Busloads of artists have made recordings that diverged from their standard identity. Sometimes, as with Indian War Whoop by the Holy Modal Rounders, the efforts took them further away from the mainstream. Often, though, efforts to achieve a more stable commercial footing have ended up capsizing the whole enterprise, perplexing fans and winning no new converts (as with Captain Beefheart’s Unconditionally Guaranteed). Familiar Songs by Tom Rapp of the band Pearls Before Swine falls more or less into the latter category, though its legacy is further clouded by the factors that went into its original release by Warner/Reprise in 1972.
Reprise had originally wanted to do a “best of” collection, drawn from the four Pearls Before Swine albums they had already issued. Rapp and three musicians went into the studio with an eye toward recasting some of Rapp’s songs in a new manner. Rapp wisely determined that the fairly middle-of-the-road country-rock arrangements were an odd fit with his idiosyncratic songs, which tied a poetic sensibility, literary conceits and a human-scaled sort of mysticism to his lisping vocals.
Shelving the tapes as a failed experiment, Rapp was caught by surprise when they turned up in the guise of this album (a circumstance made possible by the usual triumvirate of naive artist, snaky manager and large corporation).
Removed from the then-stalling arc of Rapp’s musical career, these recordings are now able to luxuriate as they are, free from the expectations of the 1972 Pearls Before Swine fan base. The opening measures of the album sound like Traffic, into which rushes a chorus given semi-ludicrous heft by layering on a dose of the era’s fascination with gospel-fueled backup vocals. That may sound like a criticism, but it’s not; it’s just one example of the winning charm contained within this time capsule.
“If You Don’t Mind (I Don’t Mind)” wears its hippie cowpoke clothes with believable flair, and even the stab at uptown funkiness on “Charley And The Lady” keeps afloat with oddly compelling background vocal flourishes.
It’s not surprising that Rapp shelved the album or that Reprise originally released it without his knowledge. But it is a nice surprise that Familiar Songs has passed through 32 years with a commendable dignity that now carries the day.