These songs, just vocal and guitar recorded in ’78, ’79, ’81, and ’84 on a portable cassette, are remnants and revenants from my roaring 20s and dirty 30s, when it finally dawned on me that singin’ in bars would not feed my family and I’d need to hammer nails the rest of my days. But I done it ‘n did it with a few good days to spare and these

These songs, just vocal and guitar recorded in ’78, ’79, ’81, and ’84 on a portable cassette, are remnants and revenants from my roaring 20s and dirty 30s, when it finally dawned on me that singin’ in bars would not feed my family and I’d need to hammer nails the rest of my days. But I done it ‘n did it with a few good days to spare and these songs laid down like jailhouse cards, off-brand, crimped, scuffed, but there’s a full deck here. High cards ‘n low, cut ‘n deal ‘em anyway you like, one at a time or fan ‘em forth in play of chance, folly, desire, and dream. Mix ‘n shuffle, match a pair, make a full house, mayhap find you a flush, for sure a worn Ace or lowly deuce. And you can bet there’s a joker or two in the bunch. So ante up, all you gotta do is hit ‘play’ to conjure the whisperings of Bare Bones…

"There's just one voice and one guitar, but it's full of folk and blues, that of Woody, Ramblin’ Jack or Leadbelly and it's exciting as the discovery of a bootleg of Dylan in the sixties..." -- Same Pierre, Le Cri du Coyote (France)

"Immediately made me think of Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt's musical creations...a simplicity that balances to the sublime interface." -- Micheles Kindh, Blaskans vänner (Sweden)

A 4CD retrospective dripping in strip-backed quality, The Gothic Cowboy, Bare Bones -- "...this is perfect for anyone whose collection includes the likes of Guthrie, Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Lead Belly, Doc Watson, Elizabeth Cotton and their ilk, alongside whom, Litton can stand tall." -- Mike Davies, FATEA , Birmingham, UK (http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/GothicCowboy/)

"Melvin Litton is 70 and has spent a lifetime as The Gothic Cowboy. That had completely eluded me, I must confess, but now there is a quadruple CD with recordings made on a portable cassette recorder between 1978 and 1984, and I am an instant fan for life. Relaxed songs, great guitar playing, and after almost four hours I still don't have enough. Fantastic!" -- Moors Magazine (the Netherlands) https://www.moorsmagazine.com/muziek/singer-songwriter/the-gothic-cowboy-melvin-litton-bare-bones/

"Bare Bones is an authentic musical biography, unmistakably related to a blues pioneer like Leadbelly and the authentic folk and country of Dylan, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. It does takes some persistence to sit out the complete listening session, 56 unpolished tracks supported only by an acoustic guitar. Some dosage is recommended to fully appreciate the oeuvre of this young troubadour who at the time sought his own way in solitude..." -- Cis van Looy, Written in Music (the Netherlands) https://writteninmusic.com/albumrecensie/the-gothic-cowboy-bare-bones/

"Beautiful compilation of earlier work from countryfolk singer-songwriter Melvin Litton, aka The Gothic Cowboy. Just fingerpicking guitar and storytelling voice will give every folk fan an orgasm..." -- Marino Serdons, Keys and Chords (Belgium) http://www.keysandchords.com/album-review-blog/the-gothic-cowboy-melvin-litton-bare-bones