We Are The Children Of The Sun | BBE
“One of the most emotionally uplifting and hazily beautiful compilations of recent years.” Andrew Male MOJO Magazine
“(We Are The Children Of The Sun) is INCREDIBLE! Every single song. It was sublime.” Colleen Murphy Balearic Breakfast / Classic Album Sundays
“Paul Hillery has done a wicked job on the new ‘We are the Children of the Sun’ compilation. Perfect for those long, hot summer days.” Ashley Beedle Heavy Disco / X-Press 2
“It’s a stunningly deep dive into music that has been overlooked by all but the most relentless of diggers. And it is superb. It looks beautiful too, in a stunning gatefold sleeve. Just go and buy it.” Balearic Mike Fascinating Rhythms / Claremont 56
“An exquisite selection of obscure private press folk funk and AOR lovingly hand-picked and compiled by one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the field.” Kev Beadle Mind Fluid / Focal Point
“Every now and again a compilation comes out that I wished I had compiled. This one falls into that category. Don’t even think about not giving this a listen, there aren’t enough superlatives to describe the pleasure I’m getting listening to this. Beautiful music and the utmost respect.” Zaf LoveVinyl
“Taking you back to halcyon days. Music made by cool people you wish you could be friends with. California, sunsets, lazy, hazy days, roads trips and forest walks on summers’ afternoons… With the perfect combination of groove, folk-flute whimsy and sun-steeped soul. Paul has the finest taste, the rarest ear. He has perfected the craft of gathering the gems that time could have forgotten.” Laura Coxeter – Forge NTS Launette’s hour
“Paul really is a trailblazer when it comes to this genre. With his never-ending and stupefying mixes over the years, I think it’s safe to say he’s the go-to guy for all things folk-funk. This compilation is a culmination of years of seriously deep digging and is something to be proud of. Congrats on a perfect selection. 10/10” Danny McLewin Psychemagik
“A sun-kissed collection of sounds that invites the listener to drift away to a soundtrack of acoustic guitars, soulful languid grooves and a dash of yacht-rock.” Paul Osborne Shindig! Magazine
“It is a blissful listen” arcana.fm
“A nice little collection, all with a timeless vibe that almost creates a new sort of genre unto itself!” Dusty Groove dustygroove.com
“A perfect distraction from everything, with folksome groovin’, electronic-light moods and feelings. The cover alone has chilled me right out.” Ian Wade musicomh.com
“A beautiful listen highlighting perfectly the intrinsic value within music to inspire and to console (We Are The Children Of The Sun) drifts aimlessly through hints of folk to psychedelic impulse while always remaining true to human touch.” Greg Fenton magazinesixty.com
When darkness falls, we need light. When the world’s gone mad, we need a refuge.
Welcome to We Are the Children of the Sun, a collection of soothing songs for tough times, compiled by Paul Hillery.
DJ and vinyl obsessive Paul understands better than most our capacity for musical communion – how the powerful, primeval pulse connects us all in a shamanic shuffle. His ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours’ mix series spawned an online community of people all locked into his irresistible groove.
Now we can all tune in.
Sail together from the fringes of psyche tranquillity to the blurred edges of folk-funk and blissful Balearica. Go deep and hazy, hand-in-hand as you lose yourself to the moment, carried away on a carefully crafted journey buoyed by the gentle fizz of electronica and trippy troubadour tones.
This is an album to be enjoyed in joyful places and wide open spaces. An album to remind us that more connects us than drives us apart. An album to remind us that we’re all made of stardust.
We Are the Children of the Sun
Words by Barnaby Harsent
‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’compiled by Paul Hillery and released by BBE is available to purchase at this link
Jim Lamarche with Theresa Moylan & Music Industry Arts ~ Make Believe
The scene is set and our journey begins with synths and a flute. A track originally found on the 1977 collaborative album produced at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario (a.k.a. Music Industry Arts Studio). Music Industry Arts was, and still is, a community college program. Jim Lamarche attended classes there for 3 years (1974-77), ‘Make Believe’ was 1 of 5 songs recorded during his time there. Growing up in Woodstock and going to school in Ontario, Lamarche graduated and found himself in Toronto working in various large format analogue studios (Captain Audio, Kensington Sound, Eastern Sound, Amber Studio and Grant Avenue Studio) as a full-time engineer.
