John Hartford's Aereo-Plain

[Marty Henrickson]

Just letting other Cafe' members know - John Hartford's ground-breaking bluegrass album Aereo-Plain is now available as a digital download from amazon and i-tunes. I'm downloading as I type, can't wait to hear it.

NFI.

[Marty Henrickson]

Here's a video from the 30th anniversary reunion concert with original members John Hartford, Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, and Tut Taylor, as well as special guests Mike Compton, Sam Bush, and Chris Sharp.

[allenhopkins]

Saw the "Aero-Plain band" at Fox Hollow, 1972 I think. David Bromberg joined them onstage for part of their set. Awesome.

[Beanzy]

Being fairly new to bluegrass music I've not really been across any of his work yet. Any chance of a summary as to why this is considered ground-breaking for bluegrass? Bearing in mind I've yet to get across anything like a standard / foundation collection.

[Marty Henrickson]

Well, Beanzy, I haven't heard a lot of Hartford's work - yet - myself. What I do know about him is mainly from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and the related Down From The Mountain CD and DVD. He was a very well-respected songwriter, fiddler, and banjo player with a great respect for the old-time music traditions, yet he also appeared on some TV shows in the late 60's and early 70's that had sort of a "hippie / counterculture" edge to them. Aereo-Plain is an album he made in 1971 with Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, and Randy Scruggs (yes, Earl's son) as his backing band. Producer David Bromberg has stated that Hartford instructed him to "let the tapes roll, we don't want to hear playbacks until you've put the master together." The album is thought to be the forerunner of the "newgrass" genre. However, the album did not sell well at the time, and after being released on CD by Rounder in 1997, has been out of print for several years. Hartford lost his 20-year battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma on June 4, 2001.

There are many Cafe' members that know much more about this than me (and I hope they'll chime in....), this is just what lore I've absorbed over the last few years.

[Beanzy]

It sounds like he was really trying to cut through the show-time glitz and over production interference which blighted much music over the years. I find educating my ears so much fun, but it's often difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff as I see new stuff.

Really appreciate that info & the original 'heads up' too.

[Spruce]

Just letting other Cafe' members know - John Hartford's ground-breaking bluegrass album Aereo-Plain is now available as a digital download from amazon and i-tunes. I'm downloading as I type, can't wait to hear it.

NFI.

I'd grab this too and call it a double LP...

[mando_dan]

Wow and wow.

[Mike Black]

Wow...I wonder why Amazon has all the songs listed out of order from the original?

iTunes has it in the correct order.

Should be...

1. Turn Your Radio On
2. Steamboat Whistle Blues
3. Back In The Goodle Days
4. Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie
5. Boogie
6. First Girl I Loved
7. Presbyterian Guitar
8. With A Vamp In The Middle
9. Symphony Hall Rag
10. Because Of You
11. Steam Powered Aereo Plane
12. Holding
13. Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry
14. Leather Britches
15. Station Break
16. Turn Your Radio On

[Mike Black]

Don't forget that Morning Bugle was also released digitally yesterday too

[JEStanek]

I scored a CD of this a few years ago. This is a fantastic record. It is not what I would call trad bluegrass. John is a baritone and his songs and tunes have so much life in them. It's not a super fast showy record. Listen to clips on Amazon and decide. This is one of my favorite records.

Jamie

[AlanN]

This is good to see. I appreciate John and mourned his loss. As a bluegrasser, I found his delivery of tunes and vocals a bit tough to get.

[farmerjones]

i think if you're a fiddler, John Hartford should stand as one of the corner stones. I've said it before, his Hamilton Ironworks CD changed my life. He was not Steph, Vasser, or Kenny Baker, John was a student. The proceeds from penning Gentle on My Mind, allowed him as much. He was free to explore the musical Soul. Where and how, and at what time in history formed him as well. His approach was profound to me.

[Marty Henrickson]

Yes, I meant to mention "Morning Bugle" as well. Mike, I noticed the song order thing, but I downloaded from amazon and it seems the songs are actually playing in the correct order.

