Tommie Mansfield's only album, from 1972, is an oddity - a rockin' roots guitar record produced by two giants of Finnish free jazz, Paroni Paakkunainen and Edward Vesala.
Tommie Mansfield, born Pekka Nurmi (1940-1981) never got the recognition he deserved, and his recording career didn't continue past this single album plus the occasional guest appearance on albums by his friends, many of which were released only after his death.
The guitarist Mansfield, walking around in boots and cowboy hat was regarded as a freak by most, but he had important fans and allies as well, such as Jussi Raittinen, Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki and M.A.Numminen, Dave Lindholm and Esa Pulliainen.
On the album Raittinen handles vocals as the combo (Mansfield, Antero Jakoila, Kaj Westerlund, Paroni Paakkunainen, Aikka Hakala, Mikki Nuorivaara) twist and boogie their way through a dozen trad and cover tracks and one Mansfield original.
Mansfield's album appeared on Blue Master and sold rather poorly. Had Mansfield made his record two years later things might have been different, as the Hurriganes craze made traditional rock'n'roll very fashionable again, but the year was 1972 and Mansfield never made it big. Given his eccentric, outsider personality, perhaps that was how he liked it best.
The Svart edition of this super rarity is mastered for vinyl from the original tapes and comes with new liner notes by Honey Aaltonen.
