Description
From Both Sides is the debut album by the American folk duo Dust & Ashes (Tom Page and Jim Moore), independently released on Custom Fidelity in 1970. The album was recorded by John Bob Hall in December 1969 with Dave Berkus producing. (The Custom Fidelity Company, Inc. was a private press record company located in Hollywood, California; producing records on contract for artists.)
“Doin’ Nothin’ For Hours” is a song about four inner city kids Jim Moore had worked with. “The most difficult song to sing of any because it’s so real and so close,” they explain in the liner notes. “The song is in the words of a 16-year-old listening to soul music on a street curb, but he can’t blot out of his mind the real tragedy of his own life or in the lives of three other friends of ours. We can’t either.”
Trivia: Within a few months of their graduation in 1968, Tom Page and Jim Moore were traveling the country as the duo Dust & Ashes, after being hired as staff members of the United Methodist General Board of Evangelism. The duo toured the nation for the next two years singing in churches, high schools, colleges, and on television and radio. From Both Sides, Dust & Ashes’ debut album, was followed by A Different Shade of Blue in 1971 and a final album, The Lives We Share, released in 1972. Later solo albums followed (though Tom Page released another album as Ashes and Dust in 1983, entitled Lend Me A Sunrise). Fun note: The father and grandfather of Jim Moore actually were Methodist guitar-pickin’ preachers.
Groups like Dust & Ashes typified the second generation of Christian folk groups, picking up the baton from the primitive sing and strum of pioneers like Ray Repp and Joe Wise. Strong sense of urgency in the immaculately harmonized vocals of Tom Page and Jim Moore. Effective mood-setters balancing melancholy depictions of Gethsemane and urban desperation with cheerful calls for courage and brotherhood, along with impassioned pleas for justice. Overall the production has a light echoed feel, the two guitars rounded out by John Duvall on bass. A few covers («Get Together», «Both Sides Now», «Jesus Met The Woman At The Well», Ian & Sylvia’s «Lovin’ Sound»), but mostly originals that tie socially conscious themes to strains of melodic ’60s folk/pop, sample titles being «Courage To Be», «I’ve Tried To Love, Lord», «Where Once Proud Mansions Lay» and «Doin’ Nothin’ For Hours», the latter a convicting piece written to “introduce the sheltered to the shattered”. Cover has bright pink graphics overtop a black-and-white photo of the duo. A high point for the genre and very different from their two Avant Garde LPs. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Courage To Be” – 2:30
A2. “I’ve Tried To Love Lord” – 2:46
A3. “The Road Of Life” – 2:36
A4. “Doin’ Nothin’ For Hours” – 3:20
A5. “I Want Justice” – 2:35
A6. “Get Together” – 3:09
Side Two
B1. “Jesus Met The Woman At The Well” – 3:25
B2. “Both Sides, Now” – 3:07
B3. “Where Once Proud Mansions Lay” – 1:35
B4. “Gethsemane” – 2:13
B5. “Lovin’ Sound” – 2:35
B6. “Is It Love, Lady?” – 3:40
Note: Later independently released on CD by Jim Moore: http://www.jimmoorecm.org/store.html
CREDITS. Produced by Dave Berkus. Engineered by John Bob Hall.
Musicians: Tom Page (Guitar, Vocals), Jim Moore (Guitar, Vocals), John Darnall (Bass, Guitar and Viola on “I’ve Tried To Love, Lord”), Vivian Moore (3rd Voice on “Doin’ Nothin’ For Hours”), Monte James (Tambourine on “Courage To Be”, Bass on “I’ve Tried To Love, Lord”, 12-string Guitar on “Jesus Met The Woman At The Well”). Added Instrumental Effects: John Darnall and Monte James.
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