We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Stories in the Dark

by John Coster

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      $1 USD  or more

     

1.
Ghost Town 05:51
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

about

This album was remastered two years ago by Joe Phillips as a labor of love. Joe was a songwriter and recording engineer with whom I crossed paths a few times in the old days. He was a great guy and musician and he knew how to master albums. He'd worked on many major label projects in NYC. Joe liked this album a lot back in the day and wanted to see it properly preserved. He brought the album back to life along with memories of a very intense time in my musical history. Joe died of brain cancer last year, and he is sorely missed by many.

This album captured the romantic folk rock sound of the 1980s Medicine Band. It featured my first vocals with Susannah Keith, some classic guitar playing by Ricky King, and solid groove from Arthur Toole and Dave Kida, then from Chetz Keegan and Dale Monette after Arthur and Dave left the Valley.

The project started when John Hammond at Columbia Records got me together with Al Shackman who Hammond though could help me properly record my songs. Al was Nina Simone's long time music director and a force on many well known recordings that Hammond had a hand in. The project started in Al's Northampton Studio on Allen Place, but it was a turbulent time for a lot of us personally and the final product didn't come into existence till we'd worked at the 19 in Glastonbury Ct with Ronnie Scalise and Jonathan Fried, then after an independent label, October Records, bought in, finished up with Bruce Seifried at a small studio in Loudville.

The album made it to the top of the Valley Advocate's list of ten best regional records of the 1980s. A couple of songs got decent airplay, particularly Ghost Town, which actually got some play in Jamaica of all places. Well, nobody got rich and time moved on. I ended up making some records in NY with Susannah and starting a whole new chapter in my life. The album hasn't been available here on Bandcamp before.
I'm surprised listening to it for the first time in a long while. The rhythm boys did a really good job. Susannah's voice, as critics pointed out, really added a special dimension. And Rick King's guitar playing, well even after all this time and working with guys like Jeff Pevar and Dan Toler, Rick's solos on this record really blow me away.

credits

released October 10, 1986

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

John Coster Northampton, Massachusetts

contact / help

Contact John Coster

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like John Coster, you may also like: