Perth County Conspiracy – Does Not Exist

Perth County Conspiracy was a folk music collective from Stratford, Ontario. Does Not Exist, which is sometimes considered part of the band's name, was their debut album, which they somehow got released on Columbia records (who also released a double-live follow-up in 1971). For an extensive review of this hippie utopia album, listen to this 2011 Inside the Music show.

I'm pretty sure it was my brother Tim who told me about these guys, after he had gone to see them – perhaps at Sault College – on their tour in support of the What School Bus Tour album. I remember him saying that the musicians were joined on stage by various children, wives and animals, who just sort of wandered around. I always like Perth County Conspiracy in theory more than in practice, but I do put them on the turntable every now and again.

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Track Listing

1. "Midnight Hour" (Cedric Smith, Richard Keelan, Dylan Thomas) – 6:37
2. "Epistle to a Borderline" (Cedric Smith) – 2:01
3. "Easy Rider" (Richard Keelan) – 4:42
4. "Truth and Fantasy" (Richard Keelan, Christopher Logue, Cedric Smith) – 5:43
5. "Don't You Feel Fine" (Richard Keelan) – 2:40
6. "You Have the Power" (Richard Keelan, Cedric Smith) – 4:45
7. "Keeper of the Key" (Richard Keelan) – 3:16
8. "Lady of the County" (Cedric Smith) – 3:27
9. "Listen to the Kids" (Richard Lewis, Richard Keelan) – 2:59
   1. "Being Nobody" (Karen Crawford, age 9)
   2. title unknown (Jewell Lawton, age 8)
   3. "My Brain" (Annabel Laurance, age 10)
   4. "Sleep and Dreams" (Peter Kelso, age 11)
10. "Trouble on the Farm" (Cedric Smith) – 2:16
11. excerpt from "As You Like It" (William Shakespeare, Richard Keelan) – 1:23
12. "The Dancer" (Richard Keelan) – 5:36
13. "Crucifixation Cartoon" (Cedric Smith, Richard Keelan) – 6:21

Personnel

• Cedric Smith – guitar, vocals, readings, maracas, tangents
• Richard Keelan – guitar, vocals, tympani, keyboards, fire, dulcimer, pennywhistle
• Michael Butler – bass
• Fred W. Baue – ukelin (on 13)
• The Rotten Goodwood Barnwood Band and Chorale
• Karen Crawford, Jewell Lawton, Annabel Laurance, Peter Kelso – childrens poems (on 9)