Lighting Up "Red Hash"
"Red Hash" is my favorite moody morning album of the moment. It's displaced Jim Croce, who is, granted, way more upbeat. I still ove the Croce, but "Red Hash" is, to me, 100% new. It was released in 1973 by this dude named Gary Higgins--a real ginger hippy, with this scraggly long red beard and an imposhly stoned-looking countenence.
I read about "Red Hash" in Kid Millions' blog. He's the drummer for Oneida, my favorite "now" band. All members of Oneida have blogs on the band's website, but Kid updates his the most, and it's the most irreverent. He listens to all kinda stuff, including Third Eye Blind. I'm no Third Eye Blind lover, but I do likes me some pretty uncool stuff, like OMD and Heart. In fact, I LOVE OMD and Heart. To me, music is good if it sounds good. Coolness has nothing to do with it, which is perhaps why most new music these days--Pitchfork-cool music--leaves me either retching or, much more often, very underwhelmed.
So one day I red KM's blog entry about Gary Higgins, this long-lost trippy-hippy folksinger whose supposed underground classic album "Red Hash" was just re-released by Drag City records. The words "psychedelic folk" caught my eye. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, which I think (somewhat bizzarely) is the doing of my parents' early '70s musical tastes. My folks were straight shooters and only messed around with legal vices like alcohol and cigs (my Dad, mainly), but they had lots of Simon & Garfunkel and Mamas & Papas LPs--sort of mainstreamy psychedelic stuff, sure, but as a kid I loved to listen to it.
I finally found the CD when Joe and I were in Portland. I'd been looking for it for a few weeks, stupidly searching for "Red Hash" and not "Higgins, Gary." My curiosity was burning: would I be treated to a masterpiece, or disappointed with a bunch of overhyped, wet junk? Well, once I got the CD home I dicovered that it's full of subtle, soporificially soothing moments. There's a little bit of "Meddle"-era Pink Floyd in its atmospherics and even some barky, gravely vocals that pre-date Tom Waits' rough growl. I don't think it's a rediscovered masterpiece (masterpiece is a very overused term), but it's a damn good record and I enjoy it a lot.
Higgins spent 2 years in jail on a marijuana possesion charge directly after the album's release. That stinks, but I do wonder if the album's title refers to reefer. To me, it is reminiscent of the term red flannel hash, which I think is corned beef hash made with beets. I always think in terms of food, not of drugs.
I read about "Red Hash" in Kid Millions' blog. He's the drummer for Oneida, my favorite "now" band. All members of Oneida have blogs on the band's website, but Kid updates his the most, and it's the most irreverent. He listens to all kinda stuff, including Third Eye Blind. I'm no Third Eye Blind lover, but I do likes me some pretty uncool stuff, like OMD and Heart. In fact, I LOVE OMD and Heart. To me, music is good if it sounds good. Coolness has nothing to do with it, which is perhaps why most new music these days--Pitchfork-cool music--leaves me either retching or, much more often, very underwhelmed.
So one day I red KM's blog entry about Gary Higgins, this long-lost trippy-hippy folksinger whose supposed underground classic album "Red Hash" was just re-released by Drag City records. The words "psychedelic folk" caught my eye. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, which I think (somewhat bizzarely) is the doing of my parents' early '70s musical tastes. My folks were straight shooters and only messed around with legal vices like alcohol and cigs (my Dad, mainly), but they had lots of Simon & Garfunkel and Mamas & Papas LPs--sort of mainstreamy psychedelic stuff, sure, but as a kid I loved to listen to it.
I finally found the CD when Joe and I were in Portland. I'd been looking for it for a few weeks, stupidly searching for "Red Hash" and not "Higgins, Gary." My curiosity was burning: would I be treated to a masterpiece, or disappointed with a bunch of overhyped, wet junk? Well, once I got the CD home I dicovered that it's full of subtle, soporificially soothing moments. There's a little bit of "Meddle"-era Pink Floyd in its atmospherics and even some barky, gravely vocals that pre-date Tom Waits' rough growl. I don't think it's a rediscovered masterpiece (masterpiece is a very overused term), but it's a damn good record and I enjoy it a lot.
Higgins spent 2 years in jail on a marijuana possesion charge directly after the album's release. That stinks, but I do wonder if the album's title refers to reefer. To me, it is reminiscent of the term red flannel hash, which I think is corned beef hash made with beets. I always think in terms of food, not of drugs.
posted by Lefty at 8:56 AM
2 Comments:
I need to hear me some Red Hash. I'll listen to it tonight, maybe?
Red hash is a type of hashish that probably comes from a certain strain of marijuana (with reddish color) or country. (Hash is the sticky resin that marijuana has on it and is basically pure THC, a cleaner, clearer, yet more powerful high.) The European way is to smoke hash mixed with tobacco. My cousin had some hash in Holland, took public transportation later (train), and had to lie down on the floor of the train, unable to get up. (He missed his stop.) As marijuana in general has become stronger and stronger over the years, I imagine the hash has too.
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