''Sunforest'' was the ninth album recorded by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

(either with or without his group

Pearls Before Swine A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living animal shell, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pea ...

), his second for

Blue Thumb Records Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow and former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Blue Thumb's last record was released in 1978. In 1995, the label was revived and remained active un ...

, and his final record before his lengthy retirement from the music industry after the mid-1970s. ''Sunforest'' was released in 1973 and was credited to "Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine". Like its immediate predecessor, '' Stardancer'', the album was recorded with members of the touring group Pearls Before Swine (Art Ellis and Bill Rollins), supplemented by a selection of prominent Nashville session musicians. The content of the album, which is not generally regarded as one of his best, is very varied, but generally more upbeat than most of Rapp's work, with the up-tempo "Comin' Back" and "Someplace To Belong" almost rating as pop songs. "Love/Sex" is a riposte to

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...

' "Love The One You're With", containing the line ''"Love will get you through times of no sex / Better than sex will get you through times of no love"'', while the title track "Sunforest" is an attempt at a traditional folk ballad. "Forbidden City" and "Blind River" show some jazz influences. "Sunshine & Charles" is one of Rapp's own favourite songs and contains the classic line: ''"She was 16 when she found Jesus / He was a Puerto Rican kid and he lived next door"''. The sleeve design showed a cover painting of Rapp, and two small reproductions of paintings by

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Demon Records Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

in 1998, and again by Lemon Records in the UK in 2009. Lemon Records - 2009 reissue

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tom Rapp #"Comin' Back" - 2:59 #"Prayers Of Action" - 3:05 #"Forbidden City" - 2:51 #"Love / Sex" - 4:04 #"Harding Street" - 3:40 #"Blind River" - 4:57 #"Someplace To Belong" - 2:53 #"Sunforest" - 6:19 #"Sunshine & Charles" - 4:55

Personnel

*Tom Rapp - vocals, guitar *Art Ellis -

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, congas, vocals *Bill Rollins - cello *Steve McCord - guitar, musical advisor *Jim Colvard -

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

, guitar *

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 ...

- bowed

psaltery A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, harp, organ *

Buzz Cason James E. "Buzz" Cason (born November 27, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States) is an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. He was a founding member of The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. Together w ...

- vocals *Diane Harris - vocals *Charles Cochran - piano, string arrangements *

Buddy Spicher Buddy Spicher (born July 28, 1938 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; pronounced “Spiker”) is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumental ...

- electric viola, violin * David Briggs - piano *Mike Leech - bass, string arrangements *Farrell Morris - percussion *Bobby Wood - piano *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

- piano *Karl Himmel - drums, percussion * Bobby Thompson - Dobro, guitar, banjo *

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

- drums *

Bob Dorough Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''School ...

- piano *Bill Salter - bass * Warren Smith - marimba

Other credits

*Recorded at House of Cash, Quadrafonic Sound, Woodland Sound Studios, and Electric Lady *Produced by Larry Butler and Peter H. Edmiston *Engineers : Charlie Bragg, Gene Eichelberger, Rex Collier, Dick Shapiro

References

External links

Lyrics to ''Sunforest''
* AMG reviewbr> Official site for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine Fan site on MySpace
{{Authority control Tom Rapp albums 1973 albums Blue Thumb Records albums Albums produced by Larry Butler (producer)