![]() ![]() The first side of the LP closes out with “High School,” a feedback-laden root-canal of a song with notes that blink in and out of consciousness like a UFO darting in and out of sight, possibly piloted by a drunken ET. “Memories of Hanover Lodge” offers naught but pure, unbridled six-string chaos while “Golden Dragon” displays Chadbourne’s fleet-fingered fretboard runs and creative improvisation. ![]() “Parker’s Mood” opens the album, the song a bluesy composition that takes the odd right angle with a few jazzy interludes. Once I had a few solo albums out and got into an ensemble in New York City, documenting that became a priority the solo work got neglected.”Ĭhadbourne’s Solo Guitar Volume 1 1/3 proves that he can coax noises and emotions out of a guitar like nobody else on the planet. “I always liked recording, but at this point it had become a career so I got very critical about the recordings, especially from the point of view of what I should release next. “I don’t think I could tell you my goal today other than being able to pay the power bill,” he says. What were Chadbourne’s goals when he originally recorded these performances? He started recording me about 1977 after my first acoustic guitar album came out and continued up until the early ‘90s when he moved to the West Coast.” ![]() Most of these recordings come from live concerts when I would go back to Calgary to visit my parents, there would be a concert and Wade would record it. I called him ‘my Bob Thiele’ and I had to be so stingy about what I could release on vinyl originally.”Įugene tells Rock and Roll Globe the story behind the recordings that comprise these solo guitar albums: “I record whenever possible. “They inquired about the existence of unreleased material from this period,” he explains, “of which there was quite a bit because I had such a good relationship with Wade McGregor of the CBC. Ted Lee (who actually runs the label) was super enthusiastic about the idea, so it just came together quite easily.” In an email interview, Chadbourne goes a little further in explaining the project. He was heading up to Canada to go through some archives, and I suggested pulling a few albums worth of material together from this period. In an email, the label’s Byron Coley stated “this project was something I’d mentioned to Eugene over the many years we’ve known each other. Needless to say, Chadbourne’s Solo Guitar Volume 1 1/3 and Solo Guitar Volume 2 1/3 fit nicely within Feeding Tube Records’ chosen milieu, both albums released on vinyl in a limited edition of 400 copies. Eugene Chadbourne Solo Guitar Volume 1 1/3, Feeding Tube Records, 2019 The Massachusetts-based indie label was formed by Ted Lee and rock critic Byron Coley and specializes in vinyl reissues of oddball subterranean music that doesn’t quite fit neatly into any pre-conceived pigeonholes – which is Chadbourne’s specialty, really – and the label’s catalog features small-batch limited-edition runs of albums from obscure artists like Bridge of Flowers, Dan Melchior, and David Fair (brother of Jad and co-founder of Half Japanese), among many other convention-defying talents. Although he’s slowed down somewhat during the new millennium, Chadbourne still cranks out music at an alarmingly prolific rate.įeeding Tube Records has recently released two vinyl records of a planned four-volume series of Chadbourne’s solo guitar work, with the other two albums coming later this year. Chadbourne also developed an audience among fellow musicians, often collaborating with them in the studio as he has with members of Camper Van Beethoven and Violent Femmes. But the artist may be better known – if he is recognized at all – as the inventor of the “electric rake,” as someone who has been known to perform onstage with an amplified bird cage, and as a true madman when bending the strings of an ordinary chunk of wood and steel.Īfter the break-up of seminal 1980s underground rockers Shockabilly (formed by Chadbourne with fellow sonic terrorists Mark Kramer and David Licht), Eugene built a loyal cult following across the country and overseas through constant touring throughout the late ‘80s, releasing a ton of records (many for dodgy “here today, gone tomorrow” indie labels), and even running his own basement-based “tape racket” selling live recordings and the like via mail order. Eugene Chadbourne is not your typical ‘guitar hero.’ The underground icon possesses an extensive knowledge of rock, blues, folk, and country music and has literally hundreds of songs in his repertoire that explore the depth of possibilities within each of the aforementioned genres.
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