photo:Lori Robbins

Track List:

You Never Know

The Refugee

Long Time Gettin' Home

Still On My Mind

Down That Road Before

Mike & Mora

The Way It Should Be

Stand'n In The Shadows

We're In This Together

Martin's Song

click on song title, to listen to the track

 

Rick Robbins "time & gravity" is now available at cdbaby & iTunes music store

The itune link works best with Netscape & Safari broswers

Rick Robbins third CD Release, 10 original songs

Some words from musician, songsmith, recording artist, & producer, Rick Tiven.

There's a kid (age 60) hidin' up in the Berkshires somewhere, and he has been for quite some time now, who's just released his third album "Time & Gravity" on his own "Seeds of Man" record label. He dedicates it to his 85 year old mom. His first two 'Walkin Down the Line" and "Don't Deny My Name" were produced by Rory Block. Rick Robbins is no newcomer in lots of ways. First off, he was born in "the North" yet he is innately relaxed and rush-free, but still quick and sharp. He also seems to understand the workings and reality of Southern America and carries himself in the tradition of a complete southern gentleman. He has been actively involved in folk music in America since 1963. Together he and his best friend, as kids really, once succeeded in getting themselves arrested for littering and making a famous Hollywood movie all about it (1969). Anyway, when you listen to Time & Gravity for the first time, you'll be thankful it isn't some kid singing corny lyrics and mindless lines. Whether Rick is singing about a road he wants to take or one he's taken too many times, or for that matter a road he knows he can never take but dreams of it still, he always takes his sweet time! He may have gleaned this practice from his good friend and travel'n buddy Ramblin' Jack Elliott. The pictures he himself sees when songwriting are superbly conveyed through Bold - Confident - Brush - Stroke lyrics. Sometimes using few sentences and at times few words, he captures something that lets you feel the breeze and hear the wind up in the trees, or see how the road curves up ahead and you might even smell some fabulous perfume he's tellin' you about cause he can say it so profoundly. His low singing style voice tells tales in a compelling fashion and his delivery and tone let you know he knows what he's singing about. Production values on this project are songful, pleasing, connected, constant and simple with even a hint of sparseness. A new line-up of backing musicians are all good friends from the berkshires, who nimbly sing and play on fiddles, mandolins, acoustic & electric guitars, bass, accordion, Hammond B-3 electric organ, trumpet and trombone. They include; Rick Tiven, David Grover and his wife Kathy-Jo; Steve Ide and his wife Carol; Robby Baier; Rob Putnam; and Jeff Stevens, without their wives. Production guidance was from Rick Tiven and Rick Robbins himself. The tempos are something to listen-up to and you'll notice how these 10 original songs refuse to rush! Because the tunes don't drag, you respect how "held-back" it all is, and not only in tempo but also from the urge to overproduce, which is so easy to fall prey to in this "digitalage". Friends, thanks for listening, but the best listening is yet to come when you hear "Time & Gravity" by Rick Robbins on Seeds of Man Records. Buy in bulk, or at least get two cause you're probably gonna wear this one out.

Rick Tiven 10/06

From: Berkshire Living Magazine July 2007 Issue SCENEAROUND MAKING TRACKS RICK ROBBINS

The songs on Rick Robbins's aptly titled Time & Gravity sound like they've been around forever, but in fact this latest collection of Robbins's music - his third solo CD - features all original material. It's not surprising, however, that Robbins's music has the quality of great old American folk music; the long time Berkshirite, who now lives in Housatonic, Massachusetts, has a deep and profound connection to folk tradition, going at least as far back as 1962, when he arrived at the Stockbridge School in Interlaken, Massachusetts, and was introduced to the music of Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Leadbelly, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Cisco Houston, and that of his new best friend's father, Woody Guthrie. Soon after, Robbins hit the road with Arlo Guthrie (before the two got arrested for littering on a fabled Thanksgiving, but that's a longer story for another time) before settling down to build houses in the 1970s. He picked up his guitar again a little over ten years ago when he began making his own recordings and touring with his childhood idol, Jack Elliott. You can hear all this gritty experience in Robbins's voice, between the grooves, and in the lyrics of the songs on Time & Gravity , recorded with an all-star cast of Berkshire talent, including multi-instrumentalists Rick Tiven and Steve Ide, guitarist David Grover, Keyboardist Rob Putnan, trumpeter Jeff Stevens, and vocalists Carol Ide and Kathy Jo Grover. Catch Robbins performing live at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on Augest 5 - Seth Rogovoy


 

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Here is the play list:
Rovin Gambler
Broke Down Engine
Bandit of Brazil
I Ride an Old Paint
 Freight Train Blues
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Dylan’s Dream
 Arthritis Blues
Billy
Beautiful Brown Eyes
The South Coast
  The Last Letter
 

 click on song title, to listen to the track

photo credit : Lee Everett

Rick Robbins with Rory Block "Don't Deny My Name" (released 2001 Seeds of Man #R68927)
available at cdbaby.com and on iTunes music store This link works best with Netscape & Safari broswers
Featuring the special talents of  Garth Hudson ( The Band )
 Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour Band )
 John Sebastian ( The Lovin' Spoonful  & J Band ) and Steve Ide ( Berkshires guitar legend )

 

  Rick Robbins Walkin' Down The Line (released 1997 #RR00197CD)
available at: cdbaby and on iTunes music store This link works best with Netscape & Safari broswers
 
 
photo by Rory Block
Seeds Of Man Records
P.O. BOX 291 Housatonic, Massachusetts USA 01236 
 
 
With  special  guests: Rory Block, Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, John Sebastian,
Eric Weissberg & Larry Campbell

 

 Seeds Of Man Records Box 291, Housatonic MA 01236

 
 
Song List

Walkin' Down The Line    
Handsome Molly    
Tramp OnThe Street   
Diamond Joe   
Yankee Clipper   
Low & Lonely   
Desperados Waiting For A Train   
Buffalo Skinners   
Those Brown Eyes   
The Highway Man   
Hobo's Lullaby   
East Texas Red  
Produced by Rory Block
Photo credit : E.K. Waller
........................click on song title, to listen to the track

 

Rick & Arlo 
 
Rick  and Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Photo credit Cleveland M. Storrs
Engineered by Ron Bach@ Edit Masters, Chatham N.Y.
Scott Petito @ N.R.S. Recording Studio. Woodstock. N.Y
Greg Steele @ Derek Studios. Dalton. Ma.
Abe Guthrie @ Rising Son. Housatonic. Ma.

Mastered by Ron Bach @ LaMusica, Warren, Ct.