Winston George - Any Direction (1969)

Wonderful singer/songwriter album (Ergo WG 70015 / 1969). Winston George Schell came from London/Ontario and made also another album called "City Wilderness" which I have never heard. I found some information about him in cyberspace written by a person called himself "Timeshredder":
"He played the southwestern Ontario folk circuit in the late 1960s and early 70s. His two albums never became best-sellers, but they maintained enough of a following to make the leap to CD, decades later, and long after he'd retired from regular stage performances. Any Direction, first released in 1969, featured fourteen of Winston George's original songs. It is the moodier and, in many people's opinion, stronger of the two records, marked by his distinct folk vocals and Bill Gunn's dramatic organ. There's a hint of period mysticism here, and psychedelia. The cover sports a black and white image, created by Gil Moll, that looks like a Rorschach blot running asymmetrical. The second album, 1976's City Wilderness, features more conventional folk. It's easily recognized by its cover, a Robert Crumb-influenced drawing of downtown London, Ontario with Win and various real-life city characters transformed into cartoon animals. Roger Baker, a friend of Win's, created the image. While he still played occasionally, he had always had to balance his music with his career as a high school teacher; he even co-authored texts which were used in Ontario for many years. City Wilderness would prove his final recorded contribution to folk music. His life as Win Schell, however, remained a dynamic one. Ergo Press, founded by Win and wife Linda in 1977, published fiction and non-fiction relating to southwestern Ontario. Its catalogue includes work by lesser-known names, and more widely-recognized local authors, such as James Reaney. Ergo also produced Souwesto Words, a CD of local writers reading their work. Win counted among his close friends local legend Roy McDonald. Ergo introduced Mcdonald's writing to a wider audience, and Win helped bring the eccentric writer's house-- which lacked many modern amenities-- into the modern era. Win also wrote, producing an impressive number of published articles, essays, poetry, and works of short fiction. I knew him first and foremost as Win Schell, mentor and friend. He died, suddenly and unexpectedly from an aneurysm, somewhere between Thursday, September 2 and Friday September 3, 2004."

Tracklist:
- Any Direction
- A Secretary Song
- Alone With The Shadow
- Resignation
- Channel 19
- Danger U
- Long Time Leavin'
- Smokey Mountain Grey
- Great Waterfall
- Neither A Lender
- Reason Or Rhyme
- Nobody Died
- So Long Time Gone
- Mornin' Lookin' Free

Personnel:
Winston George (vcls, gtr, hrmnca) [AB]

[Additional Musicians]
Bill Pigram (drms, vcls, autoharp) [AB]
Rob Connor (lead gtr) [A]
Bill Gunn (organ) [A]
Ron Kilgour (bs) [A]
Rita Christie (vcls) [B]
Phil Blackler (lead gtr, hrmnca) [B]
Dave Atwood (sax) [B]
Larry Weir (bs) [B]

Band origin:
London (Ontario/Canada)

Discographie:
Albums:
1. (A) Any Direction (Ergo WG 7001 S) 1969
2. (B) City Wilderness (Ergo WRC-190) 1976

Get it here (Artwork included / vinyl rip)

Listen to Any Direction