Tomas Gye is a relatively new name to me, having seen auctions screaming the words PROG, 70's PRIVATE PRESS, ACID ARCHIVES, and fetching large sums of moolah. And the fact they are mentioned to be from the great Midwest (Kansas), and an album that features a 10+ minute closer. This must be a winner!
Time for the reality check - the actual music. Mostly this is a type of low key folk rock, perhaps even an underproduced 70s era Rolling Stones comes to mind. There is some fine synthesizer work here and there giving off a whiff of progressive rock leanings, but they never really let loose honestly. The final track is indeed the epic closer, pretty good on the whole, and certainly 'Can I Play' is the best thing here for moi. Overall, there's not much meat on the bone to rationalize any kind of high stakes bidding. I mean it's not even in that loner / real people category that inexplicably draws hordes of collectors. These guys are pros all the way, and we'll explain that shortly.
Now finding info on Tomas Gye is not easy, but Detective Genius Hans is on the case! So what did I learn? We'll start with the easy one that is already known - Tomas Gye is a pseudonym for Tom Guy and he plays most of the instruments here. The LP itself affords no other data, in terms of its provenance. But the label will surely give something away. The name: Turkey Knob Orchard Enterprise.
Well that leads us to yet another expensive private press progressive rock album (allegedly) by a band called Emerald City and their album Pieces released in 1981 (which I intend on hearing soon enough). This time Tom Guy is joined by his brother Danny. Now this album yields results. Turns out the album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. And then we learn more about these two. They actually have a major label (Columbia) pop album from the early 70s and they donned themselves (oh get ready for this): Brothers. They sure did their best to conceal their heritage. And where are they from? Tennessee. So there you have it. Not sure where the Kansas myth began, but it's propagated often.
Honestly the Tomas Gye album sounds far more like it's from the South than the Midwest to my ears. And it appears the brothers (now just known as Tom & Danny Guy) even have a more recent album from 2002, though not much seems to be known about it. Obscure to a fault I guess.
Time to get on the next case... and Tomas Gye, it was nice to meet you. But not my thing I'm afraid.
No reissues exist as of 3/7/25
1/11/19 (new entry)
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