LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

• Edition: Limited CD reissue with 4 bonus tracks
• Packaging: Deluxe mini-LP-style sleeve with obi
• Booklet: 14-page booklet with liner notes, lyrics and credits
• Limited edition: 1,000 copies

Originally released by Ovation Records in 1970, Sidewalks Talking is the only known album by Chicago musicians Chuck Hollins and David Starr. Their music combines psychedelic folk, dreamy pop, jazz-influenced arrangements and occasional bursts of funk and experimental rock.

Acoustic and fuzz guitars, piano, flute, bells, brass and percussion create an unusually varied setting for the duo’s relaxed vocals and poetic songwriting. “Krishna Dov” and “John Hurt” display the album’s gentle, reflective character, while “Cry Baby Cry” and “Lovable” favour more immediate melodic arrangements.

The extended “Hard Headed Woman” provides the record’s sharpest contrast, developing through forceful rhythms, distorted guitar and dramatic orchestration. “Vivace” draws on classical music, while “Digress” and the title track return to the album’s drifting psychedelic atmosphere.

This Lion Productions edition adds the single versions of “Feelin Good” and “Lovable,” an extended outtake of “Hard Headed Woman” and an unlisted hidden track containing rare studio sound effects.

1. Talking to Myself
2. Krishna Dov
3. Cry Baby Cry
4. Twin City Prayer
5. John Hurt
6. Hard Headed Woman
7. Home?
8. Vivace (Second Movement from Unaccompanied Sonata in A Minor)
9. Lovable
10. Digress
11. Stayin High
12. Sidewalks Talkin
13. Feelin Good

14. Feelin Good – Single Version
15. Lovable – Single Version
16. Hard Headed Woman – Outtake
17. Sound Effects – Hidden Track