Dave Evans – Elephantasia

Earth Recordings have already cracked the seal on the Dave Evans catalog, and with Elephantasia, they continue the dive into his woefully overlooked works. The Words In Between is Evans in mostly solo stance, with a few backup vocals sprinkled in, recorded straight to tape in songwriter/label-head Ian Anderson’s apartment. This is his first formal album, also mostly home-recorded, though the close atmosphere only serves to bolster Evans’ intimate, fingerpicked style and confessional songwriting. With members of long lost prog band Squidd behind him, there are some more robust arrangements on Elephantasia, finding Steve Swindells (Hawkwind) on keyboards, John Merritt on bass and Rodney Matthews on drums. The record also plays a bit with effects, utilizing a two-track recorded to affect speeds on some songs, pushing the bounds of the album past the point of some of his more staid contemporaries.

That touch of prog, along with Evans’ darker lyrics left him in a bit of a limbo — not heavy enough for the burgeoning progressive scene, not quite as buttoned up as the Renbourn/Jansch/Drake school of songwriting. Though he’s certainly digging into the same dirt as those three, it’s easy to see how the record can tip towards the well of Tull and Jan Dukes De Grey. The record has languished fifty years out of print, but now Earth has restored it to its rightful place in the folk pantheon, sounding as furrowed and fine as ever, an essential companion to The Words In Between. Don’t close those year-end lists just yet (seriously, stop that) there’s more gold to be found here.

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