Pearls Before Swine -

Pearls Before Swine was an American folk-psych band from Melbourne, Fla., that released the 1967/68 albums One Nation Underground and Balaklava on the jazz label ESP, followed by the 1969–71 albums These Things Too, The Use of Ashes, and City of Gold on Reprise. Frontman Tom Rapp issued a solo album, Familiar Songs, then led a new Pearls on the 1972/73 albums Stardancer and Sunforest on Blue Thumb.

Members: Tom Rapp (guitar, vocals), Wayne Harley (autoharp, banjo, mandolin, vibraphone, oscillator, 1965-69), Lane Lederer (bass, guitar, English horn, horn, vocals, 1965-68), Roger Crissinger (organ, harpsichord, synthesizer, 1965-67), Jim Bohannon (organ, piano, clavinet, marimba, 1968), Jim Fairs (guitar, celeste, 1969) Elisabeth Rapp (vocals, 1969-72), Mike Krawitz (piano, 1971), Gordon Hayes (bass, 1971), Jon Tooker (guitar, 1971), Morrie Brown (bass, 1971), Robbie Merkin (1971), David Wolfert (1971), Art Ellis (flute, 1971-74), Bill Rollins (bass, cello, 1971-1974), Harry Orlove (guitar, banjo, 1971-74)

Background

Pearls Before Swine formed in 1965 in Eau Gallie, Florida, when singer–guitarist Tom Rapp teamed with multi-instrumentalist Wayne Harley (banjo, mandolin), bassist–guitarist Lane Lederer, and keyboardist Roger Crissinger (piano, organ), three high-school friends.

Rapp was born Thomas Dale Rapp on March 8, 1947, in Bottineau, North Dakota, to two schoolteachers. His family moved through Pine Island and Northfield, Minnesota, before later living in Pennsylvania and settling in Eau Gallie in 1963. Rapp received a guitar at age six and learned his first chords and ukulele from a neighboring country-and-western musician. He later learned guitar from Joan Baez records and played show tunes alongside country-and-western material from the radio.

Rapp entered a Rochester, Minnesota, talent contest as a child and placed ahead of another contestant, Bobby Zimmerman, later known as Bob Dylan. He graduated from Eau Gallie High School in 1965, where his study of poetry informed his first songs.

The four musicians took the name Pearls Before Swine from the passage in Matthew 7:6 about casting pearls before swine: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine ….” (Mat. 7:6, KJV).

Rapp presented several Fugs-inspired originals, recorded with folk material on a late-1966 private tape. The musicians transferred the recordings to a custom-cut disc and mailed it unsolicited to ESP-Disk in New York because the label released the Fugs. They answered the green handprint on ESP-Disk correspondence with a red footprint on their own package. ESP-Disk accepted the submission and signed the group. Pearls Before Swine also recorded pre-album versions of “Morning Song” and the instrumental “State U” in Orlando in spring 1967. The group entered Impact Sound in New York on May 6 with producer Richard Alderson for four days of recording on One Nation Underground.

One Nation Underground

Pearls Before Swine released their debut album, One Nation Underground, in July 1967 on ESP-Disk.

Pearls Before Swine recorded the album as a four-piece of singer–guitarist Tom Rapp, bassist–multi-instrumentalist Lane Lederer, keyboardist Roger Crissinger, and multi-instrumentalist Wayne Harley, joined by drummer–percussionist Warren Smith. The arrangements combine acoustic-led folk forms with harpsichord, vibraphone, oscillator, sarangi, and English horn; several passages stay hushed beside denser ensemble sections. The Swine Chorus adds harmony vocals.

“Another Time” glides over a gentle fingerpicked figure as Rapp sings with an unhurried delivery. “Playmate” skips through cheerful organ figures with a lively old-time bounce. “(Oh Dear) Miss Morse” flickers through mock-Victorian banjo phrases and Morse-code signals. “Morning Song” hovers over a sustained drone and spare arpeggios. “I Shall Not Care” turns from wistful lines toward denser, hallucinatory phrases. “The Surrealist Waltz” tolls through a dirge-like march beneath warped phrases.

