In the late 90s a CD album appeared in my collection and I had no memory of how or when I acquired it. Maybe it was this ‘mystical’ appearance that stopped me from playing it for several years… but play it I eventually did. The artist was Rainer and the album was called WORRIED SPIRITS, and the reason I eventually got round to playing it was because in 2002 I received another album by Rainer called THE FARM.

Few other albums have had such an emotional impact on me. There was something about THE FARM that was different but I couldn’t put my finger on precisely what it was. The blues songs and vocals were beautiful and deeply moving, the National Steel guitar work quite extraordinary, the overall ambience live and real.

This album became the subject of a ‘Revelations’ radio show on Wed June 30th, if ou missed it check out http://soundcloud.com/krazyj where you can listen again or download the hour special…

One song in particular almost had me in tears. ‘The Farm’ sounded like a genuine goodbye from someone close to departing this earth…

Someone that I know
Taught me
Without really teaching

About this world now
Not like it was than
And it would rain more often

I remember the farm now
And mamas bright dress
And the look on your face when she left

How did we ever survive
With so much missing
That never came back it just stayed missing

I feel I’m growing radar
Receiving messages
From out in the plains of Kansas

Someone somewhere
Someplace out there

And in my arms now
I feel my baby
And it’s as good as I’ve felt lately

O Lily I love you/don’t know how I ever
Got by without you

Never gonna leave here
Never gonna change that
No matter how many come to lay me flat

It was on hearing this song that I read the album’s sleeve notes, and realised what I had been listening to…