Episode 6 - Suicide On the Hillside, Downer Tunes From the ’60s and ’70s Underground

Arkivet

In this episode we’re going to focus on the downer/loner folk and singer-songwriter music of the late ‘60s to early ‘70s with an emphasis on the downer aspects. Therefore, we've tried to pick the most haunting songs, which reflects the artists most dark and tortured feeling. Human suffering has always been an inspiration for great art and many of the artists in this episode made music for therapeutic reasons as a way to cure their troubled souls or as in the case with Bob Desper, to help others in their despair. With the selection of this episode we also wanted to highlight both the reflective side, which deals with mankind’s miseries at large but also the more common introspective and self-centered side, which leans more towards the self-abusive and suicidal feelings.

As always we have included some of the true classics of the downer style but also some less discussed artists and one odd choice with Shaun Harris, who is usually not associated with this style of music.

Dave Bixby – Ode to Quetzalcoatl (No label, 1969)-Drug SongMichael Lloyd Lipitz (JMC, 1973)-Search For YouthRichard Kneeland-Present Your Errors (Gothic, 1976)-Present Your ErrorsShaun Harris-s/t (Capitol, 1973)-I’ll Cry OutBob Desper-New Sound (Rose City Sound, 1974)-To a Friend of MineBill Clint-The Crying of a Generation (Joint Artists, 1975)-Angels Don’t Need Friends