A1. “Another Time” (3:05) – Rapp
A2. “Playmate” (2:17) – Dowell
A3. “Ballad to an Amber Lady” (5:13) – Crissinger, Rapp
A4. “(Oh Dear) Miss Morse” (1:52) – Rapp
A5. “Drop Out!” (4:07) – Rapp

B1. “Morning Song” (4:05) – Rapp
B2. “Regions of May” (3:25) – Rapp
B3. “Uncle John” (2:52) – Rapp
B4. “I Shall Not Care” (5:10) – Rapp, Teasdale, Roman Tombs
B5. “The Surrealist Waltz” (3:27) – Lederer, Crissinger

Sessions spanned May 6–9, 1967, at Impact Sound in New York, where Richard Alderson produced, recorded, and mixed One Nation Underground. Alderson ran Impact after earlier work on live recordings by Nina Simone and Bob Dylan; his surrounding studio credits include the Fugs (The Fugs), Jaki Byard (Sunshine of My Soul), and Eric Kloss (Life Force).

One Nation Underground uses a detail from the Hell panel of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. Early copies included a small poster reproducing a larger section of the same panel.

ESP-Disk issued “Morning Song” b/w “Drop Out!” as a 1967 single.

Balaklava

Pearls Before Swine released their second album, Balaklava, in November 1968 on ESP-Disk.

Keyboardist Jim Bohannon replaces Crissinger and adds piano, Clavinette, and marimba beside the returning Rapp–Harley–Lederer core. Four session guests expand the chamber-scaled arrangements: reed player Joe Farrell, multi-instrumentalist Lee Crabtree, bassist Bill Salter, and guitarist Al Schackman. Warren Smith and Selwart Clarke arranged strings on separate titles. Pearls Before Swine also incorporated archival recordings of a Balaclava bugler and Florence Nightingale into the war-shadowed sequence.

“Translucent Carriages” murmurs through methodical phrases and layered whispers beneath Rapp’s natural vibrato. “Images of April” floats amid birdsong, insect calls, and a lone flute. “I Saw the World” swells beneath Rapp’s near-cry with resonant strings and chiming wave effects. “Guardian Angels” echoes with lo-fi radio-play drama and antique recorded fragments.

“Suzanne” sways on warm, lulling woodwinds beneath Rapp’s measured delivery. “Lepers and Roses” coils through semi-dissonant phrases, quiet declamation, and tambourine accents. “Ring Thing” circles around bagpipe figures before tape races backward into “Trumpeter Landfrey.”

A1. “Trumpeter Landfrey….” (0:33)
A2. “Translucent Carriages” (4:00) – Rapp, Harley, Herodotus
A3. “Images of April” (2:38) – Rapp
A4. “There Was a Man” (2:52) – Rapp
A5. “I Saw the World” (3:24) – Rapp
A6. “Guardian Angels” (3:00) – Rapp

B1. “Suzanne” (4:54) – Cohen
B2. “Lepers and Roses” (5:19) – Rapp
B3. “Florence Nightingale….” (0:15)
B4. “Ring Thing” (2:20) – Rapp, Tolkien

Pearls Before Swine returned to Impact Sound in early 1968 with Alderson as producer and engineer. Alderson worked in the same period on Prestige sessions for Cedar Walton (Spectrum) and Illinois Jacquet (The King).

Maureen Kintz developed the cover concept and conducted art research. The front reproduces a section of The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, held by the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The back cover combines drawings by Jean Cocteau and photography by Mel Zimmer. Initial copies included a 7-by-28-inch foldout reproduction of The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch plus a lyric insert.

ESP-Disk issued “Images of April” b/w “There Was a Man,” followed by “I Saw the World” b/w “Images of April” in 1968.

These Things Too

Pearls Before Swine released their third album, These Things Too, in September 1969 on Reprise.

