can you mend a silver thread?

• Edition: Limited, remastered CD reissue with 2 bonus tracks
• Booklet: Illustrated booklet containing the band’s history and complete lyrics
• Original release: 1971

Originally released privately in 1971, Can You Mend a Silver Thread? is the only album by the young American folk-psych group Sandstone. David Sheirer, Laurie Braunstein and Mario Grella were still teenagers when they created this remarkably mature collection of original songs, blending British-influenced folk with distinctly American historical and pastoral imagery.

Acoustic guitars, mandolin, flute, recorders, piano and harpsichord are joined by violin, viola and cello, giving the album a rich yet intimate sound. Laurie Braunstein’s haunting lead vocals are especially effective on the title track, “Lovely Hunters” and “Asking Life,” while the male and female harmonies add depth to the more reflective arrangements.

The songs move through dreamlike rural scenes, Civil War memories and concerns about the changing landscape. “What If You Could Love the Flute Player” and “Farewell Valley” are among the album’s most atmospheric moments, balancing delicate acoustic instrumentation with poetic and sometimes mysterious lyrics.

The original LP was manufactured in a private pressing of approximately 300 copies and received very little distribution. This Lion Productions edition presents the complete album together with two previously unreleased outtakes from the original recording sessions, “Black Cat Paw Print” and “Bright Morning.”

Track listing

1. Can You Mend a Silver Thread? – 3:36
2. Lovely Hunters – 2:55
3. The Tattered Drum – 4:07
4. Asking Life – 7:03
5. What If You Could Love the Flute Player – 4:12
6. The World Is Around Us – 2:20
7. Again – 3:16
8. Farewell Valley – 3:09
9. Jamie’s Song – 3:42
10. Can You Mend a Silver Thread? (Coda) – 0:43

Bonus Tracks

11. Black Cat Paw Print – 2:33
12. Bright Morning – 4:07