John Hartford - Morning Bugle (1972)

Multi-instrumentalist, John Harford, mastered the fiddle by the time he was 13, subsequently picking up banjo, and dobro, before turning to the guitar. He moved to Nashville in 1965, swiftly earning a reputation as a session player before recording his debut album, Looks At Life, in 1966. The follow-up, Earthwords & Music (1967), included his best-known composition, ‘Gentle On My Mind’, which won three Grammy awards. In 1969, Dean Martin’s version hit number 2 in the UK, and sold over a million copies. Hartford continued his session playing; appearing on the groundbreaking Byrds set Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. In 1976, he released the Grammy-nominated album, Mark Twang. Hartford died in June 2001 following a 21-year battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Morning Bugle is Hartford's second and final album for Warner Bros. Records and was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York. The music was all written by Hartford. The album features jazz bassist Dave Holland, who performs with both Hartford and Norman Blake for the very first time.