Rapp and Harley are the remaining original members, joined by singer Elisabeth and former Cryan’ Shames guitarist Jim Fairs. Fairs adds celesta and shares arrangement credits with Bill Eaton and Pearls Before Swine; bassist Bill Salter, drummer Grady Tate, and electric violinist Richard Greene complete the principal session cast. Greene adds a chamber-like violin layer to selected arrangements.

“If You Don’t Want To (I Don’t Mind)” lopes with an easygoing rural lilt. “Frog in the Window” spins through a sing-song good-time figure, while its companion take turns toward madrigal-like phrases. “Mon Amour” lilts through French lines with restrained accompaniment.

A1. “Footnote” (1:16) – Rapp, Auden
A2. “Sail Away” (3:06) – Rapp
A3. “Look into Her Eyes” (4:34) – Rapp
A4. “I Shall Be Released” (3:02) – Dylan
A5. “Frog in the Window (Reprise)” (1:20) – Rapp
A6. “I’m Going to City” (2:27) – Rapp
A7. “Man in the Tree” (3:25) – Rapp

B1. “If You Don’t Want to (I Don’t Mind)” (3:20) – Rapp
B2. “Green and Blue” (0:22) – Rapp, Elisabeth
B3. “Mon Amour” (2:04) – Rapp, Elisabeth
B4. “Wizard of Is” (3:36) – Rapp
B5. “Frog in the Window” (3:36) – Rapp
B6. “When I Was a Child” (4:44) – Rapp
B7. “These Things Too” (3:24) – Rapp

Pearls Before Swine recorded These Things Too at Impact Sound Studios in New York with Richard Alderson and Jim Fairs as co-producers. Alderson shared engineering duties with Danford Griffiths; Steve Friedman mixed the album at A&R Recording in New York. Alderson engineered concurrent albums by Johnny Nash (Folk Soul) and Joe Bataan (Subway Joe).

Reprise art director Ed Thrasher directed the sleeve, whose front reproduces the fifteenth-century Christ Blessing by Giovanni Bellini. Thrasher also directed contemporary sleeves for Neil Young (self-titled), the Jimi Hendrix Experience (Smash Hits), and the Grateful Dead (Live/Dead).

Reprise lifted “These Things Too” as a November 1969 single b/w “If You Don’t Want to (I Don’t Mind).”

The Use of Ashes

Pearls Before Swine released their fourth album, The Use of Ashes, in August 1970 on Reprise.

Rapp and Elisabeth form the continuing core, supported by a Nashville studio group built around drummer Kenny Buttrey, bassist Norbert Putnam, multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy, keyboardist David Briggs, and string player Buddy Spicher. Guitarist Mac Gayden joins reed players John Duke and Bill Pippin in the wider ensemble. The chamber-scaled arrangements combine acoustic-led material with harpsichord, dobro, bowed strings, and oboe. Rapp wrote all ten titles.

“The Jeweller” lingers on a sorrowful recurring phrase with an intimate delivery. “From the Movie of the Same Name” glides through delicate harpsichord figures and wordless da-da phrases. “Rocket Man” settles over subdued keyboard runs beneath restrained delivery. “God Save the Child” swells through amplified backing against restrained strings. “Tell Me Why” circles around a vibraphone lead beneath Rapp’s playful lines.

A1. “The Jeweler” (2:45)
A2. “From the Movie of the Same Name” (2:20)
A3. “Rocket Man” (3:00)
A4. “God Save the Child” (3:00)
A5. “Song About a Rose” (2:18)

B1. “Tell Me Why” (3:42)
B2. “Margery” (2:57)
B3. “The Old Man” (3:20)
B4. “Riegal” (3:05)
B5. “When the War Began” (5:02)

Sessions occupied three days in March 1970 at Woodland Studios in Nashville with producer Peter H. Edmiston and engineer Rick Horton. Brooks Arthur mixed the album.

Ed Thrasher continued as art director. The front cover reproduces a detail from The Unicorn Is Killed and Brought to the Castle, a 1495–1505 tapestry from the Unicorn Tapestries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scene shows hunters killing the unicorn and carrying the body toward a castle.