It sounds like he was really trying to cut through the show-time glitz and over production interference which blighted much music over the years. I find educating my ears so much fun, but it's often difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff as I see new stuff.

Really appreciate that info & the original 'heads up' too.

I would say that is a very astute observation. John's music was definitely not "traditional" bluegrass, but it certainly was flavored somewhat by bluegrass. I really enjoy the segment in "Bill Monroe - Father of Bluegrass Music" DVD in which John interviews Monroe out on the front porch of Bill's cabin. It is evident that Hartford was a student of the music, and had a great respect for those that had paved the way.

[coletrickle]

To me, Hartford and all of his music really defies any sort of genre. He was all to his own in many ways. Picking up Aereo-Plain with the idea that it is a bluegrass or a pre-newgrass album may lead to disappointment. Instead I think of all of his music as a showcase of one of the most creative American musicians of the past century. He's been called the Mark Twain of American music and I think that is a good title. First and foremost in my mind are the songs he wrote. When I listen to songs like Delta Queen Waltz, Steam Powered Aereo-Plain and even Always On My Mind I never get tired of them. Sometimes the songs are quirky or funny, sometimes they are simply beautiful (like Delta Queen Waltz), either way they are always pure Hartford. Second is his ability to take music that is not his own and put his own stamp on it. All of the Hartford Stringband albums are a good example of this. Finally I think his influence cannot be understated. Look at musicians like Sam Bush who clearly saw what Hartford was doing and used that inspiration to create their own music (the link to newgrass for example). Pick up a copy of the recent tribute album that was done on Compass Records with the Hartford Stringband and see how people like Tim O'Brien view Hartford's legacy.

Personally Aereo-Plain is one of my favorites. You get it all, full band songs, solo pieces, fun and quirky songs, downright weird songs (Boogie anyone?), traditional songs (Leather Britches) and some real classics that you will hear bands doing today. Plus, as is pointed out above, the way there were recorded makes them very interesting. You get Vasser, Norman and Tut playing music out of their standard element and all creating something really memorable. To me, if you are interested in learning more about Hartford's music, Aereo-Plan is a great start. It is still kind of early in his career and captures this unbridled enthusiasm that you can't find on record any more. Start there but don't stop because the man left a legacy of amazing and interesting music.

[Mandotarian]

As I am sure is the case for many, John Hartford is who got me started listening to bluegrass/oldtimey music. While I don't necessarily classify his stuff as traditional bluegrass he is certainly right in that rootsy, folkie sweetspot that I still find myself gravitating towards today. First and foremost is the songwriting. There are so many classics, many right on this album, that it's hard to list them all. He has it all as a songwriter; quirky poignant lyrics, ability to hit all ranges of emotions sometimes in the same song and a great knack for serving the song through his arrangements. On Aereo-Plain when it dosn't make sense for a full band, there is no full band and vice versa.

Hartford bridged the gap between cool, hippie, rootsy songwriter into the more traditional bluegrass/old time world much in the same way Will the Circle be Unbroken and Old and In the Way did. Everyone I have ever turned on to him from rock fans, pop fans and even non-music fans loves him, thats saying something right there. If you get the chance there are a ton of youtube videos that show him as a top notch performer and top notch guy. I can now finally get a copy of Morning Bugle that isn't a tape of a tape of a tape!!

[Markus]

If you get this from Amazon - put it in the right order. It works as an album, in order ... today's music might be a bunch of songs, but this isn't IMO.

Aereo-Plain is a remarkable, quirky, wonderful album that I wouldn't call bluegrass, newgrass, or old-time though there's a strand of all three that are in it. I personally hear more old-time - there's a sense of `groove' through Hartford's playing that [to my ear] sounds old-time to me, I see it more like what Bill Monroe was hearing than what he was playing [Hartford played the sources, not the later developed style for which he had utmost respect and loved as well]. Some of his less known albums have introduced me to quite a few great fiddle/old-time tunes - he finds each song's groove in a way I `get'.

