Merrell Fankhauser - S/T LP
After his stint with Fapardokly, HMS Bounty and Mu, Merrell Fankhauser released his first solo album in 1976. Containing songs written a year earlier while Merrell and violin player Mary Lee were living in the jungle of Maui, this is a brilliant set of spiritual folk-rock and light orchestrated pop. The album was recorded at various Hollywood studios, initially sponsored by a producer from George Harrison's Dark Horse label. In fact, Harrison was so impressed with Merrell's songs that he expressed interest in playing slide guitar on "On Our Way to Hana." Sadly, due to internal problems, Dark Horse backed off and Merrell found himself without a label to release the album. Finally, a couple of friends from Maui released it on the small Maui Music label. On the recordings, Merrell and Mary Lee were joined by several studio musicians, among them drummer Bill Berg, who had played on Bob Dylan's Blood On the Tracks (1975). This reissue of Fankauser's self-titled debut, which has also been reissued as The Maui Album and Maui, features master tape sound, tracks restored to their original running order, original artwork, and an insert with in-depth liner notes by Jeremy Cargill (Ugly Things, Got Kinda Lost), presenting the most complete written story about Merrell's musical career.