Tom Rush was an important influence for me 'way back around '63-'64 when I first picked up the guitar. Back then, he was not recording any self-penned numbers, strictly his interpretations of songs he had learned.

When I got his eponymous Vanguard album (I assume it was his first recording), I was slightly taken aback that he included songs by Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly along with other material with more conventionally "folk" provenance. Even though I was starting to develop "folk-snob" attitudes around that time, I was totally charmed by Tom Rush's acoustic-guitar-and-vocal renditions of "Too Much Moneky Business" and "Who Do You Love" (along with the other stuff on that great record), and forever after kept an open mind about what kind of songs I could allow myself to listen to and to learn.

I always liked Rush's style, both vocal and instrumental, and liked the idea that he was a Harvard student (and graduate?) who aspired to make his living as a performer rather than as a lawyer, accountant, diplomat, etc. I remember telling my mom about Tom Rush's university affiliation, thinking it was a good thing, and being surprised at her reaction ~ it's bad enough that anyone would waste his time with that stupid folk music, but infinitely worse to waste such an expensive education!

Towards the end of the 1960s, I kinda drifted along with many of contemporaries from folk to folk-blues to "folk-rock" to psychedelia and rock/pop, and sorta lost track of Tom Rush for a while, missing out on the period when he began writing more and more original material. I certainly remember "No Regrets," but I'm not really familiar with any of the other titles mentioned above.

I'm sure his original material is very good, because I believe that he's the kind of guy who would never perform a song of his own unless he was satisified with its high quality. He certainly always had high standards (and very eclectic standards!) in choosing songs written by others for his working repertoire.

Despites once having aspirations to "become" a songwriter, I do not write at all and find complete creative satisfaction in coming up with intrumental arrangements and vocal interpretations for existing songs that I know and love. Nothing wrong with that, and there are plenty of artists far greater than myself who have succeeded by taking that approach. Tom Rush, Dave Van Ronk, Janis Joplin....

As my monthly email flyer regularly promises:

No originals ~ all PROVEN material!
Cringe-free listening experience guaranteed