In Search of a Song

In Search of a Song
Studio album by Tom T. Hall
Released	1971
Recorded	May 1971, Mercury Custom Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee, except tracks 1 & 9, recorded March 26, 1971
Genre	Country music, Progressive country
Label	Mercury
Producer	Jerry Kennedy
Tom T. Hall chronology
One Hundred Children (1970) In search of a Song (1971) We All Got Together and... (1972)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	A[2]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[3]

In Search of a Song is a 1971 album by country singer and songwriter, Tom T. Hall. The album includes eleven songs based on Hall's observations of rural life. It became a number eight top country album and the opening track, "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" became a number one country single.

History

In Search of a Song was released amid Hall's years with Mercury Records (1969–1977) during which he released one or more albums each year (see Tom T. Hall discography). It is the first full album to result from one of Hall's "song-hunting" trips to Kentucky. Hall was known to make periodic visits to rural Kentucky. He didn't actually write songs on these trips so much as take notes and gather raw material that he would later write about. He typically traveled backroads by car, sometimes with a photographer, to find inspiration by observing and visiting with the common people of his home state.^[4]

Track listing

All songs by Tom T. Hall

1. "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" - 2:42
2. "Who's Gonna Feed Them Hogs" - 2:35
3. "Trip to Hyden" - 2:52
4. "Tulsa Telephone Book" - 2:21
5. "It Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines" - 2:53
6. "The Little Lady Preacher" - 2:53
7. "L.A. Blues" - 2:40
8. "Kentucky, February 27, 1971" - 3:16
9. "A Million Miles to the City" - 2:51
10. "Second Handed Flowers" - 2:55
11. "Ramona's Revenge" - 2:53

Personnel

Musicians

• Tom T. Hall - guitar, vocals
• Jerry Kennedy - guitar, dobro, sitar
• Ray Edenton - guitar
• Chip Young - guitar
• Harold Bradley - bass guitar, banjo
• Pete Drake - pedal steel guitar, dobro
• Bob Moore - bass
• Buddy Harman - drums
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano
• George Tidwell - trumpet
• Charlie McCoy - harmonica, vibes

Production

• Jerry Kennedy - Producer
• Recorded May 1971, Mercury Custom Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee, except tracks 1 & 9, recorded March 26, 1971

Charts

year	chart	peak
1971	U.S. Top Country	8
1971	U.S. 200	137

Releases

year	format	label	catalog #
1971	LP	Mercury	822500-1
		Mercury	SR-61350
	cassette	Mercury	822500-4
2005	reissue CD	Mercury
2005	compilation CD	Hux	71
2006	remastered CD	Hip-O Select	000424002

References

1. McCall, Michael, "Review: In Search of a Song", Allmusic
2. Christgau, Robert. "In Search of a Song". Robert Christgau.
3. Cromelin, Richard "Review: Tom T. Hall, In Search of a Song", Rolling Stone, January 6, 1972 (link via rocksbackpages.com)
4. Wolfe, Charles, K., Kentucky Country, University of Kentucky Press, 1982, p.146