Tarkio is the third album by Brewer & Shipley

Brewer & Shipley

Brewer & Shipley were an American folk rock music duo of the late 1960s through 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies and socially conscious lyrics. Their greatest success was the song "One Toke Over the...

. Released in 1970, the album (also known as Tarkio Road, as that title was printed on the labels of original pressings of the LP and pre-recorded tapes) yielded the hit singles "One Toke Over the Line" and "Tarkio Road".

The title came about when they left California in 1969 returning to the Midwest, this time to Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, where they played college towns in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, and Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. One regular gig was Tarkio College in the small town of Tarkio

Tarkio, Missouri

Tarkio is a city in Tarkio Township, Atchison County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,583 at the 2010 census . It was platted in 1880 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Tarkio" is from a Native American word meaning "place where walnuts grow"...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and being long-hairs at that time in that place it was essential not to stop in the small towns on the way back home.
They found they could just make it from Tarkio to Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph, Missouri

Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 on a single tank of gas and took to calling the route "Tarkio Road".

The catchy single, "One Toke Over the Line", peaked at #10 (#5 in Canada), garnering notice from Spiro Agnew

Spiro Agnew

Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...

 for what he saw as its subversiveness. Ironically, the song was performed (by Gail Farrell

Gail Farrell

Gail Farrell American singer and songwriter who is famous as a member of the long running TV musical variety program The Lawrence Welk Show.-Biography:...

 and Dick Dale) on The Lawrence Welk Show

The Lawrence Welk Show

The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...

, which billed it a "modern spiritual". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg The song is notably mentioned in the opening of Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...

's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. "Tarkio Road" reached #41 in Canada.

Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

 contributed a distinctive steel guitar

Steel guitar

Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...

 intro

Introduction (music)

In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...

 to the track "Oh Mommy" which was purportedly a plea to throw Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 out of office. The album also features John Kahn

John Kahn

John Kahn was an American rock bass player. For a period of about twenty five years Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead.-Biography:...

 and Bill Vitt on bass guitar and drums, respectively; regulars of The Jerry Garcia Band

Jerry Garcia Band

The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side-projects until his death in 1995...

.

Track listing

all songs Brewer & Shipley except where marked

Side A

1. "One Toke Over the Line" – 3:16
2. "Song from Platte River" – 3:15
3. "The Light" – 3:09
4. "Ruby on the Morning" – 2:15
5. "Oh Mommy" – 3:03

Side B

1. "Don't Want to Die in Georgia" – 3:45
2. "Can't Go Home" – 2:29
3. "Tarkio Road" – 4:30
4. "Seems Like a Long Time" (Ted Anderson) – 4:12
5. "Fifty States of Freedom" – 6:49

A CD reissue in 1996 added the following tracks

• "This Seat Occupado (Fly-Fly-Fly)" (Brewer & Shipley
  Brewer & Shipley
  Brewer & Shipley were an American folk rock music duo of the late 1960s through 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies and socially conscious lyrics. Their greatest success was the song "One Toke Over the...
  
  )
• "The Mighty Quinn
  Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
  "Quinn the Eskimo " is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. The song was first released in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" by the British band Manfred Mann and became a great success...
  
  " (Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
  
  )

Personnel

• Mike Brewer - Vocals & Guitars
• Tom Shipley - Vocals & Guitars
• Mark Naftalin
  Mark Naftalin
  Mark Naftalin is an American blues keyboardist, composer, and record producer.-Life:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Naftalin is the son of former Minneapolis mayor Arthur Naftalin; he is married to third wife Ellen Naftalin...
  
   - Piano & Organ
• John Kahn
  John Kahn
  John Kahn was an American rock bass player. For a period of about twenty five years Kahn was Jerry Garcia's principal collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead.-Biography:...
  
   - Bass
• Paul Butterfield
  Paul Butterfield
  Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
  
   & Fred Burton
  Fred Burton
  Fred Burton is Stratfor's vice president for intelligence, and is considered "one of the world's foremost experts on security, terrorists and terrorist organizations."Burton was a special agent with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service....
  
   - Electric Guitar
• Bill Vitt & Bob Jones - Drums
• Noel Jewkes - Flute
• Jerry Garcia
  Jerry Garcia
  Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
  
  - Pedal Steel Guitar