THE "ABOVE-GROUND SOUND" OF JAKE HOLMES (1967)

This album is made up of folk songs, from a fellow who's at home in a small town where people’s roles tend to be fixed – everyone knows everyone else – but whose activities vary. In the accomplaying ethos, the use of poses imply weakness; a genuine person is a stalwart person. The "Above-Ground Sound" Of Jake Holmes includes bittersweet music, folk’s answer to country’s “hurtin’ songs,” that inculcate an anti-illusionistic, level-headed mindset. Also part of this ethos is self-tolerance of certain frailties, provided they’re kept in bounds. Jake Holmes is quite melodic, and he has a habit of playing with clichés. This album uses Holmes on acoustic guitar with a lead guitarist and bassist; there are no drums, nor any other additional instrument in any of the songs. Like other folk singers, he has an idiosyncratic style. The one protest song is Rousseauian, with an anti-artifice theme.


A special note on “Dazed and Confused:” Anyone who takes the ripped-off-by-Led-Zeppelin claim too seriously, and expects to hear “proof” when listening to the original, will be disappointed. Other than the title, opening melody, the verse structure, and a guitar-with-tapping solo starting at 1 minute 36 seconds and ending at 2:06, the two are different. If you’re interested, a snippet of the opening melody, played on acoustic guitar, is evocative of the earlier Yardbirds song “Still I’m Sad.” This may have attracted Jimmy Page’s attention in the first place, even though Jeff Beck was the guitarist at the time that "Sad" was cut.


You can download all 10 songs off this album here. All of them, plus 15 more, are free for new downloaders.