To celebrate the occasion of ordering my first CD by Bill Morrissey (who I wasn’t aware of until a few weeks ago), his collaboration with Greg Brown titled Friend Of Mine, here’s his track Birches (not on Friend Of Mine).
Tag Archives: Folk Music
Peter Case : Sings Like Hell
Peter Case’s new album will be released later this year, but as he’s in his early 60’s now, he’s got quite a long career to look back on to, although unfortunately he’s not quite blessed with the amount of success he definitely deserves. Starting his career in earnest in the mid-1970’s in San Francisco, he played with seminal Power Pop heroes The Nerves and The Plimsouls in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Most interesting for me however, was the solo career which he started with his self-titled album in 1986 and 1989’s The Man With The Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar. Both are very fine albums taking me right back to, what was for me, the most formative and probably the most exciting musical period of my life, with bands such as The Blasters, The Beat Farmers, The Long Ryders, The Del Lords, Jason & The Scorchers, X, Los Lobos, Lone Justice and countless others. Haven’t listened to both albums in ages (a fact I plan on rectifying rather sooner than later), and the same is true for Sings Like Hell.
Like all albums close to your heart you never completely forget about them though, so I picked it up again recently – and, nor surprisingly, I love it as much nowadays as I did back in the mid-1990’s. I got hold of it through the record label, Glitterhouse Records, for which I was working for around that time and who released the album in Europe in 1994 (it was released on his own Travellin’ Light label in the US and was thankfully re-released through Vanguard Records which means it is still widely available). And if you are, like me, into primitive, old-fashioned and (at times) raw Folk-Blues sounding a lot like an updated version of Case’s Blues heroes from the first part of the 20th Century, it’s an album that should not be missing from your record collection.
More than his first two solo records, Sings Like Hell was for him a return to the styles and sounds he was inspired by as a guitar player, as his early inspiration were artists like Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. Where he was accompanied by a host of other players in those first two solo records, here it’s only a small group of fine musicians, accompanying him on a limited number of tracks, drums and bass for example are only to be heard on Walkin’ Bum and Well Runs Dry.
Naturally, I like the more folk-influenced songs on here best, especially Lakes Of Ponchartrain, Roving Gambler, Rose Conolly and How ‘Bout You. Lakes Of Ponchartrain, like most of the songs on here, is a traditional, but I don’t think there was ever a better version recorded. It’s slow and sweet, with Tammy Rogers’ violin coupled with Case’s harmonica and guitar making it one of the most gorgeous songs I have ever heard. Roving Gambler is even more simply arranged with only Case and his acoustic guitar – but that’s all you need when a great song is done by somebody as talented and good as Case.
Rose Conolly’s pretty tune (much like that other famous murder ballad Knoxville Girl) belies the gruesome story about a cold-blooded murder. Jesse Winchester’s How ‘Bout You is another track arranged in a very understated manner with just an acoustic guitar and (producer and ex-Lone Justice) Marvin Etzioni’s mandolin. Waltz Of The Angels is another slow and tuneful ballad (again graced by Roger’s violin).
However, the decidedly more blues-oriented songs on here don’t disappoint at all either. Album opener Brokedown Engine is as raw as they come on here and setting the mood of the album in fine style. Case’s version of Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup’s classic So Glad You’re Mine sounds quite different, but at the same time as authentic as you can hope to, about 50 years after it was first recorded. Especially good too is Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Matchbox Blues, it’s very cool, highly entertaining and downright catchy with some very fine guitar work by Case. Down In The Alley, for a change, is arranged only with a glorious, stomping honky-tonk piano, harmonica and vocals. The shouty Well Runs Dry is piano-led too, but, as noted before, arranged with bass and drums so it’s the fullest-sounding and most ‘rocking’ track on Sings Like Hell. Case’s only composition on here, the fabulous North Coast Blues is testament to his songwriting skills and fits on the album perfectly well and in convincing style.
Quite a few songs on Sings Like Hell remind me of Dylan’s early work, the rough-around-the-edges guitar playing and overall sound, and the rather high and nasal, raspy voice. What was working for Dylan on Another Side Of is working on here brilliantly too. Another album springing to mind as a comparison, is the Alvin Brothers’ 2014 record Common Ground, if not exactly in sound, but in spirit. Having yet to listen to the first two records again in depth, my verdict ist still out, but Sings Like Hell might very well be my favorite Peter Case album, it’s most definitely the most original and the coolest.
