Continuing along this path of privately pressed loner/downer folk records, here’s one from a San Antonio, Texas native named William C. Beeley. Self-produced and released on a label called North Park Records, Gallivantin’ has actually drawn comparisons to Bob Dylan, whose “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” was recorded by Beeley and included as the first track on this record. There is a bit of a country feel to some of the numbers, but it’s still a somber affair. It’s not as hopeless as Bob Desper or Dave Bixby, but there is definitely an undercurrent of failure. It is an entirely solo effort; all one hears is Beeley’s voice and his guitar.
“Even with my days so near / I’ll be dead in just a year / I know not the lonely fear of laughter,” Beeley sings on “Summer Colored Skin,” is the kind of lyric that will bring an early ’70s private folk album the “loner” label, but I wouldn’t say that these songs are all downers. It’s not at all like yesterday’s Bill Clint album. By comparison these songs are light. Fingerpicked guitar, strong voice, standard lyrical themes…Gallivantin’ is more like a good folk/country record than a desperate, depressed, tortured songwriter’s record. I’ve heard he released a second album for another small label, but I have yet to track that one down.
This one hasn’t gotten the re-issue treatment yet, but Mr. Beeley definitely deserves it. I don’t know how many copies of this LP are circulating right now, but it can’t be very many. Recent copies have sold for as much as $900.
William C. Beeley
Gallivantin’
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Tracklist:
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere [Dylan]
02. Galivanter
03. Summer Colored Skin
04. Walk
05. And Then I’ll Be Gone
06. Carol
07. Easter Sunday Song
08. Seasons Are Of Never
09. Weathered Lady
10. Little Wheel Spin & Spin & Codine
