Various Kearney Barton - Architect Of The Northwest Sound (CD)

(Light In The Attic) 29 tracks, digisleeve

Newly mastered and restored audio - booklet with liner notes and rare archive photos - contains previously unreleased tracks.

When Seattle-based sound engineer Kearney Barton died in 2012, the 80-year-old studio veteran had spent the last 50 years recording many of the best bands on the Seattle music scene over the decades. The Fleetwoods ("Mr. Blue"), Quincy Jones, The Ventures, The Wailers, The Sonics, Ann Wilson (Heart), The Frantics, The Kingsmen and Dave Lewis, to name but a few. Barton has also captured Seattle's vibrant R&B and soul scene of the 1960s-70s, including Black On White Affair and soul swingers, as in the "Wheedle's Groove" series of Light in the Attic.

In his later years, Barton's old-school reputation attracted contemporary bands such as Young Fresh Fellows, The Smugglers, The Minus 5 and The A-Bones to his studio. If an unknown local band wanted to record a demo tape or their debut album, or maybe someone just wanted to catch his uncle playing the banjo or his little sister's first songs, they would go to Barton's studio. Barton's house had 7,000 reel-to-reel tapes piled up at the time of his death.

The University of Washington carefully catalogued these tapes, and former sub-pop employee Dan Trager (who had learned the art of recording from Kearney years earlier) listened to everything and took notes. With input from a team at the university and Light in the Attic, Dan put together a shortlist of the most important tracks to form the basis for this compilation.

"Kearney Barton: Architect of the Northwest Sound" is a comprehensive document of the Seattle sound of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. It is also a testament to Barton's lifelong dedication to the art of recording. It contains long out-of-print recordings originally released by local labels such as Jerden, Topaz, Piccadilly and Etiquette Records. It covers a wide range of genres: sitar and balalaika players, gospel church choirs, unknown garage bands, steel drums, obscure soul artists and youthful acappella singers.

There are also some well-known names here: Sonics, Wailers, a young Ann Wilson before she became famous with Heart, Larry Coryell who made his first studio recordings with Chuck Mahaffay, the Hudson Brothers long before they appeared on TV. "As different as his recordings may be, there is one thing that stands out among them: Hardcore Analog Fidelity," says University of Washington archivist John Vallier. "It sounds like you're in the room with drums, bass, guitar and vocals. The mix is minimal. It's a raw, sonic reality, even though the band is poppy and giggling. It's an honest sound that doesn't gloss over what's being played. This is Kearney."