Mexican Summer & Anthology

If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3, 1972-1975 is another magical discovery from Georgia-born singer-songwriter Robert Lester Folsom’s oeuvre of soft psychedelia and rural rock n’ roll, written and recorded over 50 years ago yet prophetically resonant today. Born of lost summers, new love (and the breaks that follow), and hippie bluegrass shakes, these spirited takes to 4-track tape open a prismatic window onto a young artist finding their footing, and are testament to why Folsom’s legacy burns bright to this day.

Drawing from the same archive of homespun demos and informal studio sessions rediscovered on the two previous volumes of Folsom’s early musical wizardry from Anthology Recordings, Ode to a Rainy Day and Sunshine Only Sometimes, the songs on If You Wanna Laugh offer candid snapshots of the hazy yet hugely formative years that ushered in the release of Music and Dreams, the revered, privately pressed studio album which serendipitously enjoys its Golden Jubilee this year.

As Folsom recalls, most of the songs that weave the tale of this third anthological chapter were written during the long and languid summer vacation days of his late teens, which were largely spent bumming around with friends in his sleepy hometown of Adel, Georgia. The young visionary, accompanied by an eager troupe of local conspirators, spent his free time putting pen to paper and filling tape on his beloved Sears 3440 reel-to-reel in the off-hours that stretched wide between half-hearted summer jobs and hitting the road with eyes turned and ears tuned to the rhythms of the world passing by.

The resulting sun-soaked takes were recorded at home, across an array of improvised off-spaces in Adel (including the local hog parlor), and at one of Folsom’s favorite local studios at the time in Atlanta. A few tunes were set down as far away as Auburn, Alabama, the college town where Folsom briefly relocated in 1975 along with his bandmates from the short-lived but beloved soft rock outfit Abacus. These unpolished, lived-in environments pepper the recordings with a local flavor and characteristic drawl, their singular sonics echoing Folsom’s off-the-cuff songwriting that, then as now, is set alight by an old-soul wit and charm.

Like all great wordsmiths, Folsom has that rare ability of always saying just enough, whether he’s translating woozy daydreams about paint colors into offbeat tales of heartbreak (“Burnt Carmine”) or flooring hearts with raw verses of clear-eyed feeling. “I Don’t Know” and “What Are You Thinking Of?” are love songs that transcend time and place, and find the young Folsom at some of his songwriting best, leaning into unfettered rhyme structures and plainspoken emotional turns that touch on universal experiences.

Interspersed throughout the collection is also a bundle of bluegrass-inspired instrumentals that were set off by a fateful encounter with legendary fingerpicker Doc Watson at a local music festival. “Mountain Air Rag,” “And God Made the Pine Trees Too,” and “Gene Autry” shadow the sudden rise in popularity of bluegrass music that seized the South during the early-to-mid 1970s (and was particularly potent among the hippie set) with Folsom riding the trend’s smoke trails with high-flying charisma.

Like a series of old postcards that offer a glimpse into an almost forgotten world, the lo-fi gems on If You Wanna Laugh welcome longtime listeners ever deeper into Folsom’s inner sanctum, while inviting new ears into the orbit of a songwriter whose work has always existed just outside the frame of its time. Equal parts naïve and knowing, lighthearted and serious, these recordings reaffirm the enduring spirit of an artist that’s kept touring, making music, and living out his dreams until this day. Eternally guided by a golden soul that’s still shining forever young.

Robert Lester Folsom’s If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3, 1972-1975 is set to arrive on Anthology Recordings on March 20, 2026. Lester and his whip-smart crew of young collaborators will tour around the release, with extensive North American dates throughout March and May.