THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,595) Hamilton Camp — “Travelin’ in the Dark”
Hamilton Camp (see #1,432) was the first to record and release Felix Pappalardi’s and Gail Collins’ “Travelin’ in the Dark'”, released by Bo Grumpus a year later and Pappalardi’s own Mountain four years later. Camp’s haunting account is the best version of this song about the forlorn sailors on Nantucket’s whaling ships.
Alexander Baron tells us of the song:
In an interview published in the November 20, 1971 issue of the British music paper Sounds, Felix Pappalardi said of this track “…when I’m out in Nantucket sometimes and the fog rolls in I think to myself that those dudes leaving their wives and families for three years to go around the Cape and not seeing anybody for that time, it’s a long and frightening break and all those references are there.” He was referring specifically to the Nantucket whaling ships; for about forty years, from 1800, the island of Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world. The Brooklyn-born Pappalardi wrote most of the lyrics for this song, which was co-written with Gail Collins, his girlfriend, wife and killer – in that order! (She shot Felix in 1983, killing him at age 41.) They started writing it in 1964, wrote most of it in 1965, and it was recorded in 1967. “Travellin’ In The Dark” is not quite as well known as “Nantucket Sleighride,” a song that was also inspired by the Nantucket whaling industry, and which might be described as a true-life horror story.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/mountain/travellin-in-the-dark
I guess Felix might have said towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering Gail.
As to Camp’s LP (Here’s to You), Richie Unterberger is not particularly complimentary:
Like many veterans of the early-’60s folk revival, Camp eventually moved into arrangements with a rhythm section and full-band accompaniment. Here’s to You is peculiar, though, in that it’s not so much folk-rock as folk-pop, with over-rich orchestrated arrangements that come close to Los Angeles sunshine pop. Top L.A. session dudes Van Dyke Parks . . . Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, and Jerry Scheff . . . all played on the LP, with Felix Pappalardi — a veteran of folk-rock session playing and production himself with Fred Neil [see #344], Ian & Sylvia, and the Youngbloods — producing. But though Camp’s singing is moving, with a slightly pinched, pained, and earnest quality, the tunes are ordinary folk-rock-pop, made to sound fruitier by the buoyant, sometimes inordinately happy-go-lucky settings. . . . [P]eriod reverb and Bud Shank’s eerie, swirling flute give “Lonely Place” a whiff of strained psychedelia . . . . Sometimes it sounds like a combination of late-’60s Beau Brummels [see #713] (who were good) with the misbegotten attempts by Glenn Yarbrough to record orchestrated folk-pop in the same era (which were bad).
What can I say, I love the album. A “whiff of strained psychedelia”? Unterberger makes Camp out to be a constipated hippie! Camp out? I crack myself up!
As to Hamilton Camp, Craig Harris writes that:
Whether performing solo or in a duo with Bob Gibson, Hamilton Camp served as one of the links between the Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger folk music of the ’40s and the singer/songwriter school of Bob Dylan [see #126, 823, 1,133, 1,162, 1,495], Tom Paxton, and Phil Ochs in the ’60s. Camp’s tune “Pride of Man” was covered by Quicksilver Messenger Service in 1967, while the Camp/Gibson collaboration “Well, Well, Well” was recorded by Simon & Garfunkel on their debut album . . . . In the early ’60s, Camp and Gibson played in clubs, coffeehouses, and festivals throughout the United States. Their most influential album, At the Gate of Horn, was recorded in 1961 at the famed Chicago folk club. When the duo separated, Camp continued to perform as a soloist. His debut solo album was a live recording at the same club in 1963 . . . . Camp’s musical career was ultimately dwarfed by his success as an actor. First attracting attention for his skills in improvisation as a member of Second City in Chicago and the Committee in San Francisco, Camp played recurring roles in such TV series as He & She in 1967, Too Close for Comfort in 1980, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1993. In addition to appearing in such films as American Hot Wax (1978), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Eating Raoul (1982), and Dick Tracy (1990), his voice was heard in animated movies including The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1993), Pebble and the Penguin (1995), and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1996).
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hamilton-camp-mn0000557674#biography
Camp’s website adds:
Hamilton’s career in music goes back four and a half decades, to his initial association with Bob Gibson. Brought together by Albert Grossman, a master at identifying musical talent (Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot [see #92, 167, 392], Peter, Paul and Mary [see #1,307], the Canadian duo Ian and Sylvia, as well as Bob Gibson and Bob Camp were in his “stable” at roughly the same time), Hamilton performed with Bob Gibson at the 1960 Newport Folk Festival, and they then went on to many performances together at the Gate Of Horn, a Chicago folk club. Performing then as Bob Camp, he and Bob Gibson recorded one of the most influential folk albums of its time, Bob Gibson and Bob Camp at the Gate of Horn”, recorded in April, 1961. Their song, “You Can Tell The World”, was picked up by Simon and Garfunkel and appears on their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM. “Well, Well, Well” was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and Ian and Sylvia. Although Gibson and Camp did not stay together long, each going his own separate way in a different part of the country, and in Hamilton’s case concentrating on acting, they got together many times over the next three decades to reprise their early performances. . . . In addition to his groundbreaking work with Bob Gibson, Hamilton cut several solo albums for Elektra and Warner Bros in the 60s and 70s. His debut solo album was Paths of Victory in 1964, an amazing album including no less than seven Dylan covers, some of them very obscure. . . . In 1965, Hamilton returned to the Newport Folk Festival . . . . In 1967, Hamilton released his second solo album, Here’s To You; the title song reached #76 on the Billboard pop charts, and was recorded by Ian & Sylvia for their 1968 album Full Circle. Two years later (1969) he released Welcome To Hamilton Camp, and in 1973 he released an album with a group of friends (Skymonters).
Here is Bo Grumpus (’68):
Here is Mountain (’71):
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,000 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 