John Hartford is one of those wonderful, quirky, individual musicians who really honored the song yet put his own particular stamp on everything he did. Hartford was an incredible multi-instrumentalist ... whether he's playing fiddle [and doing his foot percussion dance] or the banjo, it always sounds like John Hartford.

Many great statements above about the beauties of John and Aereo-Plain.

Personally, it's an album which really, really grows on you. After a half dozen plays on road-trips, my non-folky wife started requesting it every trip. To be fully honest, the tune `boogie' remains on my CD and has been removed from my mp3 playlist [sadly, juvenile radio hosts somewhat ruined this tune for me] - depends how I play it on whether I hear it.

Morning Bugle is good, the Aereo-Takes are great but without the same flow as the album proper. I've been listening to Mark Twang quite a lot recently.

As noted repeatedly, he was one heck of a songwriter - every album seems to have some gem of a song [often more than one]. I love more songs about steamboats than I ever though I would, thanks for John Hartford

[Markus]

Is there a good bio on Hartford out there?

There's a million stories, I'd love to see them all in one place...

[Toycona]

Such a great album. I humbly offer our version of "Steam Powered Aeroplane" for your viewing pleasure...

...

[A 4]

I've been waiting for this to come out for awhile.

I don't have a lot of knowledge about John Hartford, but came to his music via the taped session with Hartford and Chris Thile. Informal, they are teaching each other songs and you can hear people walking in and out, but very charming and amazing music. You can read more about it on this thread:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ord+thile+camp

On that thread it talks about how difficult it is to download the music. But it is easy, now, from the Steam Powered Preservation Society:
http://thespps.org/mp3s/allmusic/

Scroll down until you find: hartford-thile2000.mp3f.zip

[stratman62]

During the recording of Steam Powered, every player was encouraged to what he chose to do, play or not play, play what they wanted when they wanted, and the tape was always rolling. They did a live spot on a David Frost show that really shows what an outstanding and versatile band they were!

[Psyberbilly]

During the years of my " bluegrass awakening " in the mid 70's I was driving past " Willie Nelson's Whiskey River " , a club on Greenville Ave in Dallas and saw on the sign " New Grass Revival & John Hartford " . At the time I was like a sponge and wanting to absorb all o the wonderful new ( to me ) music I could . I knew that John had penned " Gentle On My Mind " but not much more about him and knew absolutely nothing about NGR , but correctly made deductions from their name . It was a Friday afternoon , so I bought a ticket for that night . NGR ( with Curtis Burch and Courtney Johnson ) opened with a long set , followed by a long set of John solo , and the last long set was w/both John and the band . I was slackjawed by the end of the night , and before I left that night I bought a ticket for Saturday night as well .
In the intervening 35+ years I have seen a lot of cool musical events or occurrences , many of which the significance of which were only recognized in retrospect . This show is almost indelibly burned into my memory , I distinctly remember thinking at the time " I don't know why , how , or what , but this is something special ." Each passing year and event have only served to enhance tha perception . I am so thankful that serendipity put me in the place to have that opportunity , and thankful to fate , or instinct , or just the dumb luck that guided my novice musical tastes to take full advantage of it . That was also the show that caused me ( at the time a beginning banjo player ) to decide that I HAD to have a mandolin!

[Earl Gamage]

Is there a good bio on Hartford out there?

There's a million stories, I'd love to see them all in one place...

Go to a Mike Compton workshop or visit with him if you get a chance. Lots of good Hartford and Bill Monroe stories.

I'm one that thinks John Hartford had no genre. Just good American music. A very good entertainer.

[jaycat]

A very good entertainer.

He sure was that. I saw him open for the Dillards at the late lamented Performance Center in Cambridge, Mass. in the early '70s. Great show, although the Dillards were into their fuzztone period by then.

[Beanzy]

Snagga fragga skibbiddy dibbidy ; it's only available to US customers at the moment.
I'll have to hold my breath for this one a while longer.