Cabin Fever (Lenny Breau album)

History

Breau had continual drug problems from the mid-1960s, which he only managed to get under control during the last years of his life. At one point, his friend Glen McDonald claims he isolated Breau in a remote cabin to help him straighten out and it was during this time he recorded Breau, resulting in these informal tracks done on solo acoustic guitar. This issue, on Randy Bachman's Guitarchives label includes an interview with McDonald discussing the background of the recordings. Others close to Breau dispute the location and claim these are recordings made in a home studio in Toronto.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Ken Dryden wrote in his review: "The lack of formal studio post-production adds to the appeal of this disc because the listener gets the feeling of being Breau's sole audience, so an occasional warmup passage or bit of conversation don't prove to be distracting... this CD is an excellent place to start an exploration of his brilliant musicianship."

Track listing

1. "Lenny's Warm Up & Improvisation of Autumn Leaves" (Lenny Breau, Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer, Jacques Prévert) – 7:05
2. "Lenny's Mood" (Breau) – 2:14
3. "East Side" (Breau) – 1:34
4. "You Came to Me Out of Nowhere" (Green, Harris Heyman) – 4:29
5. "What Is This Thing Called Love?" (Cole Porter) – 7:48
6. "Days of Wine and Roses" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 10:33
7. "Lenny's Mode" (Breau) – 6:56
8. "Here's That Rainy Day" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 6:30
9. "Celtic Dream Stream" (Breau) – 5:19
10. "Interview with Glen McDonald" – 6:22

Personnel

Production notes: