Ian Young - I Had A Dream (1972)

Ian Young - Not For Sale (Spectangle Productions, 1972) This laid-back folk rock delight comes from Australian musician Ian Young, an obscure singer-songwriter with a distinctively warm and soulful voice. Scarce information suggests that Ian immigrated to Tasmania from South Africa sometime in the mid-1960s. He played in unrecorded Hobart bands 1812 and One Ton Rock. Both bands were part of the Tasmanian rock music scene in the late 1960s and early 70s. He also performed as a solo act around the Tasmanian folk clubs during this time. This particular solo album 'Not For Sale', housed in a beautiful hand-painted textured sleeve, was one of three extremely rare releases on Nick Armstrong’s studio label ‘Spectangle Productions’, which was based out of Spectangle Studios in Hobart. This studio was also later the home of the interesting Basket and Candle labels, which produced wonderful albums by artists such as Howard Eynon, Ian Paulin, Steve Warner and Martin McBain. Reportedly only 50 copies of this record were pressed for promotional purposes - hence the title of the album - making it one of Australia's rarest releases from the 1970s. ‘Not for Sale’ is an American-influenced mix of stripped-down acoustic folk, rustic folk rock and gritty acoustic blues, with Ian’s soulful vocals at the forefront. At times, the style of his songs recall American folksinger Dave Van Ronk or Van Morrison circa-1970; Van’s songs ‘And It Stoned Me’ and ‘Brand New Day’ are good reference points. His deep, gravelly voice on the downer folk-blues track ‘Down Around’ even resembles the whiskey-soaked tone of a mature Tom Waits. ‘Cremorne Ferry’ and ‘To Be Really There’ have an acoustic soul-folk vibe that reminded me of Rodriguez or even Ben Harper circa 2000s. Listening to this record, I also get the same homespun warmth that I get when listening to Ted Lucas’s eponymous debut album from 1976. Fans of his will dig some of the tracks on here; ‘Tex’s Song’ in particular sounds like a playful Lucas song. Lyrically, there is a strong introspective, ‘downer’ vibe to Ian’s lyrics with references to depression and failed relationships. But these moments of darkness are balanced by bright moments of optimism and hope. The production is a low-budget affair: most of the songs consist of Ian’s voice and acoustic guitar with occasional backing vocals, clean electric lead guitar, harmonica, piano, bass and drums. There are also three instrumentals played on either guitar or piano. Much of the material presented are originals, except for two acoustic-blues covers of Chuck Berry’s ‘No Money Down’ and Robert Johnson's ‘Me and the Devil’ and a lovely rendition of Audience’s classic ‘I Had a Dream’. The latter features a full backing band including horns and gospel backing vocals. Although some original tracks do sound like skeletal and underdeveloped demos – the instrumentals particularly sound like fillers - his mature singing and the overall down-to-earth charm make up for it. It is a perfect laid-back album for a lazy Sunday afternoon and one that will especially appeal to collectors who enjoy a roots-y American folk sound a la Ted Lucas or Steve Young. Apart from this record, it seems Ian’s only other solo release was a live blues CD recorded in the 1990s. As a session musician, he played harmonica on Australian singer / songwriter Terry Hannagan’s 1971 release ‘Tired from the Trip’ on Harvest Records. He also contributes one song on an Australian blues album by the College Blues Society called ‘Trackin’ the Blues’, released on Candle Records in 1975. Sadly, Ian passed away in the 2010s, so these recordings may unfortunately be his only output.