TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Red Hash" - Gary Higgins (1973 - Rei 2008)

"Red Hash" - Gary Higgins (1973 - Rei 2008)

Gary Higgins's only album..."Red Hash"...is a highly recommended folk-psych album that rubs shoulders a bit with loner-rock and together creates an aura of self-introspection that drifts and dips like a trail of incense.  Restlessness and loneliness are captured in the strangest of ways.  Familiar, yet not.  Flutes, cellos, and organs lightly drop in and out of songs, without ever taking over.  Seasoning the mood.  Haunting the rooms.  The lysergic vibes that wander around the square are hard to pin down, but when the needle lifts, it feels like we've taken a little trip.  Higgins, from the state of Connecticut, produced the album himself and it succeeds on every level

Shortly before the album's release, Higgins was arrested for selling or possessing marijuana and was incarcerated for two years.  Friends distributed the album for him, less than a thousand got out, but all the necessary promotion needed was lost.  Sadly, that was the name of that tune until the album was reissued by Drag City nearly thirty years later. 

"Red Hash" - Gary Higgins (back)

"Red Hash" - Gary Higgins
(7" included, lyric insert, bumper sticker)

Favorites include:
"Thicker Than A Smokey"
"I Pick Notes From The Sky"
"Looking For June"
"Cuckoo"

My copy is a 2008 reissue.  It has a lightly textured cover and includes a 7" which features the tracks "Don't Ya Know" and "Last Great Sperm Whale."   Both are good songs.  The album also comes with a yellow double-sided lyrics insert and a "Red Hash is coming" bumper sticker.  The 2008 pressing sounds really good.  I found "Red Hash" in the New Arrivals "Used" bin at Spektrum.

Drag City label

Cat #
DC 295
SIDE A  DEADWAX
DC-2935-A  (stamped) SAE MASTERING  17106.1 (3)  (etched)
SIDE B  DEADWAX
DC-2935-B  (stamped) SAE MASTERING  17106.2  (3)  (etched)
7" INCLUDED
SIDE A
PIRATES PRESS  DC295X-A  7447301/A
SIDE B 
PIRATES PRESS  DC295X-B  7447302/A  

"Thicker Than A Smokey" - Gary Higgins / "Red Hash" (1973)

TRACKS:
A1  "Thicker Than A Smokey" 3:29
A2  "It Didn't Take Too Long" 3:58
A3  "Windy Child" 3:23
A4  "Telegraph Towers" 2:52
A5  "I Can't Sleep at Night" 3:48
A6  "Cuckoo" 2:08
B1  "I Pick Notes From The Sky" 4:43
B2  "Stable The Spuds" 5:16
B3  "Down On The Farm" 3:04
B4  "Unable To Fly" 4:08
B5  "Looking For June" 3:43
7" INCLUDED
C1  "Don't Ya Know" 3:36
D1  "Last Great Sperm Whale" 5:21

PERSONNEL:
Gary Higgins - vocals, guitar, writer, producer
Dave Beaujon - bass
Jake Bell - guitar, vocals
Terry Fenton - organ, piano
Paul Tierney - mandolin, flute, vocals
Maureen Wells - cello, vocals

Good stuff.

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