Iron Mountain Depot / Radio John

John Hartford's death in 2001 has brought a number of issues and reissues, but none have been more important than Camdem Deluxe's release of his six early RCA albums along with the never-before-released Radio John. These albums offer a sidelong view of Hartford in the mid- to late '60s, prior to his Aereo-Plain days. Both John Hartford and Iron Mountain Depot, the fifth and sixth RCA albums, will probably surprise fans weaned on his more traditionally minded work from the '80s and '90s. While Hartford remains a fine songwriter here, the overblown production gives the impression that he's cutting a joint effort with Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Strings and horns smooth out the rustic banjo on pieces with bizarre names like "Dusty Miller Hornpipe and Fugue in A Major for Strings, Brass and 5-String Banjo." "Mr. Jackson's Got Nothing to Do" is vaguely reminiscent of a mid-'60s Dylan putdown song, while "The Poor Old Prurient Interest Blues" offers a bit of wacky nonsense about nudity. Perhaps Hartford was growing bored with the music business, but he still managed to churn out nice pieces like "The Wart" and "Like Unto a Mockingbird." Oh yeah -- and make sure to stick around for an instrumental version of "Hey Jude" at the end of Iron Mountain Depot. Radio John is an entirely different story. Hartford decided to get back to the basics, or at least closer to them, and cut an album with no overdubs. The arrangements -- mostly guitar, bass, guitar, and percussion -- work pretty well, though the drums seem too loud. Radio John provides the missing link in Hartford's career, complete with early versions of "In Tall Buildings" and "Skippin' in the Mississippi Dew." There's also folk-rap ("Self Made Man"), rock & roll-tinged vocals ("Bed on My Mind"), and straight-up bluegrass ("Orange Blossom Special"). Radio John alone makes this CD set worth having. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.|