The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier [Remastered]

Nowadays, people know different. But when Terry Callier's first album sneaked out to little fanfare in the mid '60s, he was still Chicago's best-kept secret. It would be some time before he had an opportunity to fully exploit his soul and jazz influences. Callier's youthful voice, backed sympathetically here by his acoustic guitar plus two basses, was a strikingly androgynous instrument--sounding like a smooth, steady Nina Simone minus the simmering anger.
Over eight songs, four of them traditional, Callier's relaxed air belies his tender years. His calm presence turns the yearning "900 Miles" into a thing of haunting beauty. Selections such as "Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be" and "Cotton Eyed Joe" are the real oddities, however, even in the remarkably varied Callier canon. Certainly the riff-driven "It's About Time" shows its teeth, a warm-hearted plea for peace more familiar to Callier converts. In hindsight, THE NEW FOLK SOUND doesn't look unhappy in the company of early Buckley, Hardin, et al. On its own merits, there is much more than mere curiosity value to recommend it. False starts are rarely so engaging.|

The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier was not released until 1968, about three years after the project was originally completed; while the long delay almost certainly crippled the momentum of Callier's fledgling career, the impact on the music itself was at most minimal -- while not the singer's best album, it's his most timeless and inviting, adhering closely to the folk stylings addressed by the title while largely ignoring the mystical jazz dimensions which texture his later material. Surprisingly, none of the album's eight songs are originals, relying instead on traditional tunes like "900 Miles" and "Cotton Eyed Joe"; while Callier's spiralling acoustic guitar lines and the use of two bassists (Terbour Attenborough and John Tweedle) reflect his admiration of John Coltrane, New Folk Sound is for the most part stark and simple, possessed of a subtle grace which spotlights his remarkably moving vocals to excellent effect -- it's a debut which holds all the promise fulfilled by his classic recordings for Cadet. ~ Jason Ankeny