{"title":"Big Potato","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"music-by-river-words-by-ear","title":"Music By River Words By Ear","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"To celebrate Tucker’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes, Big Potato are issuing a new unheard collection of his material titled Music By River Words By Ear, consisting of songs recorded with fellow forgotten legend Dave Evans and Tucker’s son Quanah on guitar and Geert Waegman on fiddle and Jef van Cool on bass. Recorded in 2002, these timeless tunes mark the first chapter of Zimmerman in the 21st century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe one overriding similarity between the two Zimmerman’s (Bob) is their masterful and distinctly American poetic sensibilities. Believe me, if you like the music made in 1969, you’ll love these.”-Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills Shindig! Magazine. On my last visit to Tucker in the Belgian countryside, I picked my tea, as previously, from Marie-Claire’s great tray of assorted blends and was invited to choose my mug for the week. I apparently selected ‘Dave’s mug’ and was drinking ‘Dave’s English tea’. I felt very pleased, sat there with Tucker and his wife, next to the warm stove. Dave Evans is on this album. Why tell that story? Well Tucker's work is tied up with - and of equal importance to - his domestic life. His beloved wife and friends. This doesn't undermine his craft. I would say the opposite, that it affirms it and makes it uncompromised. Sure he could have been a wealthier man or more well known, but that is not the fuel. When in their home, next to the stove you feel a level of purity. That’s what fuels his work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We’re all so delicate \u0026amp; fragile it’s beyond belief” is a line from the spine tingling beauty of ‘It’s Beyond Belief’. It sits near the end of this strong set of songs, written by the 60 year old Song Poet as he casts his eye over what it is to be alive. The sentiment articulates the soul of this collection. Tucker undoubtedly took a brief break from recording whilst - among other things - setting up baseball in Belgium and raising a son. But his life in art just went on and still goes on, either alone or with friends. He built his own studio in 1971 and owns a guitar so there really is no stopping him. In this environment he has made some of his classics, the self titled (Black Album) stripped back minimal beauty from 1971 \u0026amp; \u003cem\u003eWord Games\u003c\/em\u003e, his electronic album from 1983. \u003cem\u003eMusic By River Words By Ear\u003c\/em\u003e was also made in this environment. A wooden studio, in a wood, nestled on a little hill. Tucker \u0026amp; I curated this album pretty easily as it is clearly a session, a collection, an album. I believe a very different album than any he's released before. His sixty year old voice in fine form, mature, passionate, heartbreaking and strong. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. -Nick Holton\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Zimmerman conjures up a kind of Arcadian folk surrealism that is utterly his own” MOJO Andrew Male\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Big Potato","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51898857914699,"sku":"R9603-2336","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_f6ca7614-5ca6-4e89-a6c1-2ec7e632d0e5.jpg?v=1748355758"},{"product_id":"another-one-making-clouds","title":"Another One Making Clouds","description":"\u003cp\u003eFriends since the age of six, most of the album was written and recorded by the pair when they were nineteen. The songs possess all the singular magic of a duo writing and playing together while sounding like a full, sonically charged band. Their debut E.P. track 'Two Monkeys', included here, has a level of shoegazey dirt that will leave many distortion freaks reeling. ‘Every Word Said' is prog-pop perfection. The title track is as moody as anything by Flying Saucer Attack.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnother One Making Clouds\u003c\/em\u003e evolves over 35 minutes and doesn’t stop elevating and surprising. A founding notion of our label was to release recordings made as the musicians’ first intended. No ‘notes’ and no re-recording with a ‘proper’ producer in a ‘real’ studio. A noble preference we saw labels like Rough Trade pursuing with The Strokes, The Smiths, The Fall et al.This album is a proud example. And captures something you can’t fake. A young band finding an epic, emotional, cinematic sound in their bedroom. Using it in that peculiarly British way to express the wonder, confusion and heartache of being nineteen. Of wanting to be seen and not seen. It’s a kind of British ‘soul’ music with ancestors like The Cure, Echo \u0026amp; The Bunnymen, The Jesus \u0026amp; Mary Chain and the original shoegaze bands. Progressive guitar music, channeling deep emotion, a desire to hear something that sounds like how you feel inside. The stuff nobody talks about. Everything Else.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Big Potato","offers":[{"title":"LP - Turquoise","offer_id":52498261672267,"sku":"R4845-5549","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52498261639499,"sku":"R4845-8421","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/everythingelse.jpg?v=1750744547"},{"product_id":"i-wonder-if-i-ll-ever-come-true","title":"I Wonder If I’ll Ever Come True","description":"\u003cp\u003eNever released before collection featuring Ian A Anderson and Maggie Holland recorded 72-80 is among Tucker’s finest - Free-ranging, Playful, Intimate - his Songpoet imagination unbound and in full bloom now on colour Vinyl for first time with (exclusive to this version) illustrated lyric insert with notes from Tucker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded between 1972-80 this is the first ever release for \u003cem\u003eI Wonder If I’ll Ever Come True \u003c\/em\u003ea stunningly beautiful, homegrown collection by Songpoet Tucker Zimmerman and friends. The range and depth is astonishing. From the heady surreal journey of ‘It All Depends’ Upon the Pleasure Man’, to the uplifting Gene Clark-esque 'So It Goes’, to some of his most beautiful \u0026amp; touching love songs in ‘Let’s Start Over Again’ and ‘Song’. Only one song has seen the the light of day before now - ‘Taoist Tale’ from his 1984 album ‘Word Games’. This recording from a decade earlier loses no power in its folkier stripped down style driven by Tucker’s strong narrative.While living in bucolic seclusion in Belgium with Marie-Claire, Tucker invited visiting musicians (Derroll Adams, Wizz Jones, Maggie Holland, Dave Evans, Ian Anderson) into his home studio to play and live tape whatever songs he had at hand. Maggie Holland and Ian A Anderson feature, while Tucker found a freeing simplicity in just guitar, ’70s organ, bass and piano. We are so grateful to Ian A Anderson, who carefully kept and curated these recordings from 50 years ago. “Every time I would leave, Tucker would hand me another tape full of songs”. Ian worked with Tucker and ourselves to present this wonderful album. The collection is among Tucker’s finest - free-ranging, playful, intimate - his Songpoet imagination unbound and in full bloom. The ethos, the playing, the freedom, feels like Ronnie Lane’s time in the Welsh Borders. Unhurried, liberated, down-home and cosmic. Extraordinary music made among friends.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Big Potato","offers":[{"title":"LP - Orange","offer_id":56447511101771,"sku":"R6580-8134","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Screenshot2026-02-02at17.04.56.png?v=1770051914"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/big-potato.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}