A contemporary of Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley & Bob Dylan, Tim Rose was an influential singer songwriter, who has long been held in high regard as an outstanding interpreter of songs. During the 90’s he rode a wave of rediscovery following Nick Cave’s patronage, covering a Rose song ‘Long Time Man’ and inviting Rose to appear at the Royal Albert Hall with him in 1997, followed by UK TV performances. Sadly cut short by Rose untimely passing away in 2002.
RPM presents the recordings made during 1975-1977. It resulted in one LP, The Musician released in 1975 through Atlantic Records, and a second, The Gambler recorded during 1976/7, which was unreleased at the time. Both LPs feature a stellar cast of contributing session musicians. Notably featuring Rose’s good friend at the time Andy Summers on guitar on both albums, and BJ Cole - Steel guitar on both albums also.
The rich vocal sound on both albums is headed by Rose’s gravel-voiced delivery augmented through the backing vocals on The Musician from Tina Charles and Clare Torrey ; The Gambler from Liza Strike, Jacqui Sullivan and Vicki Brown. Both LPs present excellent Rose original songs plus stand out versions of The Band’s Small Town Talk and Neil Young’s Old Man.
In addition there are contemporary reworkings of Morning Dew and Hey Joe recorded with The Musician producer Jonathan Rowlands, and both presented in a gutsier guise. The original albums have both been unavailable for a considerable time, thus making this pairing a welcome addition to the Rose catalogue for many fans. This reissue follows the successful earlier pairing by RPM of the albums Love A Kind of Hate Story (1970) and Tim Rose (1972) .
