After John Fahey and before Ragtime Ralph there was Bob Hadley, finger picker extraordinaire, high school classmate of Leo Kottke and now Vancouver, BC resident.
Hadley was second acoustic guitar instrumentalist to capture the eager ears of Vancouver guitar picker, RC Johnston.
“I first heard Bob’s “Raven” album on a local radio station back in 1973” says Johnston. “Wreck of the Last Steam Engine Train,” an out of control , thrill packed slide ride in open G tuning was my introduction to Hadley’s guitar artistry, and to me, Bob’s album is a classic that stands equally alongside William Ackerman’s first album “In Search of the Turtle’s Navel,” the Takoma guitar catalog and the many Kicking Mule releases.” Bob later joined the Kicking Mule artists’ roster, releasing “Raven” and releasing two other stellar albums over the years.
If you get the chance to hear “Raven” and Bob’s other albums, “Tunes From the Well” and “On the Trail of the Questing Beast,” you will experience another guitar great worthy of your consideration.
Bob Hadley has contributed songs to several guitar compilations in recent years...so I must ask…when will his next full length recording see the light of day?
Cheers! Ralph
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Hadley's records are all well worth the price of admission (my favorite is "Tunes from the Well"), and I wonder if the Kicking Mule association may have worked against him, since his music is spiritually more akin to the Takoma school (nice heavy thumb, less of the complicated arrangements). In any case let's join RCJ in hoping for some new music from him.
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DeleteBob Hadley: great guitar picker, like to hear his tunes while walking along Danube riverside ... best moments!
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