Reprise previewed the album in May 1970 with “Rocket Man” b/w “God Save the Child.” In September, “The Jeweler” became a second single b/w “Rocket Man.”

City of Gold

Pearls Before Swine released their fifth album, City of Gold, in April 1971 on Reprise. Reprise credited the album to Thos. Rapp / Pearls Before Swine.

Rapp and Elisabeth retain the Nashville players heard on The Use of Ashes, including McCoy, Buttrey, Spicher, Gayden, Putnam, and Briggs. Singer David Noyes takes lead voice on “The Man.” The program combines Rapp material and a Shakespeare setting with covers of Leonard Cohen (“Nancy”), Jacques Brel (“Seasons in the Sun”), and Judy Collins (“My Father”).

“Once Upon a Time” rolls through a slurred country lead with harmonica and Jew’s-harp accents. “Raindrops” sways through a subdued Rapp-Elisabeth duet beneath bowed accompaniment. “City of Gold” ambles on a rustic fiddle figure before a sudden gunshot effect cuts across proceedings. “Nancy” lingers at an exceptionally slow tempo beneath spare harpsichord figures.

“Seasons in the Sun” lilts with firmer rhythmic definition and prominent piano phrases. “The Man” skips through an unusually upbeat treatment. “Casablanca” meanders beneath a slurred lead with an oboe accent lending an Eastern cast. “Wedding” murmurs through dark organ phrases and restrained strumming. “Did You Dream Of” rises from wistful lines into a fuller closing passage.

A1. “Sonnet #65” (0:41) – Shakespeare, Rapp
A2. “Once Upon a Time” (2:37) – Rapp
A3. “Raindrops” (2:05) – Rapp
A4. “City of Gold” (2:57) – Rapp
A5. “Nancy” (4:46) – Cohen

B1. “Seasons in the Sun” (2:55) – Brel, McKuen
B2. “My Father” (2:08) – Collins
B3. “The Man” (2:23) – Rapp
B4. “Casablanca” (2:23) – Rapp
B5. “Wedding” (1:37) – Rapp
B6. “Did You Dream Of” (2:49) – Rapp

Rapp produced City of Gold in fall 1970 across sessions in New York and Nashville. The album retained the Nashville players assembled for The Use of Ashes, including Charlie McCoy, Norbert Putnam, Kenny Buttrey, and Buddy Spicher.

Thrasher again directed the packaging. The front uses a hand-painted photograph of Rapp taken in the Netherlands, while the back shows Rapp with touring members Jon Tooker, Gordon Hayes, and Michael Krawitz.

Beautiful Lies You Could Live In

Pearls Before Swine released their sixth album, Beautiful Lies You Could Live In, in November 1971 on Reprise. Reprise credited the album to Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine.

Rapp brought the 1971 touring band into the sessions, including guitarist Jon Tooker, bassist Gordon Hayes, and pianist Michael Krawitz. The wider studio cast includes electric guitarist Amos Garrett, drummer Billy Mundi, and pianist Bob Dorough. Tom Rapp wrote the program apart from Leonard Cohen (“Bird on a Wire”) and the closing A. E. Housman setting “Epitaph,” composed and sung by Elisabeth Rapp.

“Snow Queen” glides through delicate strings with a Baroque-tinged cast. “A Life” lopes on a laid-back rural figure beneath close Rapp-Elisabeth harmony. “Butterflies” lilts through plaintive, compact phrases. “Simple Things” sways at midtempo with an easy rural inflection.

“Bird on a Wire” murmurs unaccompanied at first before settling into a homey waltz. “Come to Me” turns through expressive fiddle phrases beneath a restrained lead. “Island Lady” skips along a straighter, firmer arrangement. “She’s Gone” recedes into stark, introverted lines punctuated by percussion. “Epitaph” lingers on Elisabeth’s solitary lead and a mysterious closing tune.

A1. “Snow Queen” (4:00)
A2. “A Life” (2:57)
A3. “Butterflies” (2:46)
A4. “Simple Things” (2:56)
A5. “Everybody’s Got Pain” (2:47)

B1. “Bird on a Wire” (3:34) – Cohen
B2. “Island Lady” (4:02)
B3. “Come to Me” (2:58)
B4. “Freedom” (3:03)
B5. “She’s Gone” (2:12)
B6. “Epitaph” (1:25) – Housman, Elisabeth Rapp

Sessions occurred at A&R Studios and Aura Sound in New York and Bearsville Studios in Woodstock with producer Peter H. Edmiston and engineer Mark Harman. Jim Rooney also received an engineering credit. Harman worked at Bearsville in the same period on the Band double album Rock of Ages.

The sleeve reproduces Ophelia by John Everett Millais, with the figure floating in a stream amid dense vegetation.

Familiar Songs

In July 1972, Reprise issued Familiar Songs, the first album credited solely to Tom Rapp.

The album collects trial rerecordings that Rapp made for a proposed retrospective of Pearls Before Swine material. Rapp revisits seven previously issued titles and recasts “I Shall Not Care” inside the “Full Phantom Five” medley. “Grace Street” and “Charley and the Lady” appear only on this album. Rapp recorded the spare, piano-lined arrangements with pianist Robbie Merkin, guitarist David Wolfert, bassist Morrie Brown, and drummer Billy Mundi.

A1. “Grace Street” (3:05)
A2. “The Jeweler” (3:26)
A3. “Rocket Man” (3:01)
A4. “Snow Queen” (3:42)
A5. “If You Don’t Want To (I Don’t Mind)” (3:14)

B1. “Charley and the Lady” (3:19)
B2. “Margery” (3:08)
B3. “Medley: Full Phantom Five / I Shall Not Care” (2:54) – Shakespeare, Teasdale, Rapp
B4. “These Things Too” (3:37)
B5. “Sail Away” (3:45)

Rapp recorded the trial arrangements at Brooks Arthur’s 914 Studios in New York. Rapp stopped work after deciding that several treatments required further development, but manager Peter H. Edmiston transferred the tapes to Reprise under the contract he controlled. The original LP credits Charles R. Rothschild and Edmiston for production. Rapp learned of the release after he encountered the album in a New York record shop.

The front sleeve features an extreme close-up portrait of Rapp in round spectacles beneath a small Tom Rapp nameplate. The album title does not appear on the front cover.

Water Records reissued Familiar Songs on CD in November 2003 with liner notes by Rapp and remastering by Gary Hobish. Pat Thomas produced the reissue with package design by Patrick Roques.

Stardancer

Tom Rapp released his second solo-billed album, Stardancer, in 1972 on Blue Thumb.

Touring members Art Ellis, Harry Orlove, and Bill Rollins appear on “The Baptist,” “Stardancer,” and “Marshall.” The sessions employ roughly fifteen players, including session leader Charlie McCoy, steel guitarist Weldon Myrick, fiddler Buddy Spicher, pianist David Briggs, and guitarist Reggie Young. Mike Leech arranged strings. Rapp wrote every title apart from “Why Should I Care,” a John Osborne–John Addison song from The Entertainer.

“Fourth Day of July” laments with an impassioned lead against fuller Nashville backing. “For the Dead in Space” hovers through a mournful, reflective tune. “Summer of ’55” winds light phrases around an irregular verbal meter. “Stardancer” settles into a mournful atmospheric passage with an extended, suspended feel.

A1. “Fourth Day of July” (4:55)
A2. “For the Dead in Space” (4:05)
A3. “The Baptist” (5:10)
A4. “Summer of ’55” (2:13)
A5. “Tiny Song” (2:33)

B1. “Stardancer” (5:42)
B2. “Marshall” (2:15)
B3. “Touch Tripping” (4:55)
B4. “Why Should I Care” (3:07) – Osborne, Addison
B5. “Les Ans” (1:50)

Sessions spanned August 29 through September 12, 1972, at Quadrafonic Sound and Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville with producer Peter H. Edmiston and engineers Rex Collier and Gene Eichelberger. Eichelberger also engineered 1972 Quadrafonic sessions for Dan Fogelberg (Home Free). Collier worked at Woodland on recent recordings by Gordon Lightfoot (Summer Side of Life) and the Manhattan Transfer (Jukin’).

