Elephantasia, by Dave Evans

Elephantasia

by Dave Evans

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peelthepaint Another lovely album from Dave Evans which follows on nicely from 'The Words In Between' but sadly without Adrienne. Nevertheless, essential to any folk collection. Favorite track: Only Blue.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Elephantasia via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Elephantasia via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Only Blue 04:55	buy track
2.	Elephantasia 02:35	buy track
3.	Lady Portia 03:11	buy track
4.	That's My Way 02:34	buy track
5.	On The Run 03:59	buy track
6.	St Agnes Park 03:38	buy track
7.	Beauty Queen 04:14	buy track
8.	Ten Ton Tasha 02:06	buy track
9.	Earth, Wind, Sun & Rain 04:19	buy track
10.	Take Me Easy 03:49	buy track

about

‘Elephantasia’ is a glorious folk opus from 1972, long lost and attaining a legendary reputation for its candour and creativity, from the late Bangor-born singer/songwriter Dave Evans. Finally, the LP sees the light of day again via Earth Recordings, it is a true gem from the vaults of British folk history. For fans of Nick Drake, Bill Fay and Davy Graham – with a touch of Michael Chapman, Bert Jansch and Fahey for good measure.

Dave Evans’ story is like a Pinter play; he sailed the seas in the merchant navy, was taught guitar in a brief interlude by the “mythical” Morocco John, wound up sharing a room with Steve Tilston in 1963 when they attended Loughborough Art College and ran the local folk club, while learning to make stringed instruments, the art of wine making and ceramics. Over the next year, Dave got a domestic 2-track reel-to-reel tape recorder and experimented with its two speeds to produce the tracks ‘Elephantasia’ and ‘Lady Portia’. He pulled in members of local prog band Squidd, including latter day Hawkwind member Steve Swindells on keyboards, John Merritt on bass and Rodney Matthews on drums, who also designed the ‘Elephantasia’ album cover, and went on to become a renowned fantasy artist.

‘Elephantasia’ – the album – was originally released in 1972, fully exposing Dave’s finger picking style, lilting vocal and his dalliance with the tape manipulation. It sold around 2000 copies and over the years became a talked about rarity, deemed too progressive for folk, too folk for the new prog heads. In best plot-thickening style, Dave tried two more releases and then disappeared. The scant sleeve notes recounted the songs’ creation, featuring tales of experimentation in sound inspired by elephants, old memories recounted with all of the unpleasant bits edited out, storylines for escapists, the residents of St Agnes Park, broken beauty queens and a fat feline. It’s an eclectic but beautifully fluent narrative from a finger picking maestro with a warm and engaging vocal style that wowed Peel and Whispering Bob back in the day.

Dave Evans sadly died in April 2021. Earth Recordings is proud to reissue ‘Elephantasia’ for the first time in over 50 years, in collaboration with his estate and original Village Thing producer Ian A. Anderson.

credits

released November 24, 2023

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about

Dave Evans Bristol, UK

shows

Jul 7

Gärdet

Stockholm, Sweden

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