Linda Bruner The Numero Group Label

Songs For A Friend ARE THE SIX FORGOTTEN TRACKS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD AND Linda Bruner IS A FOLK LEGEND YOU'VE NEVER MET. ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOU.

BACK IN 1970, FRESH OFF A STINT WITH THE PSYCH ROCK BAND "Pisces", A TEENAGE BRUNER WENT TO THE BACK OF Nielsen's Music Store IN Rockford, Il TO CUT A HOMEMADE ACOUSTIC MIXTAPE FOR A NOW ANONYMOUS FRIEND. IN ONE CONTINUOUS JAM SESSION, BRUNER AND "Pisces" GUITARIST Jim Krein LAID DOWN FIVE UNREHEARSED,BLUESY FOLK RENDITIONS OF CLASSIC RECORDINGS FROM THE LIKES OF Ray Charles AND The Beatles.THESE SIX SONGS ~FIVE COVERS AND ONE BONUS BRUNER WRITTEN ORIGINAL ARE TIME CAPSULES THAT PRESERVE A BRIEF MOMENT OF CREATIVITY BETWEEN BRUNER AND KREIN EACH REVEALS UNPOLISHED IMAGINATION FROM AN ARTIST WHO NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO SHINE.

THANKFULLY, MODERN DAY FINGER PRINTS DIDN'T SMUDGE THE RECORDINGS SPECIAL CHARACTER. ORIGINALLY MARKED AS Linda's Tapes For A Friend, The Numero Group DISCOVERED AND REISSUED THE COMPILATION WITH CHARMING IMPERFECTIONS INTACT. BRUNER'S HEAVY SULLEN VOICE CRACKS A LULLING HISS LURKS BEHIND HER VOCALS. BACK AND FORTH BANTER BETWEEN BRUNER'S AND KREIN POPS UP THROUGH OUT THE RECORDING. WHERE THE FIVE EARLIER TRACKS WERE POLISHED FOR THE PUBLIC, BRUNER'S RECREATIONS WERE SPIT SHINED. HERS ARE THE INTIMATE, BARE,FOOTED VERSIONS. THERE IS NO SPECIAL ENGINEERING, NO BELLS OR WHISTLES, JUST A WOMAN, HER GUITAR, AND HER HEART. AND "Songs For A Friend" HER HEART IS CARRYING A HEAVY LOAD.

WHEN John Lennon LED The Beatles IN "Don't Let Me Down", THEIR 1969 HIT WRITTEN FOR Yoko Ono, THEY RELEASED AN UP~TEMPO POP TUNE WITH STEADY PERCUSSION AND A VULNERABLE COOL. Linda Bruner, HOWEVER, CUTS AT THE SURFACE OF THEIR ROCKSTAR LOVE BALLAD TO MAKE THE SONG BLEED. HER RENDITION IS INTOXICATED WITH FIERCE LOVE THAT DOESN'T JUST REQUEST OF HER LOVER, "Don't Let Me Down", SHE NEARLY BEGS IT. ON Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman", BRUNER SCRIBBLES ALL OVER CAMPBELL'S SYMPHONIC, STIFF COLLARD COUNTRY. HER DRENCHED VOICE WRINGS OUT AN UNKEMPTED VERSION THAT QUIVERS AND SHAKES WITH CANDOR.

A RARE GLIMPSE OF DAYLIGHT ON THE OTHERWISE BROODING RECORDING IS INTRODUCED ON BRUNER'S INTERPRETATION OF "Georgia On My Mind". WHEN Ray Charles SANG IT, HE PLACES Georgia DOWN ON A TIDY BED OF BLUES, BUT BRUNER CRADLES HERSELF, SINGING LIKE IT'S THERAPEUTIC TO RELEASE SOUND FROM HER THROAT. ON THE LAST TRACK, "Rainy Night In Georgia", BRUNER SPEWS A SULTRY SADNESS IN THE CHORUS, AND THEN TELLS KREIN MID-SONG TO, "START OVER I GOT AN IDEA".

UNFORTUNATLEY, THE ALBUM ABRUPTLY ENDS BEFORE SHE GUIDES THE MELODY TO ITS NEW DIRECTION AN ABANDONMENT THAT'S IRONICALLY SIMILAR TO HER CAREER IN MUSIC, AS "Songs For A Friend" IS BELIEVED TO BE Linda Bruner's LAST KNOWN RECORDING. SOME ACCOUNTS STATE THAT SHE HAS BEEN HIDING FOR YEARS, REPORTEDLY ON THE RUN FOR FRAUD, WHICH IS A TOUGH ENDING TO SWALLOW AFTER HEARING THIS ALBUMS UNFORGETTABLE DISPLAY OF AUTHENTICITY.