Aereo-Plain
| Aereo-Plain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by John Hartford | ||||
| Released | September,1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1971 | |||
| Genre | Bluegrass | |||
| Length | 40:04 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | David Bromberg | |||
| John Hartford chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Stylus | favorable |
Aereo-Plain is American musician John Hartford's groundbreaking bluegrass album released in 1971. It reached number 193 on The Billboard 200 chart.
The music on Aereo-Plain is a blend of traditional bluegrass musicianship, and the hippie spirit of the '70s. The album sold so poorly that Warner Bros. decided to devote no promotion at all to Hartford's next release Morning Bugle. Nevertheless, Aereo-Plain has been called the forerunner of the genre now known as "Newgrass". Hartford subsequently asked to be released from his contract and later signed with Flying Fish Records.
The other members of the Aereo-Plain Band were bluegrass veterans Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, and Randy Scruggs. The sessions were controlled but relaxed, as Taylor commented, "John let us play what we wanted to play. 'Cause that's one of the beautiful parts about it—he just let us get in there and pick." Producer David Bromberg recounted, "We'd sit around and smoke pot and play "Sally Goodin" for an hour and a half. That approach kind of became, after awhile, newgrass." Hartford instructed Bromberg to "let the tapes roll, we don't want to hear playbacks until you've put the master together."
In 2002 Steam Powered Aereo-Takes was released, which was a collection of outtakes and demos from the recording sessions for this album.
The cover features a bearded, long-haired Hartford wearing old style, aviator goggles, a distinct contrast from his previous appearance as a regular on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. On the original LP, the title is spelled "Aereo-Plain" but the title of the song is labeled "Steam Powered Aereo-plane".
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