Suni McGrath -- Cornflower Suite LP

Original 1969 US stereo release on Adelphi Records (catalog # AD 1002).

Suni McGrath's stunning debut LP of Eastern tinged folk-psych modal guitar spiritual blues a la John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull, Peter Walker, etc. "Blue Domes Of Isfahan" is the greatest, most wonderfully psychedelic Suni McGrath song, as far out as anything by Fahey/Basho/Bull/Walker...

Great review/info on this LP from Grown So Ugly: Cornflower Suite is the first record by Suni Mcgrath. It was released on the Maryland based Adelphi label in 1969 (AD 1002) and was the second release for the label.

Mcgrath released 2 more records on Adelphi, The Call of the Mourning Dove, which we recently posted and Childgrove (we don't have this one).

Cornflower Suite is absolutely stunning and I can't begin to understand why none of his records have been reissued.

Here are the liner notes for Cornflower Suite:

Suni McGrath - 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, 6 string electric guitar Raymond Biase - Bass drums, traps and tablas (Traps courtesy Bob Berberich and Toad Hall)

Recorded at Adelphi Studios Engineered by Gene Rosenthal Editing by Gene Rosenthal and Suni McGrath Photographs Album Layout and Design by G.L. Moore

Liner Notes:

The music on this record is my attempt to explore and further the american acoustic guitar. I have four sources for the musics here presented: Bulgarian music for rhythmic modes and ideas, also modulation of melodic modes and harmonies; Hindustani for subtle melodic graces and ideas of variation; Fahey for the conception of the art; Bartok for modal harmonies analogous to conventional western harmony, and treatment of themes.

Cornflower Suite is a set of variations on a theme never completely stated. It is named for that most wondrous weed, the blue cornflower that blooms like little bits of mirror reflecting a perfect summer sky. It includes an earlier piece known to some as sassafras tea.

Picnic on the Moor was composed after learning certain Celtic conceptions of faerie worlds and stone devices live Stonehenge. The idea being, that although the other world is timeless, crossing between one finds that a year there is a day here. Carry this to its limit and we have the eternal now as in Blake -

"To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour."

The rhythmic mode is a Bulgarian paidushko or fast five like this: 12-345, 12-123, etc....Ordinarily the count is so fast the accents (1 and 3) are perceived as the 'beat' the foot taps on. This is correct but confusing because with most music the count is relatively slower and measure is even (4/4). Here you can see and hear the first beat is shorter, by one, than the last beat making the audible rhythm assymetrical.

Garden of Afternoon: A court off the castle, where it is always a golden autumn afternoon regardless of where or when you enter the castle.

Winged Sandal: An old mercury I used to drive around Chicago when this piece was composed furnishes the title. The verse has a nebulous jazz progression suggestive of uncertain city life. The chorus with its strong progressions suggests a definite underlying measure in the web of existence.

Pea Plucker's Pavane: An arrangement of traditional material for finger-picked guitar, primarily the famous Buck Dancer's Choice.

XOPO: Pronounced oro or horo, is a dance in Yugoslave mode with a heroic feeling.

Blue Domes of Isfahan are as typical of spaced Islamic art as is this type of music with its camel ride rhythm and somewhat ornamental improvisations.

Parting Dance: 9/8 in the Bulgarian mode, like this: 12-34-56-789 or 12-12-12-123; the Turkish word for this is aksak meaning uneven - see note, Picnic on the Moor.

All compositions copyright Suni McGrath, Blind Basement Music, 1969, except where otherwise noted.

Suni Mcgrath was recently featured on the first volume of the Excellent Imaginational Anthem collection on Tompkins Square Records. They also released a 7" in 2005. I have heard that there are plans for a full length release soon, but cannot confirm this information.

From the Suni Mcgrath myspace page: Biography of Suni McGrath . . .1956 Suni starts guitar, including lessons . . . 1960 Gives first performance at talent show, about 300 in audience As a pioneer of fingerpicking, he begins to create the fingerpicking style . . . 1961 One of the first 12 string solo artists, WYSO radio has Suni McGrath play his fingerpicked solo 12 string on radio at Antioch College where he becomes friends with Ian Buchanan and others at “the Bakery” . . . 1962 In Detroit, McGrath is asked by Detroit Folklore Society to give first concert on his 12 string Gibson. Many in 2005 still remember this . . . 1963, He takes lessons with Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt. A record scout. hears Suni McGrath at Newport, R.I. Festival where he came up from Greenwich Village his regular playing area, and signs him to first recording contract on the Piedmont label, Mississippi John Hurt’s label . . . 1965 Suni invents, far-out odd-time rhythms fingerpicking results in tape sent to Folkways Records . . . 1968 Suni McGrath, rediscovered by new and different label, taken to east coast to record first issued album . . . 1971 He records the earliest version of the Celtic/Irish/modal (he is Irish ! ) “The Star of County Down”, . . . 1972 Suni McGrath’s records fantastically reviewed in many magazines, newspapers, and played on many radio stations nationwide. Nominee for “Guitarist of the Year” for his three albums: Cornflower Suite, The Call of the Mourning Dove, and Childgrove . . . 2001 McGrath is shown to his surprise, to be on the WWW Internet,~27 entries, among others,WFMU radio in New York often and repeatedly plays his work including his 12 minute symphonic masterpiece, “Cornflower Suite”, the Renaisance/classical style “Love Abides”, also, the earliest version of the Celtic/Irish/modal “The Star of County Down”, and the world famous flower power ‘60s style piece:“On the Riverpath She Waited” . . . 2005 Suni McGrath’s track called “Train Z” gets great reviews from critics and magazines such as BILLBOARD and MoJo (England). His 45 rpm “Seven Stars” does also.

Tracks:

Side One: 1. Cornflower Suite 13:05 12 String Gtr 2. Picnic On The Moor 2:21 6 String Gt, Bass Drum 3. Garden Of Afternoon 6:15 12 String Gtr Side Two: 1. Winged Sandal 4:15 6 String Gtr 2. Pea Plucker's Pavane 4:29 (Trad, Arr., S. McGrath) 6 String Gtr, Traps 3. Xopo 4:18 12 String Gtr 4. Blue Domes Of Isfahan 4:29 6 String Electric Gtr, Tablas 5. Parting Dance 3:20 6 String Gtr, Tablas

CONDITION: Cover VG+ / Vinyl VG++   excellent shape, "DJ Copy Not For Sale" written on front, light ringwear and edgewear; vinyl is extremely clean, slight wear, plays well.

Graded conservatively using Goldmine standards [G / G+ / VG / VG+ / NM / ]
grade only used if record is brand new.
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