Natchez Trace
1970-xx-xx* ::: UK ::: home recordings ::: M?-"ST"
"Long Lost" demos, pre-1st album

~*~ Somewhat remastered fixing various issues, without EQ or NR ~*~

01. ...Fox On The Run (fragment)
02. ==chatter==
03. Fox On The Run (complete)
04. ==chatter==
05. Bull Run ("take 2" incomplete)
06. Bull Run ("take 3")
07. ==chatter==
08. How Low Do You Feel
09. ==chatter==
10. Pinto Pony

Total Time ::: 11:41

::: EXC- quality for its era & provenance. Check samples for "Oh, no", "Ah, so" or "Oh, my soul!" exclamations.
::: Warts (a few, nothing terminal!) : dullspots & dropouts not repaired but they ain't bad. Cleaned up start, did fades, healed pops & fixed speed, good enough to go!
::: "Long Lost" is a made-up title for reference due to lack of source information.
::: Seems somewhat informal with rehearsal feel & bits of conversation inbetween, though labeled a demo.
::: Besides this&some lossy BBC"Country Meets Folk"sets, AFAIK, no N.Trace circulatin' but 2 albums&a best-of LP.
::: N.Trace belonged to a branch of the UK folk canon of this era I rarely entered, Stanley&Jones being an exception.
::: Roger & Nick each played w/Pete Stanley at various times (he of the influential mid-60s UK folk&bluegrass duo w/Wizz Jones).
::: Nick Strutt history at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Strutt
::: Along with extensive music credits, including multi-instrumentalist&producer, Nick's obit says,"known for his unique mandolin playing,eccentricity&bohemian lifestyle...(an) enthusiastic consumer of drugs&drink." But he paid the price, dying at 62 of liver failure.
::: Strutt played in Mr Fox w/Bob&Carol Pegg (as did bassist Richie Bull for a while), then Nick&Bob had a duo for ~3 yrs.
::: Along w/Mr Fox&Natchez Trace, bassist Richie Bull also played w/the famed UK pubrock band, the Kursaal Flyers.
::: NT's 1st LP was produced by Blue Horizon recording artist (superb guitarist/musician) Gordon Smith.
::: Roger Knowles' flatpick webpage is not active & I couldn't locate a current site for him.
::: It'd be grand if someone supplied LOSSLESS "Country Meets Folk"recordings. MP3s ARE A DRAG!

Recording Information ::: unknown UK location (probably a bandmember's home) -> stereo reel-to-reel recorder & probably a single-point stereo microphone -> master reel (very narrow stereo - almost mono) -> unknown(2?) analog-only generations -> unknown generation(2nd?) normal bias 2-channel mono cassette (without Dolby) -> 2021 unknown digital transfer method -> 44.1KHz/16bit WAV files -> flacs.

Playback 2021-01-xx ::: low gen studio 44.1KHz/16bit flacs -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset, channel/phase alignment, fades, a few manual, one-at-a-time repairs, volume adjustments, #01-03 speed OK, #04-10 -1.0% single averaged correction applied pitch (speed) fix with single pass after frequency analysis, NO equalisation or noise reduction] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. Freed 2021-01-xx.

Line-up ::: Roger Knowles - acoustic guitar, vocals // Nicholas Charles "Nick" Strutt (†R.I.P. 2009†) - mandolin, acoustic guitar, bass?, vocals // Richie Bull - bass, banjo.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 699 ::: Great(!) appreciation owed to Paul H for supplying the recording. Sincere thanks to whomever uploads this for me. ::: Corrections welcome ::: These studio demos are from a tape given to Paul H. by Nick Strutt in the early seventies, which also had 3 studio demos by Bob Pegg & Nick Strutt. Perhaps material to be culled for a club or label demo, but not as is, as it isn't cleaned up, had tape deck speed ups&rough cuts, & they wouldn't send out a song as "F**k Knows", plus talking&coughing was left between trax&the #01 is a fragment. Versions of "Bull Run"/"How Low Do You Feel"&"Pinto Pony" appeared on their 1st LP, "From Natchez To Nashville"(UK/1971/Philips). They didn't cover "Fox On The Run" on either of their 2 LPs. Since "How Low Do You Feel" hadn't yet been named, referred to here as "F*ck Knows", this tape is pre-1st album & I suspect 1970, especially as the band already had appearances on "Country Meets Folk" by January '71. The drummer, Dave Hines, is not present at this session, tho' someone indicates that their sound will all be changed by adding the/a drummer, so either he's already in the band & absent, or they're anticipating adding a drummer soon, though I believe the band was generally a trio. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists! www.facebook.com/KursaalFlyers (Richie Bull)

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!