He continued to develop, exploring the creative sound process and working on original compositions. In 1983 his efforts were finally noticed by A&M/UMG and he was signed to a five-year worldwide deal. Lamarche recorded two albums under that contract while continuing to hone his craft. As a freelance producer/engineer, he worked with Australias ‘Split Enz’, Canada’s ‘Bruce Cockburn’ and ‘Blood Sweat and Tears/David Clayton Thomas’. Jim travelled extensively, living and working in Punjab, India, before returning to Toronto to work as an education consultant, writer/blogger and media composer. As a musical artist, Jim Lamarche recorded seven independent albums in total. Theresa Moylan, who also attended the MIA course, now lives in Vancouver and is no longer in the music business.
Mike Baumann & Tom Huntington ~ Man of Misery
Meanwhile at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, we have ‘Man of Misery’, re-discovered 40 years after its original release. Written and produced by Tom Huntington and Mike Baumann in 1981, it is the opening song from their album ‘Get a Grip’. Only a few hundred copies of the record were made, and many of those were sadly lost to floodwaters while in storage. Tom and Mike met as classmates in 1980 at Frostburg University in the Appalachian foothills of Western Maryland and soon formed a popular cover band, but their real passion was composing original music. They spent that summer living at the beach in Ocean City, which influenced the writing of the album. Tom spent his days making ice-cream at Dumser’s Dairyland, while Mike manned the grills at Ocean Deli. Each night after work, the guys met in the attic of the Ship Shape Motel, crafting the music and lyrics for their songs. When returning to Frostburg for the Fall semester, they began recording tracks at a studio owned by Mike Hounshell. Local friends also contributed their talents to the project. ‘Man of Misery’ was layered piece-by-piece, using old-school tape overdubbing. Mike recorded the first track with a simple piano/vocal arrangement, followed by the solid rhythm track of drummer Bill Schreiber and stellar guitar work by Tom. Mike Hounshell and Mark Descheck added vocal harmonies, while Mark Corbliss, Ron Grey, and Charlie Propper provided horn work. Each song on the album is a testament to the amazing musical talents of these classmates and local friends who were part of the Western Maryland music scene at the time.
David Datunashvili ~ საოცრებები
Sat on the banks of the Kura River in the cobblestoned old town of Tbilisi, the capital and largest city of Georgia, located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, you’ll find David Datunashvili. A musician and producer who has recorded and produced compositions in various genres including electronic, ambient, and experimental. In English, the title of the track translates to ‘Wonders’ and is influenced by past and future relationships. The song is taken from David’s album ‘6 Plus’, which was self-released digitally during lockdown in 2020. The album contains tracks with Georgian lyrics and jazz-influenced harmonies mixed with sun-drenched pool party vibes. Available on vinyl for the first time.
Pixie Lauer ~ Sunday Morning
We find ourselves in Maine on a lazy Sunday morning. The album, ‘Pixie Lauer And Friends’, was recorded at Studio 3 in Portland, September 1983. Lyrics and music were written by Pixie Lauer, an accomplished singer/songwriter and a veteran of the Maine/New England folk scene. Pixie performed on two LPs released from Massachusetts’ Wheaton College; the ‘Wheatones’ albums – ‘Backporch Song’ and ‘In The Nick Of Time’ – both dating from the 70s. She was also a member of ‘On The Other Side Of Sugar And Spice’ who released a self-titled album on Fleetwood Records, and the 1980s folk group ‘Different Shoes’. Pixie continues to perform solo and in the band ‘Well Seasoned’.
