EPOCH6

Have finally come across a good reason to update this thread.

The Beau Brummels - Bradley's Barn [1968]

Recorded shortly after a significant dissolution in personnel, Bradley's Barn was the product of the two remaining members of the Beau Brummels, lead vocalist Sal Valentino and composer-guitarist Ron Elliott, being encouraged by their producer to head to Nashville in a sort of back-to-the-roots trajectory, similar to many other acts at the time, after experimenting with psychedelic rock on their previous release, Triangle. The results were so incredible that they decided, in tribute, to name the album after the studio, Bradley's Barn.

This album is a very good example of the sound I'm looking for in this thread. The vision of the producer wasn't to equate country, bluesgrass, and southern styles with simplicity, but instead to craft a sort of complex country guitar orchestra, a huge enveloping sound built of cascading southern instrumentation, while remaining mindful of rock / pop sensibilities and producing something catchy and approachable. The results are fantastic, it has so much of what I'm looking for, and startlingly good production for 1968. There are no weak tracks on this album, it's a total gem.

Thick acoustic instrumental textures, expressive and dynamic vocal work, fantastic production, earthy and mindful of roots but often ambitious in vision, intelligent songwriting front to back.

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