Popularity doesn’t make a song bad, of course, but there is some additional excitement when we find that track that no one else has found.The songs that follow are diamonds that have been missed by the music business and the broader listening public but that have found there way into my list of all-time favorites. Several of these are local (to me) artists from Central Massachusetts, and others are just obscure artists I have stumbled upon in my listening over the years. All of these are songs that I revisit frequently and maybe you will too.
Jimmy Carter on the 2011 Album The Underserved
Comanchero
Maybe the greatest song about mining ever recorded (and, yes, there is a lot of competition), this track tells the story of a miner who lives in a home built by Jimmy Carter (Habitat for Humanity) but because he’s in the mines at dawn and home after dark, he “ain’t ever seen one.” Super groovy, super catchy, and super clever, “Jimmy Carter” should be known far and wide—A true gem and an all time favorite.
“Jimmy Carter’s building houses, but I ain’t ever seen one . . .”
Family Stone on the 2013 album Locomotion
W.B. Givens
I discovered W.B. Givens on an obscure music podcast that also introduced me to Colter Wall and Tyler Childers before they were big.* Those two artists took off. Colter Wall has 4.5 Million followers on Spotify and Tyler Childers has 11.1 Million. W.B. Givens has only one album posted and stands on Spotify with 11 (eleven!) monthly listeners. We cannot expect justice from the music industry, but this is a crime. “Family Stone” is a beautiful song with a haunting instrumental arrangement (Listen to that opening organ tone before the guitar comes in), clever lyrics, and a catchy chorus all put in service of a reflection on place, family, and loss. There is no reason for this song to fade into obscurity.
“I thought saw an Angel ride your mule out of town. Mule come back this mornin’ with no angel around. There ain’t no one around . . .”
*W.B. Walker’s Old Soul Radio Show. Colter Wall’s 2017 self titled album has a track called “W.B.’s Talkin” that features a clip from W.B. Walker’s Old Soul Radio Show, alright.
This Train on the 2003 Album This Train
Wayfaring Strangers
This band and this album sway in obscurity on Spotify—168 followers and no song with more than 3,000 spins. And yet, this is the creation of a super group that includes a number of highly successful artists including Matt Glaser (of Civil War soundtrack fame), Aoife O’Donovan (of Crooked Still and other fame), Ruth Ungar (of The Mammals fame), and others with serious credentials. This band, however, only has two albums and both are virtually unknown. “This Train,” captures their magical ambiguity, a highly crafted, beautifully rendered folk artistry layered with a kind of post-bop jazz improvisation (and the chops to back it up). The piano solo (staring about 1:36) on this track is out of this world and certainly well outside what anyone would expect in a folk-Americana recording. Its genre defying elements should not mean it has be relegated to obscurity, however. Dive in an enjoy.
Ali Baba’s on the 2002 Album Sleepyhead
Brothers Creegan
According to Spotify, this album is made by utter nobodies in a small Canadian basement. In fact, it is made by Andrew and Jim Creeggan, a former (Andrew) and current (Jim) member of the 1990’s Canadian Pop Rock sensation Barenaked Ladies (BNL). As a duo, their recordings have landed in obscurity with no track registering more than 5,000 spins. “Ali Baba’s” is a playful, funky, fun recollection of an earlier time at the corner store when you could “buy one and get one free.” Andrew’s jazz informed piano gives this its distinctive character and their vocal harmonies add to the magic.
Up All Night on the 2016 Album Holdin’ Down the Spot
Big Spender Trio
This self described “Fresh instrumental soul” trio has only recently broken the 100 follower mark on Spotify and this track has barely cracked 2,000 spins. In addition to being a celebration of an obscure track, this serves as a compelling introduction to funk music in general. Why would anyone listen to instrumental funk music? Because it can sound like this—an energetic groove with interesting stops and surprising textures. There are no lyrics to quote here, but if you listen to this and think it isn’t fun, then you may be listening to it wrong.
Stranded in Perdition on the 2012 Album Phantom Train
The Marshall Pass
That this artist has only eight followers on Spotify and few songs with more than 1,000 spins is profound evidence that no only is the music industry unjust, but it is a cold dark void that could absorb and destroy anything in its path. This album was composed as tribute to lost friend, and the sincere melancholy of that tribute lurks in every track. It isn’t saccharine or anything you might call cheesy. Far from it. It is just beautiful, dark, and artfully rendered from start to finish. I don’t know how the Grammy people choose their awards, but this should have won one. This track belongs on an epic soundtrack for a western, and the whole album belongs in your listening rotation.
Jesus in My Amplifier on the 2013 Album Searching for Diamonds
Matt Robert
After his years with an even more obscure roots rock outfit (Hat On, Drinking Wine, where I was pleased to provide percussive accompaniment), Matt Robert established himself as a regular contributor to the central Massachusetts folk-rock scene and began producing his own folk/finger-picking blues records. “Jesus in my Amplifier” tells the unlikely (but true?) story of a preacher (prophet, priest, and King?) beginning to speak through the crackly radio reception that finds its voice in a vintage tube amplifier. Mediated through the hearty blues baritone of a non-believer, the voice of Jesus still has the power to make us realize something of otherworldly import.
Ghost in These Bones on the 2019 Album Train Songs
Old Bear Mountain
While this is the most well known song on this list with nearly 12,000 plays on Spotify, it still counts as obscure by current music popularity standards. Old Bear Mountain is a top notch artist in the new blue grass genre, but they’ve got a folk sensibility and a songwriting knack that sets them apart. This has got fun fiddle, banjo, and a woeful tale of lost love that fits right in with the dark shadows of looming pines on a lonely road that you can’t help but picture as you listen.
Here’s a link to a playlist of these eight obscure tracks. There are many more like them, and I may share more of these highlights from the catalog of lesser known great songs in the future. Let me know what you think or add your own obscure recommendations in the comments.
Thanks for the recommendations!