Yoga rescues yet another truly sick private press LP from the obscurest of obscurity, the RFD's "Lead Me Home," from 1971. A Jesus-loving band specializing in mellow acid folk, heavily hippie/drugged-out underpinnings are juxtaposed against the Christian need to walk a straight and narrow path. Yes, contradictions abound but those confounding moments are some of the best parts.
I once read that the time when there were the most active bands in the US was 1967, right after the release of Sgt. Peppers. Basically, everyone heard that record and started a band. Literally, everyone. If that's a true statistic or an urban legend I'm not sure, but each month there are more reissues of late '60s "Private Press" records. Amazing unearthed artifacts of raw obscurities and dog-eared jams by bands that never made it out of the basement, let alone their hometowns. The RFD's Lead Me Home is a standout example of a truly sick private press record in the ways it both follows the aesthetic of this phenomenon and also befuddles. Okay, under 500 copies originally released on a private label in 1971? Check. Ridiculous non-self conscious band name (RFD stood for "Russ, Fred and Dan", the founding members of the group)? Check. Tripped-out record cover, low-budget home recording, naive lyrics shouldered in astute-yet-understated mellow acid folk songs? All this checks out, but the RFD was also apparently a Christian rock band? Lead track "He Is Coming" fits the mold perfectly for a sub-categorical d.i.y./post-Byrds/stoned at home jam except for the male/female reverb-touched harmonies about Christ "coming in his golden glory." Oh, yeah, a lady named Debbie adds a lot to the record but somehow she and drummer Larry got left out of the acronym. Despite the possible conflict between the heavily hippie/drugged-out underpinnings of the album and the Christian need to walk a straight and narrow path, there also seems to be a conflict in the songs between God's glory and a deep sense of Vietnam-era alienation. Simply stated tunes like "Why Do I Feel Alone?" and "On the Outside Looking In" don't do a lot to obfuscate this theme. Much like the Tony Caro & John record, another stunning private press item that found wider re-release a few years back, the RFD finds textures and ideas that would have been impossible within the confines of record labels, professional equipment and legitimate studios, even in 1971. There's a sense of passion and excitement that's unique to the homespun world of self-edited, self-informed, self-everything songwriting. Contradictions abound and those confounding moments are some of the best parts.
-Fred Thomas (September 26, 2008)
LINER NOTES:
ABOUT THE RFD
Dan and I (Fred) worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories in the late 1960’s. Dan was playing guitar in the stage band which entertained some 2,000 engineers each month in an auditorium which was very large and had superb acoustics. I joined the band several months later to play bass and banjo. At the same time, I was playing banjo in a Dixieland band called the Dixie Doodles. Dan and I started meeting during lunch times to “jam” on current folk rock songs, both of us playing guitar. It was a lot of fun. Later we discovered Russ as he was playing guitar in a “practice room.” He played in a style made famous by James Taylor and also Simon and Garfunkel. We began “jamming” together during lunch times, and began performing at the Bell Labs auditorium with a group called the Leather Suede. Our guitar styles greatly complimented each other.
After a year of this, I began writing songs which were more Christian folk rock than the songs we had been performing up to that time. Russ, Dan and I broke away and formed our own group, RFD (Russ, Fred and Dan). We began to give concerts at Bell Labs, and churches in the Chicago area. One day we gave a concert at a large hospital, and became acquainted with Debbie. After that, we began giving larger concerts in auditoriums and also served as an opening group for “well known bands” doing concerts in the Chicago area.
Eventually, we got a drummer (Larry) and a manager (Bob) to help arrange concert schedules. We became quite well known in the area and even were on the radio being interviewed. Bob told us that we would need to “cut” an album (LP), and increase the number of concerts. We did that and then Bob tried to convince us to start giving concerts all over the USA.
At that point we discussed what we wanted to do. Russ wanted to go to Law School and become a Lawyer. Dan wanted to move to Seattle and become a Forest Engineer. Debbie wanted to move to California and continue nursing. I wanted to attend Princeton Theological Seminary. So we gave a large farewell concert and went our separate ways. We never kept in contact, and basically lost track of each other. I’ve formed several bands since then, but never really became serious after we “broke up”. I have written over 75 songs which are all copy written and in the US Library of Congress files.
Three years ago we found each other again because of the internet. We have talked about getting together again for fun, but haven’t done anything yet. Debbie lives in California, Dan lives in Arizona, Russ lives in Illinois, and I live in New Jersey.
I hope this helps you to know some of our history. The Lord brought us together, and we have been blessed in our individual lives. Things could have been different if we had done what Bob suggested, but we have enjoyed life greatly as it is. God is good.
God Bless.
FHS
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