Ron Drago ~ Phase Dance
On to the dystopian year of 1984 and South Eastern Connecticut. Ron Drago, a recording engineer and guitarist, originally signed with Laurie Records and then in the 1970s with New Jersey’s 3 C Records, is making an album: ‘Earth’s Last Cry, Man’s Last Stand’. Recorded and mixed at New London County Recorders, Connecticut, it would be released on Drago’s own imprint, Red The Cook Music. Influenced by the West Coast singer-songwriters, the album represented a change in direction as Drago created a combination of styles that represented both his early years, and the new music he was being exposed to. All selections on the album were written by Drago except ‘Union of Spirits’ which was written by Colleen Winkler with Ron Drago and ‘Phase Dance’, which was written by Pat Metheny. Ron is still producing music and is based out of Western Pennsylvania.
Guy Schwartz ~ Ride That Train
Texas, 1977, and singer/songwriter/bandleader Guy Schwartz had just begun a six-decade recording career when a mutual friend brought musician/engineer Roger Tausz to hear Schwartz perform. Tausz immediately invited Schwartz to record at Houston’s Doggett Sound Studios.
The result, a Hamilton Street Records ’45. ‘Ride That Train’ was engineered by Tausz and mixed by David Kealey at Houston’s Sound Masters. The session band were the same guys that Schwartz had with him that first-night Tausz saw him play: John Claude Axberg, Michael Claxton, Merlene, ‘Whopper’ Watson, Rick ‘Zip’ Lyon on backing vocals, Phillip Kelley on bass, Mickey Burton on drums, Jon Bradford on guitar, Dana Smith on organ, Thomas ‘Bubba’ Robin on various saxophones, John ‘Fat Albert’ Cubbison on trumpet and Fred Bright on clavinet. Schwartz produced and sang vocals. It was the beginning of a Schwartz/Tausz partnership that is still blooming in 2021.
Marla Fant ~ Land of Wonder
All aboard, Carnival Cruise Lines proudly presents Marla Fant. As the back of the album states: “for six years Marla has entertained over 300,000 passengers during Caribbean cruises sailing out of Miami”. Souvenir albums were common in the 1970s cruise ship industry, and to be fair, in many cases these albums were long on souvenir and short on quality. Marla, born in Chicago, raised in a small Illinois village called Mokena, and now living in Florida, made the decision that her album would break that mould. She had been singing in a club in Miami Beach when approached by a cruise ship executive and asked to set sail as an entertainer. She said yes, and by 1980 she had decided to record an album at Miami’s Criteria Studios, which had previously hosted the Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac. The album included many of her favourite performance numbers, as well as original compositions, some co-written with friends and family, one of which was ‘Land Of Wonder’. The music for this particular track was written by her brother in their parent’s garage on a rainy South Florida afternoon in 1976. Marla penned the lyrics, while the background vocals were performed by her sister Pamela and brother Duane, making it a true family affair.
Diana Pequeno ~ Mistérios
Diana Pequeno is a Brazilian singer and songwriter, born in downtown Salvador in 1958. During the late 1970s, while an electrical engineering student, Diana began singing on college stages. She spent that time devoting herself to music and was spotted, and given a contract, by RCA-Victor. After releasing six successful albums for them, Diana decided to pass on renewing her contract and instead returned to the engineering course and finally graduated. In 1989, with help from sister Eliana, an independent album ‘Mistérios’ was released on their own Acquarius label. With a cover version of the Joni Mitchell track, ‘All I Want’, as the opening song, the album set out to blur the boundaries of jazz-folk, infused with a sunlit Brazilian feel. The title track ‘Mistérios’ bathes us in love, its layered harmonies floating off on a summer’s breeze. In 2001 and after an artistic hiatus of more than ten years, Diana released her seventh album, ‘Cantigas’ on the Selo Rádio MEC label.
