Willie Thrasher (Canadian Inuit) Spirit Child Boot/CBC Northern Services LP 1981

$

27

Willie Thrasher

Spirit Child

Boot Records/CBC Northern Services NCB502 1981 12" 33rpm (Canada)

Willie Thrasher (born 1948) is a Canadian Inuit musician from Aklavik, Northwest Territories. He has recorded both as a solo artist, and as a member of several bands, including the Cordells, and Red Cedar, with Morley Loon. Thrasher has advocated for Inuit and First Nations issues for much of his career.

Recorded at a commercial studio in Ottawa (and reissued with the original CBC album design), Spirit Child is an amazing record for how it bridges country-folk styles — slack string and steel guitar, vocals reminiscent of Neil Young but outlaw country tinges that recall the likes of Waylon and Willie — and traditional Inuvialuit concerns. So, we have songs about whaling ("Shingle Point Whale Camp"), Inuit arts and crafts ("Old Man Carver") and a couple of tunes in Inuvialuktun and English ("Old Man Inuit" and "Silent Inuit").
 
These last two — sort of a talking blues call-and-response — are, like many of Thrasher's songs, no doubt a response to his years in residential schools in the 1950s, where native children were forbidden to speak their own language and, in Thrasher's case, had their long hair cut.
 
But it's Thrasher's musical artistry — and even weirdness — that makes this record hold up all these decades later. Dubbed "Aboriginal psych folk" by the label, Thrasher's twang reaches its pinnacle with the gem "Wolves Don't Live by the Rules," a song that wouldn't be out of place in the heyday of '90s alt-country (David Berman and the Silver Jews, anyone?). Like Spirit Child as a whole, "Wolves" steps into your brain and just won't leave.

 Tracklist
1  Silent Inuit  4:30
2  Forefathers  3:10
3  Spirit Child  4:00
4  Wolves Don't Live By The Rules  2:10
5  Eskimo Named Johnny  2:25
6  Old Man River  3:00
7  Beautiful  3:08
8  Old Man Inuit  3:30
9  Shingle Point Whale Camp  2:50
10  We Got To Take You Higher  2:40
11  Inuit Chant  2:35

Condition:  LP is NEAR MINT in a plastic inner sleeve in a picture sleeve in Excellent condition (ring wear)

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