Baldwin and Leps – s/t (Vanguard/Comet Records 1971)

This really obscure folk rock duo released just one album, but it’s a hidden treasure and certainly worth owning for the avid folk rock collector! That was the conclusion. Little or nothing is known about these two, other than the fact that one of them played guitar (both acoustic and electric) and the other one violin. They were clearly skilled musicians, and great composers as well. Oh by the way, they weren’t totally alone making this album – there’s a drummer and a bassist here too. The whole first side of the LP consists of five songs that together form one continuous suite called ‘Calamandantine Brown’. The suite features several melodic themes, and all of them are great! The tempo is often fast paced, and their songs are often groovy and cool, but you’ll also hear melancholic folk here. It all works beautifully. It seems to me that this is a concept album, about three hippy friends – two guys and one gal – going on a trip to California (not exactly an uncommon thing to do for hippies back when this album was released, even though the real hippy period was over by then). On this trip, they experiment with various…stuff, and this young woman obviously gets into some deep existential thinking too! Very interesting indeed, and of course: Groooovy! It also seems like Baldwin and Leps were against anything that smelled even remotely like urbanism, and why the hell not? I applaude. To quote from the lyrics in their song called ‘Blues for the City’: ‘I’m so tired of livin’ in the city, you now people movin’ so fast, their heads hangin’ down. I don’t need another mans pity, all I need is a little bit of your sweet sweet love. I’m gonna take you down to a river in the country air, so clean it’s gonna make you high”. Amen. But my absolute favourite song on this excellent album, is the very last one: ‘Beg Your Sweet Pardon’. The refrain goes: ‘I got to beg you sweet pa-a-rdon for wat I’m gonna do to you!’ This one swings like hell, and features great and of course groooovy electric guitar as well! It should also be mentioned that Baldwin and Leps were great singers, and especially one of them (I don’t know who) had a very authoritarian way of singing! I mean that in the best way possible. So as you understand, I love this album. It should be known by a lot more people, but it’s also cool that this will forever remain an obscure gem of an album. Get it, if you can find it!