Of Tom Rush and No Regrets

Tom Rush in 1964, photo by Jim Eng

Way back in the early to mid 1960s, The Boston/Cambridge folk scene was only slightly behind New York City in terms of significance. There were several singers and groups from Cambridge, but Tom Rush probably had the biggest impact. Originally he did a mix of folk songs and blues. He was a skilled guitar player, playing a ’64 Epiphone Texan.

Originally on Prestige Records, he moved to Elektra in 1965, releasing Tom Rush which featured such players as John Sebastian on harp, John Herald (under the pseudonym Daddy Bones) on guitar, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and bassist Bill Lee. His extended version of Bukka White’s “Panama Limited” received a lot of airplay.

In 1966, following Dylan’s lead he started using a band on his records and used many of the musicians who played on Dylan’s first two “electric” albums including guitarist Bruce Langhorne, keyboard player Al Kooper, bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer, Bobby Gregg, covering Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Bo…