The front sleeve reproduces The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The back uses a pattern by William Morris.

Blue Thumb issued “Marshall” b/w “Why Should I Care” as a 1972 single.

Sunforest

Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine released Sunforest in January 1973 on Blue Thumb.

Ellis and Rollins return from Stardancer within an ensemble of roughly eighteen players. The session cast includes multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy, violinist Buddy Spicher, pianist David Briggs, drummer Kenny Buttrey, and pianist Bob Dorough. Charles Cochran and Mike Leech arranged strings. Rapp wrote all nine titles.

“Comin’ Back” cruises through brisk, compact phrases. “Forbidden City” glides through dark, fluid lines with jazz-inflected turns. “Blind River” sways through lush, exotic phrases with a looser jazz inflection. “Someplace to Belong” rolls through another brisk, concise arrangement. “Sunforest” lingers over a mellow tune shaped after traditional balladry.

A1. “Comin’ Back” (2:52)
A2. “Prayers of Action” (2:54)
A3. “Forbidden City” (2:44)
A4. “Love / Sex” (3:54)
A5. “Harding Street” (3:34)

B1. “Blind River” (4:52)
B2. “Someplace to Belong” (2:50)
B3. “Sunforest” (6:14)
B4. “Sunshine & Charles” (4:52)

Peter H. Edmiston co-produced Sunforest with Nashville pianist Larry Butler, a former Gentrys member whose session work included recordings with Bobby Goldsboro and Johnny Cash. Sessions spread across House of Cash, Quadrafonic Sound, and Woodland Sound in Nashville, with additional work at Electric Lady in New York. Charlie Bragg, Gene Eichelberger, Rex Collier, and Dick Shapiro receive studio-specific engineering credits, with Steve McCord also credited as engineer.

Phillip Hayes supplied the Sunforest cover painting, with photography by Carl Samrock. Samrock worked through this period as a Broadway press agent and freelance photographer whose subjects ranged across theatre and the wider entertainment field.

Later Activity

Rapp kept the final Pearls Before Swine lineup of flutist Art Ellis, bassist–cellist Bill Rollins, and guitarist–banjoist Harry Orlove on the road through the final group tour. He continued alone as a singer–guitarist and ended his first music career in 1976 after opening for Patti Smith at Symphony Hall in Boston. Rapp then worked at Harvard Square Cinema in Cambridge, Massachusetts, first at the concession stand and later as a projectionist. He enrolled at Brandeis University and received a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1981, followed by a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984. Rapp joined attorney Alan Epstein in Philadelphia and represented plaintiffs in discrimination and civil-rights cases through the later 1980s.

Orlove moved from Pearls Before Swine into the new-acoustic groups Bottle Hill and the Monroe Doctrine as he concentrated on five-string banjo. He later played guitar on two Vassar Clements albums and toured with Clements before contributing sessions to records by Tony Trischka and Stacy Phillips. Orlove moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and joined the Palomino Club house band, where he worked with guitarist James Burton and pedal-steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow.

Original bassist Lane Lederer returned to orchestral study and concentrated on oboe and English horn. He studied political science at Stetson University, then earned degrees from the University of Central Florida and Michigan State University. The Florida Orchestra hired Lederer in 1980 as second oboist and English-horn player.

Former bassist Morrie Brown moved into R&B production and formed Mighty M Productions with Kashif and Paul Laurence. Brown produced the 1981 Evelyn King single “I’m in Love” and the 1982 follow-up “Love Come Down.” Mighty M also worked on early-1980s recordings by Howard Johnson and Melba Moore.

Guitarist David Wolfert continued as a session musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He co-produced the 1980 Peter Criss album Out of Control and produced the 1981 Four Tops album Tonight!. Four Tops retained Wolfert for One More Mountain in 1982 and recorded his Sandy Linzer co-write “I Believe in You and Me.”

Discography: