Hermit of Mink Hollow

Hermit of Mink Hollow
Studio album by Todd Rundgren
Released April 7, 1978
Recorded Utopia Sound Studios, Lake Hill, NY
Genre Pop rock
Length 34:50
Label Bearsville
Rhino (reissue)
Producer Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren chronology
Faithful
(1976)Faithful1976		 Hermit of Mink Hollow
(1978)		 Back to the Bars
(1978)Back to the Bars1978
Singles from Hermit of Mink Hollow
  1. "Can We Still Be Friends"
    Released: May 1978
  2. "You Cried Wolf"
    Released: July 1978
  3. "All The Children Sing"
    Released: November 24, 1978
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone(Not rated) [2]

Hermit of Mink Hollow is Todd Rundgren's eighth solo album, released in 1978. It was his first album to be written and recorded entirely by Rundgren alone, though large portions of earlier albums also had been recorded alone (such as the first three sides of the double-LP Something/Anything).

The album is reminiscent of the artist's earlier, more pop-oriented records and marks a lyrical return to the subject of relationships (as in the single "Can We Still Be Friends"), as well as his views on social inequality (as in the songs "Bag Lady" and "Bread"). It remains one of his most popular albums.

Mink Hollow refers to a valley, and the road that runs through it, in Lake Hill, New York just west of Woodstock, NY. Rundgren recorded this album while living in a house on Mink Hollow Road. While many think that the hermit referred to in the title is Todd, it actually originated and refers to the character and events from a local legend centered on Mink Hill Road in Lake Hill, NY. The legend involved a 3-legged dog, a missing girl and an escaped mental patient hiding in the surrounding forested mountains. Yet, Rundgren himself acknowledged being a "studio hermit", working in an "insular little 24-hour-a-day think tank", and declared that prior to this experience he wasn't aware that "too much social interaction [had] affected [his] overall creativity."[3]

Conception

Rundgren intended the songs on the album to be performed on piano with minimal arrangements, apart from the bass, drums and voices. In that sense, he stated that the songwriting process appeared to be "fairly conventional". Most of the songs on the record didn't have lyrics until completed.[4]

Track listing

The original track listing for the album, which can be found on the back of the album jacket, was rejected by Bearsville as being too haphazard. Bearsville re-listed the songs in a more "Pop Friendly" sequence, comprising the lighter poppy songs on "The Easy Side" and the more cerebral or harder rock songs on "The Difficult Side".

All songs written by Todd Rundgren.

Side one - The Easy Side

  1. "All the Children Sing" - 3:08
  2. "Can We Still Be Friends" - 3:34
  3. "Hurting for You" - 3:20
  4. "Too Far Gone" - 2:38
  5. "Onomatopoeia" - 1:34
  6. "Determination" - 3:11

Side two - The Difficult Side

  1. "Bread" - 2:48
  2. "Bag Lady" - 3:13
  3. "You Cried Wolf" - 2:20
  4. "Lucky Guy" - 2:04
  5. "Out of Control" - 3:56
  6. "Fade Away" - 3:04

Personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1978 Canada RPM Album Chart 27
1978 UK Albums Chart 42
1978 US Billboard Pop Albums[5] 36

Single

Year Single Chart Position
1978 "Can We Still Be Friends" Canada RPM Singles Chart 37
1978 "Can We Still Be Friends" Billboard Pop Singles[6] 29
1978 "Can We Still Be Friends" Billboard Adult Contemporary[6] 45

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Hermit of Mink Hollow at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  3. ↑ Myers, Paul (2014). Hermit of Mink Hollow Deluxe Casebound Book Edition (liner notes). Edsel [EDSA 5033].
  4. ↑ DeMain, Bill (2004). In Their Own Words: Songwriters Talk about the Creative Process. Praeger Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 0-275-98402-8.
  5. ↑ "allmusic ((( Todd Rundgren > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  6. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Todd Rundgren > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
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