TOM RUSH (1941 - )
MUSIC ::: FOLKIE ::: BOSTON FOR THE RECORD :::

A Portsmouth, New Hampshire native, Tom Rush slipped into the coffeehouses of Boston and Cambridge during his stint at Harvard in the early sixties.

He enjoyed many different styles of music, and his work was built on elements of classical, blues, and jazz as well as folk. In late 1959 through 1963, his performances grow in importance until Prestiege Records' Paul Rothschild scooped him up in a signing rampage through Cambridge that collected all the folkies that Vanguard missed out on.

Prestiege released his debut album, Got a Mind to Ramble in December of 1963. He proved marketable and went on to popularize the work of three unknowns in future albums: Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor. His album Circle Games, for example, brought Mitchell's song the same name to national prominence. At the same time, it was one of the first pop concept albums to be put out and also heralded his outstanding No Regrets.