Barstow — Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a highway railing near Barstow, California (1941/68)

Notes
  1. Today I Am a Man
  2. Gentlemen
  3. Considered Pretty
  4. A very Good Idea
  5. Possible Rides
  6. Jesus Was God in the Flesh
  7. You Lucky Women
  8. Why in Hell did you Come?

Voices ~ Boo ~ Chromelodeon ~ Diamond Marimba ~ Surrogate Kithara

Program note by John Schneider:

The legendary 1969 Columbia recording of Barstow imprinted the work in the imaginations of a generation, and like US Highball that followed, it underwent numerous orchestrations. Hitchhiker graffiti is put to music, telling the tale of eight wanderers – some funny, some sad, but always engaging when seen through the lens of Partch’s re-telling. He gives us an earthy and poignant first-hand account that is unique in the world of music, one that is sure to become a permanent part of our American cultural landscape. Taken along with the rest of his Americana from the 1940’s, Partch has created a body of work that places him shoulder to shoulder with the two best-loved storytellers of the era, John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie.

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