Airborne ~ Marie
Now it’s Vancouver, 1974. Three friends, Darryl Bohn, Ron Hjorth and David Giddings, decide it’s time to start a folk-rock band. All three could play guitar, sing and write. Bruce Johnston joined them, contributing his falsetto to create a very rich vocal group with tight harmonies. Lorne Fielder came aboard on keyboards, and by early 1977 they had started recording at Ocean Studios in North Vancouver, which just happened to be within walking distance of where they lived. The engineer assigned to them, Donn Tarris, a great bass player, ended up playing an integral part in producing the album and eventually joined the band. The song ‘Marie’, written by Darryl Bohn about a boating experience, is reflective of the songs they wrote in and about the city of Vancouver. The LP was recorded over three weeks with a budget of $2,500. A total of 1,700 were sold out of a pressing of 2,000 in the first year. ‘Marie’ was released as a single and received moderate airplay from MOR stations. Royalties, although small, were enough to cover the cost of production. Airborne’s final concert was in March 1978 as an opening act for Sammy Hagar at the Commodore Ballroom. They continued to play together through to the end of 1979, but by then Darryl and David were the only original members left.
Scott McGregor Moore ~ So Good When It Comes
1981, and a broken fizz, click and hum fills the car as we tune the dial on the FM radio to the right station. The track ‘So Good When It Comes’ originally featured on the second compilation LP released in the ‘Share Chez’ series of local talent by Canadian radio station CHEZ 106FM. The track was originally created with a Korg PS-3100, Minimoog, Fender Strat and a BOSS DR-55 Dr Rhythm drum machine. A few years later, while Scott was working with David Pritchard on the unreleased follow-up to ‘Nocturnal Earthworm Stew’, also on the session was Martin Deller, the extraordinary drummer from Canadian progressive rock group FM. They decided to replace the drum machine for ‘So Good When It Comes’ with Dellar’s acoustic kit and Simmons electronic drums. That version is released here on vinyl for the first time. Scott McGregor Moore (aka Scott M2) put aside pop and rock music in 1995 when he founded the ambient/chill project dreamSTATE. Since then, dreamSTATE has created albums, ambient soundscape installations, trailblazing live ambient music performances and infinite ambient music iPhone app ‘Ephemeral City’.
Checkpoint ~ I Send You All My Love
ow we journey to Aachen, West Germany, mid-1980s and the Berlin Wall still stands. Checkpoint, a musical project founded by guitarist and composer Dirk K, his brother bassist JK Kleutgens and singer and lyricist Susy Wetter, has been active for about 4 years and produced more than thirty songs. ‘I Send You All My Love’ was written by Dirk K and Susy Wetter. It features Chris Hirson on soprano saxophone, Michael Tzoulas on piano and Gerd Breuer on drums. The original recording was part of a compilation album released in Germany, in 1986, called ‘Rock Aus Aachen, Wa’. In 1987 Dirk and his brother JK moved to the United States and continued to release albums. They are still very active in the field of jazz and fusion. Susy stayed in Aachen and still performs occasionally.
Gabriel Gladstar ~ Flow
Oh, man. The year, 1969. The place, Laguna Beach, California. Armed with original songs, two acoustic guitars, and tight vocal harmonies, Mike Gwinn and Phillip Lee Morgan immediately drew attention playing local music venues and festivals. The two friends began recording under the supervision of Ian Bernard (musical director of Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-in). The interest in recording their material eventually led to a long working relationship with Ahmet Ertegun (founder and president of Atlantic Records) who, upon hearing them, offered a recording contract immediately. In the process of recording demos for Atlantic at many of the major studios in LA, the duo expanded to include Jimmy Zeiger on flute and sax. Their audiences grew and enthusiastically supported the additional member, but Ahmet had reservations and remained committed to signing the original duo to his label. But Gabriel Gladstar was now a trio and so amicably turned down the offer. At this point, the band purchased a 1951 Chevy School Bus. They converted it, and like Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, took to the road. They gained grassroots popularity as independent touring artists and in 1973 Gabriel Gladstar stopped off in Seattle, Wa. to record their LP ‘A Garden Song’. Pressing it privately on their own label, Flying Guitar Records, the group cemented a place in posterity as pioneers of the progressive-psych-folk genre.
