Robbie Basho

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Real Gone Music has a new collection of rarities from late acoustic guitarist Robbie Basho.  At Vanguard Records, Basho released two well-regarded LPs in 1972 and 1974 - but those albums weren't all he left behind for the label.  Songs of the Great Mystery has some tracks Basho would subsequently rework for other labels: 1978's Visions of the Country featured "A Day in the Life of Lemuria" (re-titled "Leaf in the Wind") and "Night Way," while "Laughing Thunder, Crawling Thunder" was eventually reworked as "Crashing Thunder for 1981's Rainbow Thunder.  The new album features all of these, alongside some never-before-heard compositions that are a welcome addition to the Basho discography.  Vanguard briefly released some of these sessions digitally, but Songs of the Great Mystery: The Lost Vanguard Sessions marks their physical debut.  The alternate take of "A Day in the Life of Lemuria," meanwhile, has never been released anywhere.  Available on CD or 2 LPs.