Solitudes Volume Seven

Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Seven

cassette released in 1983

*Special thanks to a friend for sharing this with me.

NIGHT IN A SOUTHERN SWAMP

Can a 14 foot alligator surface under a canoe and overturn it? What creature belongs to that eerie scream that comes from somewhere above the water, surrounded by the jungle of giant cypresses.
Why are we paddling through this southern swamp at night anyway? A search for danger? Excitement? Adventure at any price?
In fact , it's an experiment in time - a search for antiquity - a return to the primeval. For here, amid the cries of the night, under a dome of stars and walled by the ancient and towering trees, we move ever deeper into the strangness of the great swamp. The paddle dips and plays a gentle, watery obligato to the calls from the treetops, from the jungle shores, from the sky and from the hidden retreats among the swamp grasses. We have left routine behind - primeval night surrounds us. Slowly we relax into this old world, our only contact with the outside world is the feel of the paddle prodding the dark, moving us ever further into the unknown waters of the swamp - ever further away from reality.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Chuck-will's widow, Red-tailed Hawk, Barred Owls, wood Ducks, Great Horned Owl, Common Gallinule, Snowy Egret, Pine Woods Tree Frogs, Southern Swamp Chorus Frogs, Barking Frogs, Cricket Frogs, Gopher Frogs, Screech Owls

DON'T FEED THE ALLIGATORS

You remember those walks along a sandy, shell-strewn shore? With the surf rolling in? And the seabirds crying in a sunny sky? Most of us long to do it again at the very first opportunity. It will all come flooding back to you, now, in three dimensions. And perhaps it will add something new as well. After you stroll along the beach, you turn inland, following a trail through the heavily forested wetlands that contrast dramatically with the beach scene. Here, among ancient cypress trees four or five hundred years old, strange and distant cries float towards you through the moss-hung air. Intimate sounds surprise you - wing sounds, water sounds, unexpected splashes. From what? A waterbird? The flail of an alligator's tail? It's all part of the lush and private world of the southern swamp. The three dimensional effect is stunning - your room, or your mind will transform, your environment will change. You will be there. And just when you yearn again for the beach, you will hear the surf and the gulls in the distance. You are moving towards them. Soon you break out into the sun, sea and sky. Once again the sea wind is on your face, cooling your skin. And you are strolling back along the sand.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Mockingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, House Wren, Great Egret*, American Wigeon*, Laughing Gulls*, Ring-billed Gulls*, Snowy Egret*, Common Gallinule*, Fish Crow*, Tufted Titmouse, Red-headed Woodpecker, Rufous-sided Towhee.

*Numerous water and shore birds in the background.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Night in a Southern Swamp {29:38}

Side 2

1. Don't Feed the Alligators {29:27}

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