Corky's Debt to His Father

After the Red Krayola disbanded in 1968, Mayo Thompson returned to Walt Andrus' Studio with various Nashville session musicians to record a solo album. ''Corky's Debt to His Father'' was recorded and released in 1970 on independent record label Texas Revolution. The cover image is an illustration by John Charles Dollman for an article in the British newspaper The Graphic published September 10, 1892. The album's title was inspired by a cat named Corky which laid "cigar" shaped turds. The phrase "Corky's Cigar" would be displayed on the side of the record sleeve.'''' In an interview, Thompson remarked about the plans they had before the demise of the Texas Revolution label: "We were going to make records of the news. We were going to put the newspaper to music, and sell it on street corners. Like make it in one day, press it, and sell it the next week. Topical songs, sold out of the back of a truck. All the things that we've later come to see—indie music, the DIY scene, all that stuff." ==Critical reception==

''Corky's Debt to His Father was recorded in 1970 and released on Texas Revolution; however, due to the executives "hating" the record, it was given no official release, with only a few hundred copies pressed and sold via mail order, with the label folding shortly after. The New Yorker called Corky's Debt to His Father "an emblematic cult record, twisting the ears of a fervent few." Trouser Press'' deemed it "a left-field version of a blues and neo-vaudeville album [that is] played mostly acoustic on slide guitar, piano, bass and elementary traps, with some horns and electricity." LA Weekly called it "an overlooked collection of cracked and arty folk songs that set the template for lo-fi, indie-pop styles decades later." In a retrospective review, Richie Unterberger assessed the record as being "more palatable to pop ears than any of Thompson's numerous Red Krayola records" as well as appraising it as "an eclectic folk-rock base that bore some rough similarities to Syd Barrett's work". == Legacy ==

In 2013, Thompson formed the Corky Band and performed the entirety of ''Corky's Debt to His Father'' for the first time at the Cropped Out music festival in Louisville, Kentucky, and later at California's Hammer Museum in 2020. Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel has been cited as a huge fan of the record. In 2019, he attended Thompson's live performance of ''Corky's Debt to His Father'' at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT mentioned in a 2011 interview with NME that he used to listen to ''Corky's Debt to His Father more than The Parable of Arable Land''. ==Covers==

Pere Ubu covered "Horses" in 1980. Lower Dens covered "Dear Betty Baby" in 2011. Dean Wareham covered "Dear Betty Baby" in 2025. ==Track listing==

• Mayo Thompson - vocals, guitar, bass, production • Frank Davis - production, engineering, fiddle guitar, timpani • Roger Romano - production, engineering, percussion • Joe Duggan - piano • Mike Sumler - slide guitar, bass, tenor saxophone • LeAnne Romano - baritone horn • Chuck Conway - drums, bongos, percussion • Jimi Newhouse - drums • Carson Graham - drums • The La La's - backing vocals • The Whoaback Singers - backing vocals ==References==