Potatoes - deep fried Folk

Potatoes is a collection of folk music, Ralph Records style, released 1987.
Cooked to perfection to suit all manner of Tastes, both Good and Bad...
This was re-released on CD at some point (reportedly with tracks missing!?) but is now hard to find.

from the cover:

As far back as any musical memory, and up to this very record, artists have tried to define and appropriate to their own satisfaction the ever elusive expression of folk music.

Ralph Records is proud to announce its seduction by the folk muse and to present the progeny of this joyful union.

Folk music is a reflection of life in the world. Given the world of today, folk music aficionados should be prepared for some novel twists. However, they shouldn't be surprised to hear traditional strains as well.

This collection of songs is what a handful of artists have done with what was handed down to them. Maybe these songs will in turn serve as motivation to future folk heroes.

We hope you enjoy them.

tracklist with liner notes

01 BLITZOIDS— Fire on the Mountain
Fire on the Mountain is a traditional American fiddle tune. Legend has it that this bluegrass favorite got its name when an old time fiddler played it so fast that his instrument caught fire, burning a whole mountain down. Although this song is usually a showcase for some hot fiddling, we have chosen to arrange it like a mutant square dance.

02 RENALDO AND THE LOAF—Haul on the Bowline (A-Chantey)
Here is an old sea chantey from Liverpool adapted in multi-cultural fashion for your multicoloured pleasure.

03 MARIA MARQUEZ AND FRANK HARRIS—Canto Del Pilon
Gossip is the dialogue in this traditional Venezuelan folk song of a woman at work mashing corn. While preparing corn for mealtime, the woman talks in pitch and rhythm about the current events of the local town. Except for the voices, all of the sounds were created and performed on the Synclavier digital music system.

04 THE RESIDENTS—I'm so Lonesome I could Cry

05 TERRA INCOGNITA—Rank Stranger
The classic version of this beautiful song was played by the Legendary Stanley Brothers of Virginia, and we'd like to dedicate our recording to Carter Stanley who passed away December 1, 1966.

06 SNAKEFINGER'S MIDI-EVIL VESTAL VIRGINS
—The Ballad of Sawney Bean/Sawney's Death Dance
Folk music! Glorious heritage of our fiveskins and forefathers. God given birthright of every lowly human. Why, even today, in the heart of the African jungle, one might hear in the stillness of the tropical twilight a dusky Zulu maiden singing her suckling babe to sleep with ancient tribal tales of a usually exceptionally violent and bloody nature. But I digress. My offering on this outstanding collection is a cheerful little self-penned ditty, gruesome above and beyond the call of tradition, and best of all... it's all true!
[read an account of this legend here]

07 MARK MOTHERSBAUGH—My home town
My home town
Is the greatest in the land
The people all there
They treat you all square
And give you a place to stand

My home town
It's more than a town you know
It's my home town
It's my home town
It's Akron, Ohio!

My home town
It's a special kind of place
Hard working folks
With chips on their shoulders
People crammed in sub-human space

My home town
It's more than a town to me
It's more than plain
It's a city of pain
It's one big factory!
Repeat Chorus

08 ARTIST UNKNOWN—The Billy Bee Song
The quality of life has changed. The methods by which we attain certain qualities has changed. Some very lonely qualities in a woman's life will never change. When scorned, she might drink to forget about it and/or sing to tell about it.
[lyrics here]

09 NEGATIVLAND—Perfect Scrambled Eggs
"If it sells to turn a horse upside down and beat it with a stick, then it's good advertising."

10 VOICE FARM—Mamma made me do it
This song was inspired in part by the Calogero Salvos film La Juajira. Mamma made me do it is dedicated to Helen Brown-Hansen.

11 CLUBFOOT ORCHESTRA—Japanese Song Too
with Harumi, Chaiki and Sumi
It is autumn and the sounds of the harvest fill the air. A wandering priest is guided to an ancient well by three village girls. They tell him the history of the well and of the devilman, Yamanba, when he had been exiled to this place three hundred years before. As night falls and the priest begins to play on his flute, the three girls reappear. As they dance they reveal that they were lovers of Yamanba and tell of their anticipation of his return.

12 RHYTHM AND NOISE—Berta's Hammer
A medley adaptation of two Southern State Prison songs.

13 THE STEP ONE NURSERY SCHOOL JUST PLAIN FOLK SINGERS—Potatoes
As performed by some of the teachers of Step One Nursery School—Sue Britson, Mark Hosler, Betsy Nachman, Jane Timberlake, and Charlie Vincent.

get Spuds [vinyl rip 192kbps]