White Feather ~ Summer Days : Golden Haze
Into the woods, we go, and a visit to Nottinghamshire. Described by some as melancholic/DIY/psych, White Feather released just one single. Cookie and Alan.s.Robinson started writing songs together in 1980 aged 16 and made their first visit to a local studio to record in 1983. Forming ‘White Feather’, which was occasionally augmented by other musicians, these two merry men made numerous recordings during the 1980s, but the self-released single ‘Summer Days/Golden Haze’ was their sole release. Made on a shoestring budget, any hope of a follow up was quashed by poor sales. It would be the better part of 40 years before the single belatedly recuperated its costs. We like a happy ending.
The ’45 features Darren Warner on drums and John Harrison on egg cups (or if you prefer to make it a bit more technical; ‘percussion’). White Feather was only ever a studio band until finally, in 1990, they played a trio of gigs that was almost as successful as their single. While singing on studio demos for White Feather, Cookie was also bass player for the punk band Solvent Abuse.
Philip John Lewin ~ Fear of Flying
For Philip John Lewin, music has always been the best method for expressing emotions. He began trying to write as soon as he could pick up a pencil, began to play piano at age 6, and it wasn’t long before his words were accompanied by music. When his sister received a new guitar, Phil inherited her old one, which is still a treasured instrument.
In fact, he met his wife while waiting in line at a music store to get it repaired! In 1975, when Philip shopped his already-pressed small run first LP to the local music industry, one executive pointed to a turntable and said, “Let’s hear the product.” It occurred to Phil that he was not creating a product. If no-one but Phil was interested in what he was doing, then that would be preferable to creating something specifically for a different audience. He never went back to the music industry again. So a year later Philip found himself in the company with a group of young women who were talking excitedly about a new book; ‘Fear of Flying’. It seemed to capture a desire to be a more liberated woman in our somewhat oppressive society. When Philip read the book, he was puzzled by what passed for eroticism. The song, ‘Fear Of Flying’ was written as a reaction. Soon a second album was finished, ‘Diamond Love And Other Realities’, sold through a small distributor called Records on Wheels. They actually sold 50 copies into the UK before going bankrupt.
Monica Rypma ~ Let Love Flow
By bicycle, tandem if you wish, we ride into Amsterdam. ‘Classifieds’ (sometimes referred to as ‘Moonshine and The Blaze’) was a pioneering crowdfunded project produced by Monica Rypma in 1986. The album cover represents hundreds of advertisements, sold to investors who helped fund the production with their advertising messages. The production is a one-off collaboration between budding singer-songwriter Monica from Amsterdam and talented multi-instrumentalist composer Brian Batie, based in Los Angeles at the time. Five days at a farmhouse studio in Heelsum, Netherlands, were enough to shape a handful of unfinished songs, some lyrics and a few riffs into a Balearic groove album that has happily been recently rediscovered.
Alex Crispin ~ Effert
2020, and although originally hailing from the green pastures of deepest Surrey we land in Norfolk, Norwich to be exact. Here we find Alex Crispin. He has been making music since he was 15, cutting his teeth in funk-influenced instrumental bands and going on to form prog-rock group Diagonal and later the psych outfit Baron. His solo career has been bubbling along since the release of the instrumental/ambient/new age album ‘Idle Worship’ in 2017. ‘Effert’ conjures up the Blue Nile backed by a gamelan troupe on an Indonesian island, and features Joe Hollick (formerly of Wolf People) on guitar, his jazz-inflected phrasing the perfect foil for Crispin’s mournful meditations and booming bass notes.
The song is taken from the ‘Watersending’ EP, originally released digitally on Crispin’s own imprint, Cobblers. If you like what you hear, you’ll be pleased that another full-length album is due any day.
Michael Welch ~ Phone Home
Get your coat, we are off to Disney World. In 1984 Michael Welch was a theme park musician playing at Walt Disney World and EPCOT. This funded his quest to be a producer, label owner and musician. He produced the album, ‘Illegal Radio’, as an independent musician. He did everything from beginning to end, from booking the studio, arranging the music, rehearsing the groups and engineering, to driving with the master tapes to Nashville Record Productions and having them pressed to vinyl.
