Quah
Studio album by
Jorma Kaukonen
Released1974
RecordedOctober 1972; February - May 1973; May 1974
StudioWally Heider Studios, San Francisco
GenreFolk rock
Length38:29
LabelGrunt
ProducerJack Casady
Jorma Kaukonen chronology
Quah
(1974) 		Jorma
(1979)
Alternative cover
Cover art of 1980 reissue
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

Quah is the first solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. The album was recorded with Tom Hobson. The initial plan was to have side-A be Kaukonen and side-B be Hobson. However, RCA felt that Hobson's recordings would not be accepted by the public.[3] Initially the record was planned to be released in mid-1973, but because of the issues with Hobson, Kaukonen returned to the studio to record new tracks for side B in May 1974. Only "Blue Prelude" and "Sweet Hawaiian Sunshine" of the original 1974 release feature Hobson's lead vocal, although he also plays guitar on "I'll Let You Know Before I Leave." On the CD reissue, Hobson is featured on all bonus tracks except for "Lord Have Mercy."

In 1980, Grunt Records reissued the album with a different cover that used the photographs that were originally used inside the gatefold. In 1987, Relix Records released the album under license from RCA. It was released on vinyl and was one of the first CDs released by an independent record label in the USA. The first Relix version was pressed in Switzerland, then Japan and finally manufactured in the USA. Relix also released a remastered and graphically revised version in the late 1990s with computer improved tracks from the original masters. BMG (incorporating the former RCA) re-released the original album on CD in 2003, along with the bonus tracks featuring Hobson.

It was voted number 1 in the All-Time 50 Long Forgotten Gems in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Jorma Kaukonen, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Genesis" 4:19
2."I'll Be All Right"Traditional; arranged by Rev. Gary Davis, Kaukonen3:08
3."Song for the North Star" 2:52
4."I'll Let You Know Before I Leave" 2:17
5."Flying Clouds" 4:07
6."Another Man Done Gone"Ruby Pickens Tartt, Vera Hall, John Lomax, Alan Lomax2:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I am The Light of this World"Rev. Gary Davis3:46
2."Police Dog Blues"Blind Arthur Blake; arranged by Kaukonen3:45
3."Blue Prelude"Gordon Jenkins4:05
4."Sweet Hawaiian Sunshine"Tom Hobson2:42
5."Hamar Promenade" 4:34
2003 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lord Have Mercy" (also recorded for The Phosphorescent Rat as "Letter to the North Star") 3:19
2."No Mail Today"Blind John Davis4:47
3."Midnight in Milpitas" 2:14
4."Barrier" 4:42

Personnel

Additional Personnel

Production

Notes

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  3. ^ Tamarakin, Jeff (2003). Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-03403-0.
  4. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 27. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
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