Archive for December, 2011

Another tape found in my brother’s basement surprises us with two recordings, made to the best of our knowledge in 1977. No one remembers the details or these concerts nor who could have made the recordings. The tape was in poor condition and I made a complete restoration of the audio after the digital transfer. The results aren’t perfect but it’s an interesting snapshot of the times.

The first recording offers early drafts of pieces which eventually showed up on my third album, “Spring Water”, including two pieces (“The Path” and “Leaves and Light”) which are discussed in my entry of February 7 (The Path),  further down on this page. The only exception is “Angie”, a piece written by guitarist Davey Graham (1940-2008) and popularised by the late Bert Jansch (1943-2011), a guitarist who greatly influenced me. These two guitarists were at the forefront of the British folk music revival of the 1960s. The piece “Autumn Blues” on my CD “From Stone” is dedicated to Bert Jansch. To hear him at his best, click on this link to see his superb rendition of the traditional piece  “Black Waterside.”

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk)(7Q2J7k48

On the second recording I’m playing with Marc Beneteau, a guitarist who added a lot of flair to my second and third albums. Marc is now a full-time luthier and builds very high quality guitars. I still have the guitar I’m using in the photo with Alcide Dupuis below, which Marc built in 1977. Click on this link to visit his site.

 http://www.beneteauguitars.com

As well as playing pieces from my first three albums, we add pieces from Bruce Cockburn, Duane Allman (1946-1971) and a medley of traditional fiddle tunes.

Séguin / Beneteau live in early 1977

Marc plays guitar and dulcimer (left speaker). Richard plays guitar and banjo (right speaker).

1 Excerpt from Harbinger

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1-Excerpt-from-Harbinger.mp3|titles=1 Excerpt from Harbinger]

2 The Last Ones to Leave

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2-The-Last-Ones-to-Leave.mp3|titles=2 The Last Ones to Leave]

3 Vortex

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/3-Vortex.mp3|titles=3 Vortex]

4 Rumours in the Barnyard

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/4-Rumours-in-the-Barnyard.mp3|titles=4 Rumours in the Barnyard]

5 Girl From Canaan

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/5-Girl-From-Canaan.mp3|titles=5 Girl From Canaan]

6 The Oar

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/6-The-Oar.mp3|titles=6 The Oar]

7 Northern Flower

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/7-Northern-Flower.mp3|titles=7 Northern Flower]

8 Saturday Morning

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/8-Saturday-Morning.mp3|titles=8 Saturday Morning]

9 Breath

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/9-Breath.mp3|titles=9 Breath]

10.Sunwheel Dance

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/10-Sunwheel-Dance.mp3|titles=10 Sunwheel Dance]

11 Acoustic Shock

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/11-Acoustic-Shock.mp3|titles=11 Acoustic Shock]

12 Medley

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/12-Medley.mp3|titles=12 Medley]

Marc starts things off with “Arkansas Traveler”, followed by a piece I learned from Alcide Dupuis, a fiddler from Rockland. Alcide learned to play by ear from one of his uncles and he didn’t even know the titles of the pieces he played. Alcide stepped while playing and churned out a furious rhythm – a throwback from another era. Marc wrote the third segment and we used it in the recording of “Down Stream”, on “Spring Water.”  Next is “Mississippi Sawyers” which I play à la Doc Watson, and we return to “Arkansas Traveler” to finish.

With Alcide Dupuis

13 Reprise – Little Martha

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/13-Reprise-Little-Martha.mp3|titles=13 Reprise – Little Martha]

“Little Martha” is the only piece Duane Allman wrote. He died in 1971 in a motorcycle accident a few weeks after the recording. He was 24 years old.

Let’s start at the beginning …

In 1973, I had left my electric guitar and rock groups aside and was getting into acoustic guitar and banjo . My friend Jean-Pierre Béland had started his career in audio-visuals and another friend, Jean Laporte, had made a slide show and wanted to add a soundtrack to it. What followed was the first collaboration between Jean-Pierre and me, a recording of my first compositions on acoustic guitar and banjo. We chose as a “studio” the sacristy of the church in Rockland, a room with superb natural reverb. The twelve pieces which follow were the result, the original tape saved from oblivion by my brother Bob. Jean eventually chose the piece “Sacristy” for his soundtrack.

The recording includes six pieces never recorded elsewhere : “Sacristy”, four other pieces which I never named (thus, my orphans) and “Cluck Old Hen”, an old traditional banjo tune. “The Fiddle in the Attic”, “Almost Piano and “Girl From Canaan” (played here on the banjo) all ended up on my first album “First Fall”,recorded in Montreal two years later. In 1976, I recorded my second album, “Rumours in the Barnyard”, a collection which included “Northern Flower”, a piece I seemingly wrote for my wife (Hilde was born in Oslo, Norway) 23 years before I met her! You can hear the two banjo pieces, “The Oar” and “Down Stream”, on my third album, “Spring Water”, recorded in 1978.

After all these years, Jean-Pierre and Jean are still good friends. Jean helped produce my second and third albums while Jean-Pierre has published and produced all my music up to now, music that would certainly not exist if not for him.

So here is this page in my life, the first attempts of a young twenty-three-year-old guitarist from Rockland.

1 Orphan # 1

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1-Orphan-1.mp3|titles=1 Orphan # 1]

2 Orphan # 2

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2-Orphan-2.mp3|titles=2 Orphan # 2]

3 The Fiddle in the Attic

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/3-The-Fiddle-in-the-Attic.mp3|titles=3 The Fiddle in the Attic]

4 Almost Piano

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/4-Almost-Piano.mp3|titles=4 Almost Piano]

5 The Oar

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/5-The-Oar.mp3|titles=5 The Oar]

6 Down Stream

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/6-Down-Stream.mp3|titles=6 Down Stream]

7 Girl From Canaan

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/7-Girl-From-Canaan.mp3|titles=7 Girl From Canaan]

8 Cluck Old Hen

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/8-Cluck-Old-Hen.mp3|titles=8 Cluck Old Hen]

9 Orphan # 3

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/9-Orphan-3.mp3|titles=9 Orphan # 3]

10 Northern Flower

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/10-Northern-Flower.mp3|titles=10 Northern Flower]

11 Orphan # 4

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/11-Orphan-4.mp3|titles=11 Orphan # 4]

12 Sacristy

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/12-Sacristy.mp3|titles=12 Sacristy]

To download a copy of these pieces, right-click on the title in red and save. To hear the pieces, click on the arrow. To increase the volume, run your mouse on the bars, from left to right.

This music is protected and its commercial use is strictly forbidden. 

Production and publishing : Pentafolio inc.

Copyright: SOCAN