Songs of the 1970’s

Welcome to my musical past! The songs included in these two volumes were composed between 1967 and 1978. Volume 1 contains songs composed before 1975. With the exceptions of A Holiday Alone, Summertime and, possibly, One Way Streets, the songs in Volume 2 were written between 1975 and 1978. Taken together, these songs represent a seminal period in my life, in terms of both musical and personal development.

The fact that these songs were composed more than 40 years ago is not the only link to my past presented here. The recordings themselves took place more than 40 years ago as well – in 1978. At the home of recording engineer Tom Bates, I recorded 26 songs over the course of two days. The process was simple and went relatively quickly; Tom recorded my performances live on a two-track tape machine. I had been playing most of this material for a few years, so there were few second takes. Had I been making an album, we would have paid more attention to imperfections and memory slips, but my purpose in making these recordings was not publication; it was to archive a part of my life that was coming to a close. Since 1970 I had been writing songs and performing in clubs and other venues throughout New England. By the fall of 1978 though, I had already begun moving towards composing works for chamber ensembles. Realizing that my focus on folk and popular song was receding, I wished to make a record of my early work for posterity.  And what do you know – posterity has arrived!

The Recordings

Greg Bullen – voice, acoustic guitar, piano

Patti Whalen – vocal harmony on “Livin’ Without You” and “One Way Streets”

All songs composed by Greg Bullen