Bobby Charles - Better Days: The Unreleased 2nd Album (1974)

Not released until 2011
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.


From 1972 to 1975 Bobby Charles lived in Woodstock, where he had originally gone (under an alias) to find somewhere to hide away, as he was on the run for a minor drugs possession charge. When his identity became known, Albert Grossman persuaded him to sign a contract and record, the result being his fantastic self-titled album of 1972. It was recorded at Grossman’s Bearsville Studios just a few miles down the road, which also produced records by The Band, Paul Butterfield’s Better Days, John Hartford, Bonnie Raitt, Karen Dalton, Happy & Artie Traum and others. Charles in particular struck up a friendship with Butterfield and his band, and both the Better Days albums from 1973 featured numerous Bobby Charles songs.
Material for a second album was recorded at Bearsville with producer Paul Rothchild in 1974. However it didn't see the light of day, as Charles fell out with Grossman. He felt that Grossman was taking advantage of him, and managed to escape through a loop-hole in his contract and return to Louisiana, where he lay low for many years. 
His original Bearsville album has been reissued numerous times in recent years, with all sorts of bonus tracks from the Woodstock period, all presumeably recorded at Bearsville. In 2011 it was re-released as part of a box set, which contained thirteen extra tracks which supposedly were going to be the second album.

More from Bobby Charles

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6 comments:

Melissa C. said...

Hello! Great blog and thank you for posting these rare Bobby tracks--could you re-upload them?

zappahead said...

Thanks for sharing these tracks....excellent stuff and as you say could have made another album before he left woodstock but....thanks for the share...cheers.

Anonymous said...

According to http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/unreleased2nd.html , Bobby did record another album in 1977.

Anonymous said...

Thanx much for this and the other Bobby records. I loved this period when he & Butterfield worked together.

Anonymous said...

Wow i didn't know about this! Thanks!!

Unknown said...

Could someone please help me, i would really like to get an hold on these tracks! but cant seem to download them anymore.
thank you very much!