Ramblin' Boy

Last updated
Ramblin' Boy
TomPaxtonRamblinBoy.jpg
Studio album by Tom Paxton
Released 1964
Recorded Mastertone Studios, NYC
Genre Folk
Length50:19(reissue)
Label Elektra
Producer Paul Rothchild
Tom Paxton chronology
Ramblin' Boy
(1964)		 Ain't That News!
(1965)

Ramblin' Boy is the debut album by American folk singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, released in 1964. [1]

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Tom Paxton American folk singer and singer-songwriter

Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is noteworthy as a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.

Contents

History

Ramblin' Boy is referred to as Paxton's debut album, since it was his first album released on a major record label (Elektra Records), although he had previously released a live album recorded at The Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village entitled, I'm the Man That Built the Bridges (which was released on the small Gaslight label in 1962). [2]

A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Elektra Records record company and music label

Elektra Records is an American major record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk music and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. As of October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently-managed frontline label of Warner Music.

The Gaslight Cafe was a coffeehouse in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Also known as The Village Gaslight, it opened in 1958 and became notable as a venue for folk music and other musical acts. It closed in 1971.

Three songs from Ramblin' Boy were frequently covered by other artists – the title song, "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" and "The Last Thing on My Mind". The latter song remains one of Paxton's most well-known compositions.

"The Last Thing on My Mind" is a song written by American musician and singer-songwriter Tom Paxton in the early 1960s and recorded first by Paxton in 1964. The song was released on Paxton's 1964 album Ramblin' Boy, which was his first album released on Elektra Records.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Music critic Steven Leggett of Allmusic commented in his review that the album sounds "rather dated these days" due to the topical issues of the songs. He also writes: "What keeps 'Ramblin' Boy' from being just another period piece from the 1960s are a trio of songs in which Paxton swings away from trying to be relevant and brings a kind of restless and romantic self-analysis to the table. 'The Last Thing on My Mind', 'Ramblin' Boy', and 'I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound' all exhibit a classic, timeless appeal simply because they work to the positive side of emotional ennui." [1]

Reissues

Collectors' Choice Music is a company primarily in two businesses. They are best known for re-issuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs. As of 2006, their catalog had reached over 600 titles and they currently issue about 60 new titles a year.

Track listing

All songs by Tom Paxton unless otherwise noted.

  1. "A Job of Work" – 2:44
  2. "A Rumblin' in the Land" – 2:59
  3. "When Morning Breaks" – 2:55
  4. "Daily News" – 2:17
  5. "What Did You Learn in School Today?" – 1:44
  6. "The Last Thing on My Mind" – 3:05
  7. "Harper" – 2:52
  8. "Fare Thee Well, Cisco" – 3:04
  9. "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" – 3:41
  10. "High Sheriff of Hazard" (Paxton, Traditional) – 2:10
  11. "My Lady's a Wild Flying Dove" – 3:11
  12. "Standing on the Edge of Town" – 1:43
  13. "I'm Bound for the Mountains and the Sea" – 3:04
  14. "Goin' to the Zoo" – 2:29
  15. "Ramblin' Boy" – 3:59

Personnel

Felix Pappalardi American musician

Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known to the public as the bassist and vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has become a classic rock radio staple. Originating in the eclectic music scene in New York's Greenwich Village, he became closely attached to the British power trio Cream, writing, arranging, and producing for their second album Disraeli Gears. As a producer for Atlantic Records, he worked on several projects with guitarist Leslie West; in 1969 their partnership evolved into the band Mountain. The band lasted less than five years, but their work influenced the first generation of heavy metal and hard rock music. Pappalardi continued to work as a producer, session musician, and songwriter until he was shot and killed by his wife Gail Collins in 1983.

Guitarrón mexicano

The guitarrón mexicano (the Spanish name of a "big Mexican guitar", the suffix -ón being a Spanish augmentative) or Mexican guitarrón is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican six-string acoustic bass played traditionally in Mariachi groups. Although similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative of that instrument, but was independently developed from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de uña ("fingernail[-plucked] bass"). Because its great size gives it volume, it does not require electric amplification for performances in small venues. The guitarrón is fretless with heavy gauge strings, most commonly nylon for the high three and wound metal for the low three. The guitarrón is usually played by doubling notes at the octave, a practice facilitated by the standard guitarrón tuning A1 D2 G2 C3 E3 A2.

Jac Holzman American businessman and recording executive

Jac Holzman is an American businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Leggett, Steven. "Ramblin' Boy > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  2. ↑ Collector's Choice reissue line notes. Richie Unterberger. 2002
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