Gibson and Camp

Back in the early '60s, one of the more popular folk duos, though short-lived, was a team from Chicago, Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp.  Gibson had had a respectable solo career prior to that, and Camp had been a member of the legendary Second City improv company.  Teaming up, they brought a light-heartedness and sense of showmanship that was largely missing from folk music at the time.  One of the results is that their album, At the Gate of Horn, released in 1961, was considered one of the more influential of the era.  Eventually they split up, amicably.  In part it was because Gibson had a drug problem, in part because Camp went to Los Angeles to have a reasonably successful career,

In the 1980s, the duo reteamed, Gibson had by then recovered, and they largely re-created their classic album, which is now available as Live At the Gate of Horn Revisted.  They toured and put out a wonderful album, Homemade Music.  When they played in Los Angeles at McCabes, I finally got to see them perform live, and in an intimate 300-seat venue.  Also when in town, they appeared on a small, goofy local-access cable show.  But happily it got us a record of them on tape together.  Here’s a clip from it, singing a song by Shel Silverstein.  The production values are non-existent.  But the performance and harmonies are a joy.  (That's Camp on the left, Gibson obviously on the right.) –