His website:
Tony Gilkyson : Death In Arkansas
Haven’t posted a lot recently, so I thought I start to get going again with this fine performance by one-time X and Lone Justice Member (and brother of Eliza) Tony Gilkyson.
The Mallett Brothers Band
The Mallett Brothers Band feature two sons of David Mallett – haven’t heard any of their albums yet, but the upcoming release of Lights Along The River should be a good time to rectify that.
Their website is http://mallettbrothersband.com/
Dave Moore : My Perfect Game
Sometime musical partner of Greg Brown, Dave Moore is held in very high regard round these parts (see here and here). He’s still keeping a somewhat low profile, with his last record to date released way back in 1999, so this 2014 recording from A Prairie Home Companion is very welcome indeed. His trademark accomplished fingerpicking, harmonica and sonorous, resonant voice are augmented here to very fine effect by an extremely tasteful, understated accompaniment by the show’s house band.
Jon Brooks : The Smiling & Beautiful Countryside
(2014 Borealis Records)
Easy listening this is not. There’s meat on the bones on this record. Jon Brooks hails from Ontario, Canada and The Smiling And Beautiful Countryside is his 5th album to date. It is the first record of his I have heard, so I can’t really compare it with his previous output. He’s playing all of the few instruments heard on the album, actually it’s pretty much only guitars, a banjitar, plus some rudimentary percussion, which apparently is mainly his feet tapping and banging on his guitar. As you would expect, this makes for a rather sparsely instrumented and spartan album. The sound is dry, but quite substantial and good, with his gruff voice sounding like a little less moody Tom Waits (or Mr. Waits on one of his more friendly albums).
The songs range from the short, barely over one and a half minutes long These Are Not Economic Hard Times to the over 11 minutes long The Only Good Things Is An Old Dog. The latter of which expertly weaves together the story of a workplace mass killing with quotes from Shakespeare’s King Lear and Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers Of Evil. A whole lot of songs on here are about murders and death. The Twa Sisters (also recorded in the recent past by Tom Waits on his triple-album Orphans) is based on a Francis James Child ballad and dates back to the 19th Century. It’s a long, splendid and hypnotic song with a lovely tune standing in stark contrast to the gruesome lyrics about betrayal, killing and mutilation.
My favorite song on here, Queensville is similar in that regard. Whereas The Twa Sisters is a pretty ballad, Queensville in contrast is a somewhat uptempo Hillbilly-Folk song with a catchy and upbeat feel to it. Equally uncomfortable lyrics however, about the unsolved murder of a young girl make for a captivating listening experience.
Album opener Gun Dealer is percussion-heavy and energetic and with its long list of available gun-models an excellent statement about gun-crazy cultures. People Don’t Think Of Others is yet another song I love dearly on here, the maudlin lyrics about a double suicide pact perfectly augmented by a melancholic tune and a gorgeous Folk arrangement. It’s also a fine pointer of where Jon Brooks is from with the opening lines of ‘He came from Elfros, Saskatchewan a flat town from which thwarted dreams are born, you could watch your dog run until lunchtime, or the indifferent trains ‘til morn’. Music from the Canadian Prairies breathing the wide open spaces and the secrets contained in them – in the case of The Smiling And Beautiful Countryside, the dark ones, where the ugly side of human nature rears its head all too often.
Highway 16 is again concerned with the human abyss, this one is a bout a truck driving serial killer, and on here the subdued mood of the song fits the unpleasant lyrics very well indeed. Felix Culpa is the darkest-sounding song on the album, the haunting sound of the banjitar and percussion accompaniment giving it a perfect Southern Gothic feel, reminiscent of a stripped down 16 Horsepower in their prime.
Album closer Worse Than Indians is inspired by a book about the relocation of a Dene tribe and a plea for forgiveness in the face of injustice and the wrong that has been done.
The Smiling And Beautiful Countryside is a convincing album by a songwriter with stories to tell, not always ones you necessary want to hear, but stories that will linger in your head for a long time after your heard them. His expressive voice and energetic musical accompaniment making the songs on the album all the more unforgettable.