He acquired a radio station mailing list and sent the LP to every station on the list. Then he waited…
To his surprise, he started receiving playlists with ‘Illegal Radio’ in the Top 10. But there was a problem he didn’t plan for: he just wasn’t prepared for that kind of success. Offers came in and the president from a well-known jazz label called to propose management. Michael declined the offer and went on to record and release his next LP ‘The Neanderthal Yodeler’, which was a complete tangent to ‘Illegal Radio’.
Guy Maxwell ~ You Never Sang This Song
We finish our musical expedition in Holland. For it was here in 1980 that Guy Maxwell, a self-taught musician from France with Irish origins, who was actually based in Switzerland, recorded the album ‘Outside My Window’. Playing alongside Maxwell at the session were Tato Gómez, Serge Maillard and Paco Saval from the Chilean band ‘Santiago’, themselves now based in Germany, plus Sergio Castillo the Cuban percussionist, who himself was now based in Spain. Ruth Failure from the mystery Anglo-French outfit ‘Mag & The Suspects’ played guitar on the session. Guy lived the life of a true troubadour, travelling and playing in folk, blues and jazz clubs all over Europe. He eventually made the move from performance into writing, composing and arranging music and still lives in Switzerland.
My compilation ‘We Are The Children Of The Sun’ is out April 2022 on BBE records. And is a lovingly handpicked musical excursion that takes in strummed soft rock, blissful beach beats, the soft fizz of electronica, all carried to your ears by a gentle summer breeze. It ranges from hazy, long-forgotten early 70s tapes, right through to digital compositions recorded during lockdown in 2020. Tune in and ruminate while consciousness is awoken with transmissions dropping out from the fringes of psyche tranquillity, holding hands with folk-funk that runs deep and hazy, as the bejewelled turquoise waters lap gently at the ocean’s shore
This will be followed up with the release of ‘Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun’ also on BBE records.
Paul Hillery’s curated compilation ‘Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours – Volume One’ will be released on RE:WARM records September 2022
For Cassady Bean and Cosmo Kesey
Records handpicked by Paul Hillery; a heathen, conceivably, but not, I hope, an unenlightened one. Father, friend, vinyl hunter and curator at Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours. pH has carried his record boxes to many a venue and played alongside The Polyphonic Spree, Arthur Lee & Love, Bonnie Dobson, Spiritualized, 4 Hero, Happy Mondays, Simian, The Bees, Julian Cope, Courtney Pine and many, many, more. He has also graced the
turning tables at Spiritland, Refuge, Festival No.6, Lunar Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Psychemagik’s Magik Forest and supplied guest mixes for stations in South America, the USA, Europe and all over the UK.
Special thanks to; brother Bob Fletcher, my mentor Tony Higgins, Pete Adarkwah, Julia & Will at BBE.
Hugs to; Danny McLewin, Patrick Forge & Laura, Matthew Hamilton at AOR Disco, Rhys Jones, Peter Beaver,
Chris Maude & Fritz, Sie Norfolk, James Clark, Nic Blanch, Richard Melay, Dr. Penny Carey, Dixy & Roger, Nigel Pickford, Christopher Todd Penn, Tim DeLaughter, Barnaby Harsent, ‘Geoff’ Cave, Bucky, Simon John Roberts, Paul Harwood, Hayden Andrews, Stephen Westley, Gwennie Lewis, everyone on verygoodplus, Andy Pye, Alan McKinnon, Santi Oviedo, Les Fisher, Mark GV Taylor, Üllar Siir, Matt Bruce at Crates LA, Basso at Growing Bin, Cyril at Holywax, Bruno at Perfect Lives, Martin at WIWWG, Aidy at Vinyl Underground, Ali & Micky at Warm, Paul Noble at Spiritland, John Anthony Fell at Lunar.
If I forgot you I’m sorry, I’ll add you next time.
Praise be; David Crosby, Terry Callier, Arthur Lee, Brian Wilson, Nick Drake, Bridget St. John, Ian Curtis, Matt Deighton, Ken Kesey and Albert Hofmann.
Big hugs to the artists who agreed to be part of this wonderful release.
Music Is Love
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