The Thing at the Nursery Room Window

The Thing at the Nursery Room Window Artist: Peter Lang
Label: Takoma
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Original recording reissued
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 025218891127
EAN: 0025218891127
ASIN: B00004X0RF


Release Date: 2000-08-29

Related Categories:

General General
Related | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk Traditional Folk
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Solo Instrumental Solo Instrumental
Related | New Age | Styles | Music

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Tracks:

  1. Snow Toad
  2. Muggy Friday
  3. Last Days at the Lodge
  4. Turnpike Terror
  5. R.C. Rag
  6. Adair's Song
  7. Bituminous Nightmare
  8. Wide Oval Rip-Off
  9. Young Man, Young Man, Look at Your Shoes
  10. Quetico Reel
  11. Red Meat on the Road
  12. Future Shot at the Rainbow
  13. Flames Along the Monongahela (Bonus Track)
  14. Medley: V/The Connecticut Promissory Rag (Bonus Track)
  15. Going Down the China Road (Bonus Track)

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  1. John Fahey/Peter Lang/Leo Kottke
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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A Hero Returned.......2005-07-07

He could have had a bigger career if he had stuck to music, but that's part of the dharma. Lang disappeared from the concert stage and the recording studio for something like 20 years, and when he returned he wasn't the 25 year old who recorded THE THING AT THE NURSERY ROOM WINDOW way back in 1973. That's okay, we all grow and change, but on the other hand a lot of fans who played this LP to death got tired waiting for him to come back to us.

On CD you can hear the perfection of his attack even better; the clarity of the 12 string (and 6 string) numbers is amazing. Lang's titles are always amusing: be they plain ("Adair's Song") or whimsical ("Snow Toad") or redolent of an earlier era of US and UK folk music ("Young Man, Young Man, Look at Your Shoes") the music that accompanied these little haiku titles was always apropos and surprising.

Special to this release was the inclusion of three bonus tracks that all but the dead faithful had completely forgotten about, for only one was ever actually played in concert. "Flames Along the Monongahela" takes us back to what Greil Marcus called the "old, weird America" of Harry Smith and his "Anthology of American Folk Music," or at least to MUSIC FROM BIG PINK, while "Going Down the China Road" has the delicacy of some of the Garcia/Hunter compositions of the AMERICAN BEAUTY/WORKINGMAN's DEAD era.

5 out of 5 stars Masterpice.......2001-10-05

I got this album on vynil in the mid '70's, still got it in pristine condition, Got the CD upon re-release, best solo 6 & 12 string album ever,I play it all the time and still marvel at the sheer brilliance of it.
Tony Housego - Australia

5 out of 5 stars A Music Lover's Lifetime Favorite.......2001-05-18

I purchased this album on vinyl in 1973 after hearing only the title cut on a progressive radio station in Baltimore. I actually called the radio station to find out the name of the artist and album and then waited for over a month while the local record store special-ordered it for me. It is a real gift to have it on CD, since I have been playing and recommending this impossible-to-find music to friends for two decades now. If you love solo 6- and 12-string guitar (a la Leo Kottke), this recording is for you. It has had a treasured place on my shelf right next to Kottke's armadillo album, and although I love Leo I have to admit that I've always liked Peter Lang even more! Buy it for yourself and give it as a gift. It is a work of sheer beauty.

5 out of 5 stars A truly indispensable record for guitar lovers.......2001-01-25

This recording is one of the truly indispensable collections of steel string guitar compositions. Out of the Takoma stable, Peter Lang plays with the stunning clarity and dexterity of Kottke, and the bluesy dissonance of Fahey; yet he creates a sound world that is uniquely Peter Lang. Right from the swift, bright opening of SNOW TOAD this is playing of real authority. There are some fine compositions here. Lang has his own stories to tell. LAST DAYS AT THE LODGE is a tender, reflective theme. YOUNG MAN LOOK AT YOUR SHOES is a sheer delight, and FUTURE SHOT AT THE RAINBOW is a perfect example of how Lang combines technique with compositional skill to produce works that are satisfying, thoughtful, joyful, and thoroughly unforgettable. Hear, too, the lovely BITUMINOUS NIGHTMARE. It is sad that such a talent has been so little recorded. Then again, it is difficult to see how Peter Lang could have bettered this. This reissue offers three extra tracks, which makes it all the more welcome. And they are no mere fillers; FLAMES ALONG THE MONONGAHELA is a real gem. Anyone who likes guitar music (or thinks they don't) should own this beautiful record. It is emphatically not just another slice of finger picking wizardry.Its purpose lies deeper than that, and its appeal is more lasting. I have loved this record for nearly 30 (oh my god!!!!!) years, and I keep coming back to it like a trusted friend.

5 out of 5 stars Classic Debut From a Forgotten Artist.......2000-10-14

To my knowledge this is the first CD issue of an album that's been out of print for more than twenty years. I first bought this 1973 album after hearing Peter Lang on the Leo Kottke/Peter Lang/John Fahey album. The Thing at the Nursery Room Window was Lang's first release and is full of solo folk- and classical-based acoustic guitar instrumentals--all composed by Lang. Five of these tracks run under two minutes (and R.C. Rag clocks in at a mere 51 seconds), but Lang also stretches out on some compositions like the nearly ten-minute "Future Shot at the Rainbow," and all of it makes for enjoyable listening.

This was Lang's only release on Takoma. He released three more albums in the Seventies for Flying Fish and Waterhouse Records, but made the mistake of singing--definitely not his strong suit. I'm not aware if Lang has recorded in the past twenty years, or even if he's still alive. [Lang was born in 1948, but appears to have disappeared from the music scene.] However, that does not diminish the power of this record. And the addition of three bonus tracks only makes this album all the more essential. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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