Eric Bibb : The Cape
Another new discovery for me – as usual, I am late discovering fine artists who have been around for ages. The Cape is taken from his 2004 release Friends
David Mallett : Second Cup Of Coffee
David Mallett is a singer/songwriter from Maine, active since the 1970’s, although I have only recently heard of him for the first time. His songs have been covered by artists as varied as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Alison Kraus, and, ahem, The Muppets (Garden Song). He’s recorded some more Country influenced albums in the past, but the songs of his I like most are firmly rooted in Folk-traditions. So, fittingly, the two videos I chose to share on here were recorded in a coffehouse in Massachusetts in 2014.
His website is: http://davidmallett.com/
Jon Brooks : Mercy
Jon Brooks is a Canadian Singer/Songwriter who I have only recently discovered. Still have to get one of his records, his latest album The Smiling And Beautiful Countryside was released in late 2014, so I’m probably gonna go for that. This song, Mercy is taken from his 2011 album Delicate Cages, is a splendid, quiet acoustic song with intelligent lyrics – so it’s right up my street.
Bruce Cockburn : Nothing But A Burning Light
When Nothing But A Burning Light was released, way back in 1991, I liked the music I was listening to have a bit more punch and drive, so I didn’t give him and his music the attention it definitely deserves. Having left the ‚Rock’ period more or less behind the past few years, I can see now that he is an amazing guitarist, an extraordinarily gifted songwriter and politically on the ‘right’ side, which for me is the left. He’s long been active and supportive of humanitarian and ecological causes, as well as a supporter of Native American causes (he was, for a time in the 1960’s, a member of Abundance To Revolution with Duke Redbird, whose song Silver River (with Shingoose) can be heard on Native North America Vol. 1 (read my review here). Which neatly brings me to one of the standout tracks of this record, Indian Wars. Fittingly, it’s a somber, sparsely produced song with only him on acoustic guitar/vocals and Jackson Browne on a resonator guitar together with violin/mandolin player extraordinaire Mark O’Connor. The result is a dignified, slow and gorgeous songs with touching, poetic lyrics such as this: ‘treaties get signed and the papers change hands but they might as well draft these agreements on sand’. O’Connor’s contributions can’t be praised enough, on here, as well as on One Of The Best Ones, his graceful violin/mandolin accompaniments are simply wonderful. Also exceedingly excellent is Child of the Wind – a song with a title like this could be very much kitsch in lesser hands, but on here it’s utterly beautiful (this time with Cockburn on a resonator guitar, having one of those played on a song is always a plus). Speaking of arrangements, the album is produced by probably the best man for this kind of music, T Bone Burnett. Burnett contributed his skills to many of my favorite records such as Counting Crows’ August and Everything After, as well as albums by The Wallflowers, Jakob Dylan and Gillian Welch (just to name a few). In the recent past he’s become legendary of course with his musical directions for The Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou?’ and Inside Llewyn Davis. On here you hear a sound which is, for that time period, outstandingly good, a bit thinner than nowadays maybe, but there’s mainly acoustic instruments and the sound is both rustic and naturalistic – just as I like it. There’s also two lovely instrumental songs, one, Actions Speak Louder is the theme to a documentary called The Greenpeace Years. The slightly too commercial for my taste Great Big Love most probably was intended as a hit single (the album was released on Columbia Records after all), but for me is the least convincing song on the album. Album opener A Dream Like Mine which sounds similarly catchy (it’s one of the few slightly more uptempo songs) fares much better in comparison. Second track Kit Carson and Mighty Trucks Of Midnight sound exactly like the titles suggest, breathing the spirit of empty North American trails and highways, with the latter touching on problematic issues such as US American companies leaving the country to do their manufacturing down in Mexico. Soul Of A Man, a song by Blind Willie Johnson sounds exactly like you would expect it to (which is a good thing, naturally). Somebody Touched Me in contrast, sounds light and airy with a rather nice organ by Booker T. Jones. I’ve just been rediscovering this CD among my records a few days ago, I didn’t even know anymore I had it. I am very glad I did, it’s an amazing record by an artist at the prime of his career, with a producer on board that knows exactly how to produce this kind of music, a match made in heaven. And, most importantly, a bunch of great songs. Here’s a rather beautiful video/slideshow to ‘ Indian Wars’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t1a5DLmR8U
Back Road Bound 