel/Weber solo thing, GOING NOWHERE FAST, are included. There's a few cuts, and admittedly they're some of the finest ("Nova," "Synergy," "Coldest Woman," etc,); but there's also a lot of Clamtones, Michael Hurley, dimly-related Rounders spinoffs that just lack any of the magic and exuberance of real Rounders material. (The only exception is "Impossible Groove," a priceless track by Peter Stampfel and the Bottlecaps, off their rare first release.) Further, ALLEGED IN THEIR OWN TIME and GOING NOWHERE FAST, in addition to being under-represented here, are both ON ROUNDER-- and unreleased on CD! Rounder keeps blabbing about how their name was inspired by this band, while keeping two of their finer albums out of circulation (not to mention the rumoured second CD from the TOO MUCH FUN sessions). These less-interesting Hurley tracks and whatnot ARE currently available in the Rounder catalogue, though, so I guess it's more important to the label that they promote them... This could have been a great album, but it ends up focusing far too much on a) material that's in print or b) material that just doesn't have enough of Stampfel or Weber involved in it. I'd recommend it for obsessives only, or for people who have never heard the hilarious, brilliant "Nova" (which rhymes "time is on my side" with "slime is on my tide," if you can imagine it). Meanwhile, folks at Rounder, for the sake of the credibility of your name, re-release ALLEGED IN THEIR OWN TIME, please!

Disclaimer; I love the HMRounder Family in all forms (HMR, Michael Hurley, Jeffrey Frederick and Clamtones), but for many years I was content to listen and laugh to the 1976 classic HAVE MOICY! Then I awakened and began exploring all the rest. I have to say my favorites are I MAKE A WISH FOR A POTATO and TOO MUCH FUN! Both are collections of older recordings and remakes and while they overlap and repeat some they are both essential for the tunes they don't share. And while the extended family makes occasional appearance, mostly we get Stampfel and Weber sharing their infectious madness.

These songs make me smile and laugh aloud - poignant, silly, rough and raw, this is music from the heart. I'd recommend the curious start with HAVE MOICY! But the wise shouldn't pass up these new releases.

I am not a fan of Michael Hurley. He seems like the poor man's Jimmy Buffet with slick mediocre music and mostly second rate lyrics. He did write "The Tea Song," which is one of my favorites. Since he dominates this album I cannot recommend it to anyone. Weber, Stampfel, Remailly, and Resich are worthy of attention but I would recommend "1&2" and/or "Too Much Fun" instead of this disappointing collection. I wish that someone would reissue "The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders." Some of it might seem dated but I'm sure that it would play better than this stuff.