Personnel includes: Geoff Muldaur (vocals, guitar, pennywhistle, tambourine); Amos Garrett, Stephen Bruton (guitar); Eric Levine (fiddle); John Nicholas (piano); Bill Rich (bass); Larry Thompson (drums); Kester Smith (congas).
Engineers include: James Tuttle, Jay Hudson, Paul Wickliff.
Personnel: Geoff Muldaur (vocals, guitar, banjo, pennywhistle, tambourine); Stephen Bruton (guitar, electric guitar, mandola); Amos Garrett (electric guitar, background vocals); Bruce Forman (electric guitar); Mayne Smith (dobro); David Grisman (mandolin); Eric Levine, Richard Greene (fiddle); John Magnie (accordion, electric piano, background vocals); Lenny Pickett (clarinet, tenor saxophone); George Young , Kaz Kazanoff (tenor saxophone); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone, tuba); Gary Slechta (trumpet); Larry Ragent, John Clark (French horn); Dave Bargeron, Randy Zimmerman (trombone); Johnny Nicholas (piano); Riley Osbourne (organ); Sean Hopper (acoustic bass); Larry Thompson (drums); Kester Smith (congas, cowbells); Hal Ketchum, Jenni Muldaur, Malford Milligan, Tim Cook (background vocals).
Geoff Muldaur recorded THE SECRET HANDSHAKE over the course of a year in different places across America, after a 17-year absence from the music scene. The album flows like one long, well-paced, and multi-faceted story; the common thread through it all is Muldaur himself, who has been exploring various American musics since the mid-'60s.
This album is rich with character and confidence, in a way that only someone with deep and broad experience can accomplish. Muldaur has never been a pop musician; he's followed his own impulses, exploring various strains of American blues, folk, and gospel. From Southern churches to Delta crossroads to New Orleans parades, Muldaur chases it down, gets inside it, and makes it his own.
Professional Reviews
Dirty Linen (4-5/99, p.77) - "...THE SECRET HANDSHAKE is [Muldaur's] first solo album in several years, and it is a beauty. The highlight of the disc must certainly be the fife-and-drum-band reworking of 'Chevrolet'..."
