HP Lovecraft
Listen/Download – Hp Lovecraft – Wayfaring Stranger
Greetings all.
I hope the new week finds you all well.
This week’s selection is one of those 45s that I meant to write about YEARS ago and for some reason (probably the tsunami of vinyl that surrounds me at at all times) got pushed off to the side.
Fortunately I was strolling aimlessly through my crates and happened upon it, so here you go.
HP Lovecraft – the band, not the master of the macabre – was a Chicago-based group that recorded three albums (the third, simply as ‘Lovecraft’) and a bunch of 45s for the Philips label between 1966 and 1970.
Lead singer George Edwards had started out as a folkie, eventually working (and recording) for the storied Dunwich label (note their logo on the label of this 45).
The tune I bring you today was the opening track on their first album and was released as a single in 1967.
‘Wayfaring Stranger’ is an American folk song with roots in the early 1800s. Before HP Lovecraft got their hands on it, the tune was a popular folk song, recorded many times by artists like Burl Ives.
The HP Lovecraft version is driving folk rock, punched up with the addition of horns, and some swirling psychedelic organ.
Though the band kept their folk rock core, they eventually got a lot more psyched out.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you next week.
Peace
Larry
