''City of Gold'' was the fifth album made by American

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music, psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical el ...

group Pearls Before Swine, and their third on Reprise Records. It was released in 1971. The album was the first to be credited to "Thos." (Tom) Rapp and Pearls Before Swine, rather than solely in the group's name. In fact, the group, which had been formed by Rapp and his friends in Florida in the mid-1960s, and which in its original incarnation had never performed live, had effectively ceased to exist by the time of their third album '' These Things Too'', and subsequent albums had been recorded by Rapp with his wife Elisabeth and session musicians. ''City of Gold'' drew heavily on material left over from the recording of the previous Pearls album, '' The Use of Ashes'', which had been recorded in early 1970 with the cream of Nashville's session musicians. Further recording sessions took place in New York later that year, with Rapp taking on producer duties. The album, while having a broadly country/folk feel, is very mixed in content and, in most critics' estimation, quality. However, it does contain some of Rapp's best lyrics, sparkling arrangements, and some of his most heartfelt vocal performances, such as on the harpsichord-dominated version of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's "(Seems So Long Ago) Nancy", and his own "Did You Dream Of". It also includes a very atypical up-tempo Rapp song, "The Man", sung vigorously by David Noyes. According to Noyes, a high school student at the time, the song was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City during the summer of 1969; Noyes also sang harmony vocals on other songs, including "

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". Noyes' friend, Jon Tooker, took his position when the band toured Europe later in the year. The sleeve design broke with the group's tradition of using classic art rather than photographs of the musicians. The front cover showed a hand-painted photograph of Rapp, taken in

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where many of the songs had been written. The photograph on the back of the cover shows Rapp, Jon Tooker, Gordon Hayes and Michael Krawitz. This was the version of Pearls Before Swine which toured in 1971, but Tooker, Hayes and Krawitz did not play on the album itself (although they did play on the next album, '' Beautiful Lies''). ''City of Gold'' was issued on CD in 2003 as part of the ''Jewels Were the Stars'' compendium of Pearls Before Swine's first four

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

albums.

Track listing

# "Sonnet #65" - 0:41 (

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

/ Rapp) # "Once Upon A Time" - 2:37 (Rapp) # "Raindrops" - 2:05 (Rapp) # "City Of Gold" - 2:57 (Rapp) # "Nancy" - 4:46 ( Cohen) # "

" - 2:55 (

Brel Brel may refer to: *Andrew Brel (born Andreas Broulidakis 28 September 1960), UK music producer * Jacques Brel (1929-1978), French-speaking Belgian singer *Daniel Brel (b. 1950), French accordionist *British Rail Engineering Limited British Ra ...

/ McKuen) # "My Father" - 2:08 (

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

) # "The Man" - 2:23 (Rapp) # "Casablanca" - 2:23 (Rapp) # "Wedding" - 1:37 (Rapp) # "Did You Dream Of" Originally entitled "The Flower (Did You Dream Of Unicorns ?)" - Sleeve notes to ''Jewels Were The Stars'' - 2:49 (Rapp)

Personnel

Tom Rapp Thomas Dale Rapp (March 8, 1947 – February 11, 2018) was an American singer and songwriter who led Pearls Before Swine, an influential psychedelic folk rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Described as having "a slight lisp, gentle v ...

: Vocals, Guitar * Elisabeth (Rapp): Vocals * David Noyes: Vocals (on "The Man") *

Charlie McCoy Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...

: Dobro, Guitar, Bass, Harmonica *

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam."'' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acce ...

: Bass *

Kenneth Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history". Buttrey was born in Nashville, Tennessee, became a ...

: Drums * Buddy Spicher: Violin, Cello, Viola * Mac Gayden: Guitars * David Briggs: Piano, Harpsichord * John Duke: Oboe, Flute * Hutch Davie: Keyboard * Bill Pippin: Oboe, Flute

Other credits

* ''Dedicated to David Fredrick Patrick: being and to be'' * Art Direction: Ed Thrasher * Recorded in New York and Nashville, Fall 1970

References

External links

Lyrics to ''City of Gold''
* AMG review
Official site for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine

Fan site on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Of Gold (Album) Psychedelic folk albums Pearls Before Swine (band) albums 1971 albums Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Tom Rapp Tom Rapp albums