eugene chadbourne / albums

Recorded in studio for the most part with Tom Cora, David Licht, and Michael Kramer forming the core of the LSD C&W band and a bunch of rock and country musicians (including John Zorn) filling in the gaps, LSD C&W: The History of the Chadbournes in America came out in 1987 as a two-LP set. At the time, the Doctor was in a great creative period, churning out album after album of crazy country-rock covers and mad improvs. This project is country-oriented, but it doesn't prevent a hefty Beatles medley, a couple of Hendrix songs, or even a tune by Albert Ayler (that's jazz, folks). Roger Miller, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash rank among the artists whose songs go through Chadbourne's grinder. Wacky guitar solos, weird tape editing, excited tempos, some fantastic cello playing from Cora, and that special kind of humor you get whenever you try to fix the words "avant" and "Western" together, that's what this album has to offer. More anarchic than Vermin of the Blues or 69th Sinfunny -- and therefore a little less good -- this set remains the best document of the Chadbournes. Its reissue on the Doctor' label, House of Chadula, adds a lot of extra material from 1981 concerts with Cora, Licht, Kramer, and Zorn (sound quality is shaky, be warned) and tampers with the original track list, omitting some material in the process. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide