After a long hiatus, I began listening to vinyl again whilst living in Santa Barbara, CA. As a graduate student, I needed a fun activity to lower my stress, as well as to explore new artists and styles of music without relying too much on the internet. That change came my way by visiting record stores and asking the owner a question: “Who is an artist that nobody asks about, but that you can’t believe isn’t more popular?”
One record store owner played the record Barefoot Boy for me at the shop, and I was immediately hooked. The instrumentation was lush and intense, with unexpected spurts of psychedelic noise bubbling out from within the grooves. The owner nodded each time the music took an unexpected turn, and said, “I just don’t see why people are not talking about this guy.” I immediately purchased the record and rushed home to listen.
The album artwork matches the record’s sound, with a multicolored border surrounding a picture of Larry Coryell in the midst of shredding his guitar. While the album artwork is simple, the colorful border and photograph capture Larry’s passion for exploring jazz-rock fusion with creative arrangements and psychedelic sound-play.
Larry begins the record with the fast-paced arrangement, “Gypsy Queen.” Rhythmically, this fiery introduction to Barefoot Boy chugs along like a train about to go off the rails, guitar and drums heaving away, occasionally diverting into unkempt fills that threaten to break tempo. Larry’s guitar feedback heralds fierce solos that rock side-to-side with a disorienting tremolo. “Gypsy Queen” stumbles to a halt before giving way to the album’s catchiest tune, “The Great Escape,” which features an ear-worm melody that Cory plays in sync with the other musicians. The guitar work is dynamic: rising and falling whenever appropriate to let other musicians breathe, but without sacrificing any momentum in the arrangement. The last track, “Call to the Higher Consciousness,” is an excellent finale. The song features a resolute progression, climactic peak, and fades away like a hero riding into the sunset in your favorite film. What more could you want?
– Evan
Edited by: Seán Pierce