Flowers for Unsung Folk Pioneers Richard, Cam & Bert

Richard, Cam & Bert, the folk singing trio of guitar playing vocalist Richard Tucker, bass player, guitarist and vocalist Campbell Bruce and guitar playing vocalist Bert Lee, came together in New York’s Greenwich Village in the late ’60s.

For a brief moment in time, they were well-known headliners, playing a blend of psychedelia and folk music with three part harmonies that prefigured the sounds of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash. They played folk songs, blues, their own originals and covers of songs written by their friends, like Fred Neil’s “Sweet Mama.” They made a good portion of their money by busking around the streets of New York and in Central Park. 

Their original songs landed them all songwriting deals with Peer-Southern Music publishers. They often went into Peer-Southern’s recording studios to make demos and hone their sound. They went on to make an LP, Limited Edition, in 1970. They released it independently, an anomaly in those days, and sold most of its limited pressing at gigs and on the street while busking. The album is now a valuable collectible. 

The demos the trio made at Peer-Southern caught the ear of Delmore Recording Society head, Mark Linn. He was so impressed with them, that he put together an album comprised of the sessions – Somewhere In The Stars. It will be released in a limited edition LP on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 20th. A digital release will follow on April, 26th. 

The trio recorded the songs on Somewhere In The Stars with the help of a few friends. “Percussion was provided by Bill Franz, who jumped in with very little need for rehearsal,” Bert Lee recalled. “The harmonica was dropped in by a MacDougal Street character named Sailor Bob.”

The trio also made use of electric guitars, used sparingly and without any distortion, but the sound is mostly acoustic, with the trio’s voices blending together in impressive three part harmonies. 

“We thrived on creating harmonies and loved the challenge of it,” Lee said. “Anyone with good ears knows they were the heart of our sound. Richard and Cam already had great harmonies on most of the tunes, and my voice, being more of a baritone with occasional jumps in tenor, seemed to fit right in. It was fun, and never seemed like work.”   

Tucker was the main songwriter on the album, with Lee, Bruce and their friend Charles E. Smith contributing tunes. Smith’s “If You Knew” is a dreamy love ballad, featuring the trio’s shimmering harmonies. Soft acoustic guitar strums support a lyric filled with images of love. Tucker sings lead on “Sleeping in the Garden,” a song he wrote with Karen Dalton, another important performer in the early days of the folk boom. (Tucker and Dalton had been a married couple, and performed as a duo before divorcing in 1967). It’s an acoustic gem with Bruce and Lee adding harmonies to Tucker’s lead vocal; it’s a gentle reminder to enjoy every moment of life. 

Lee sings lead on his song “Mmmzz,” with Tucker and Bruce backing him with chilling harmonies. It’s a poetic description of longing and loneliness, with a brief electric guitar outro.  They dip into the blues for “Ain’t it a Shame,” a traditional tune and “My Health is Failing Me Baby,” arranged by Bruce, with a nod to John Lee Hooker. Every track on the album is strong: a greatest hits collection from an alternative universe.

Mark Linn shared his take on the album’s creation with Rock & Roll Globe, from his office in Chicago. He said the album’s roots go back to the preparation he was making to release some of Karen Dalton’s old recordings. “I got in contact with Richard in 2008, after receiving the tapes that eventually became Karen Dalton – 1966. It was released in 2012, and featured four duets by Karen and Richard, along with some incredible solo material by Karen. Richard shared intimate stories about their days living in the mining town of Summerville, CO outside Boulder, and traveling back to New York to perform in Greenwich Village. At some point, he told me about his post-Karen group, Richard, Cam & Bert, who were completely off my radar. So I began to investigate. Originally, I was thinking of reissuing Limited Edition, but then I heard the demos. I decided to create a new record from them. This was almost 15 years ago. 

“Through all those years, I had the bulk of this material on CDRs which I literally wore out, listening on cross country road trips. Richard and I always kept in touch, and in early 2023, we proclaimed this as the year of Richard, Cam & Bert. Luckily, Cam and Bert were agreeable. Once decided, I launched into hunting for additional material, as well as photographs. None of the guys had photos of the three of them together. In addition to providing artwork and insight for the project, their friend Grungie O’Muck deserves a special thanks for remembering the name of an old girlfriend of Richard’s who was a photographer. I located Julia online and she still had a few photos, including the one we used for the back cover. And a few weeks later she found a reel to reel tape which included a song that was added to the album at the 11th hour. Around the same time, a friend of the band from back then found a copy of the demos he’d held on to all these years. His copy included three additional songs, which are all now included on the record. The release is a tribute to Richard Tucker, who passed away unexpectedly last summer, just as we were putting the finishing touches on Somewhere In The Stars.”

After Richard, Cam & Bert split up, Tucker and Campbell moved to San Francisco and started a rock band called Tongue and Cheek. When that didn’t work out, they went their separate ways. Tucker continued playing and making records and Campbell eventually moved to Hawaii. Bert Lee stayed in the New York area, where he still resides. 

“I’m 75 now,” Lee said. “I’m retired, but continue to write songs and music. For a while I was releasing an album or two every couple of years, initially on cassette, then on CD. I do gigs, and for a long stretch of the last decade I was a host at wonderful West Village club called Caffé Vivaldi. I’ve found a central position in an organization called Big City Folk, led by a wonderful song writer named Niall Connolly. Other than that, I wander around New York doing minor gigs in the ever shrinking venue scene here. Occasionally I travel, usually to Philly or New Haven, to play at salons and showcases. My music is up on my Bandcamp page.”

Somewhere In The Stars will be available on Record Store Day.  A digital release will be available on April 26th on the Delmore website. 

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j. poet

j. poet has been writing about music for most of his adult life. He has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express, Harp, Paste, Grammy.com, PlanetOut.com, American Profile, Creem, Relix, Downbeat, Folk Roots, New Noise and more national and international publications and websites than he can remember. He wrote most of the Musichound Guide to World Music (Visible Ink, 2000) and had two stories in Best Rock Writing 2014 (That Devil Music). He has interviewed a wide spectrum of artists including Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard and Godzilla. He lives in San Francisco. 

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