Verse 1: Well I recall his parting words / Must I accept his fate / Or take myself far from this place? // I thought I heard a black bell toll / A little bird did sing / Man has no choice when he wants everything

Chorus: We’ll rise above the scarlet tide / That trickles down through the mountain / And separates the widow from the bride

Verse 2: Man goes beyond his own decision / Gets caught up in the mechanism / Of swindlers who act like kings / And brokers who break everything // The dark of night was swiftly fading / Close to the dawn of day / Why would I want him just to lose him again?

Chorus (2x)

Alison Krauss’ voice gives me shivers. I’m not alone. 

Elvis Costello wrote this song with T-Bone Burnett. I included a clip of him singing it below (try to ignore the talk show host sitting there grinning like a dweeb).

Speaking of dweebs, here’s my dweeby commentary: Check out the weird rhythmic hiccup in the phrasing that adds considerable interest during each half of the first verse (“must I accept his fate?” and “A little bird did sing”). It goes away during the first half of the second verse, where the phrasing is more regular (“gets caught up in the mechanism”) but comes back for the second half (“close to the dawn of day”). Melodically, the leap up to the seventh scale degree in the chorus (“that trickles down”) turns the home chord into a seventh chord, providing some delicious tension largely missing from the verse. This is really just a three-chord song with some sevenths thrown in, which perhaps makes it sound so archaic and suitable for a movie about the Civil War.

The lyrics of the second verse, where the swindlers act like kings and the brokers “break everything,” sound more natural coming from Elvis than from Alison. “Mechanism”s a little stodgy for her as well. Mostly I like how the lyrics balance universal commentary (“Man” this, “Man” that, etc.) with first-person pronouncements (“well I recall his parting words”). The chorus couldn’t be more touching, with the build up to the chord change at “mountain.”

Album info: Cold Mountain Soundtrack (2003)

EC:

Per Amazon’s website the pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss was like  putting together “the duo of King Kong and Bambi”; and they are right. Plant and Krauss are the last two I would have thought would collaborate.  To my surprise and delight, after listening to this album I would agree that they are the perfect pairing. 

As one would realize, gone are the days of the wild Robert Plant who’s antics included trashing rooms and riding motorcycles down the hallways of the Chateau Marmont Hotel.  This album seems to take its rightful place and home to todays more mellow Plant.  After Zeppelin it can be seen how Plant decided pursue more mellow outlets than he originally had been identified with, this can be seen with his 80’s project The Honey Drippers.   It has been known that Plant has an insatiable appetite for world music and a drive to explore different avenues and styles for his future albums.  If this album was to be Plants last (which it is not I’m sure) it would be the perfect ending to a musical life well lived.  However, I do not think we have heard the last from him.

Alison Krauss is a household name in the bluegrass world, she is one of the most sought after musicians in Nashville and often is featured as a guest on many bluegrass and contemporary country albums.  Although I’m not the biggest fan of country, I do appreciate bluegrass (Ricky Skaggs, Bill Monroe among my favorites), I must admit that I am a big fan of Alison Krauss and her band Union Station.  I highly recommend her live 2-disc album if you get a chance to grab it, simply incredible.  I’ve converted several of my friends that were ”anti-country/ anti-bluegrass” with that album.

Raising Sand is for playing on rainy days, background music when you are having people over for dinner, long car rides out to Buffalo, or cutting your cats nails.  It’s not for getting in the car and cranking it up really loud to relive your Zeppelin glory days.  Raising Sand is a sincere, well produced, and personal album that reflects the gifts of two excellent vocalists, two who compliment each other on every song.

The majority of songs on this album are soft and smoky, cleary a reflection of what producer T Bone Burnett can create with right combination of artists.  Burnett has produced albums for bands such as Counting Crows, K.D. Lang, and The Wallflowers.

Highlights of this album are cleary the opening song Rich Woman (nice use of harmonies and reverb together),songs Killing The Blues & Please Read The Letter;  both created the most noteriety for  much of this album.  Lastly,  Fortune Teller is a fun romp (possibly the most upbeat song on the album) full of reverb, raw acoustic bass, and Plant’s strong, emotional vocals.  Let Your Loss be your Lesson is one my favorites

Raising Sand gets 4 out of 5 in my humble mellow music opinion.

now you ask me
just to leave you
to go out on my own
and get what I need to
you want me to find
what i’ve already had
– alison krauss & robert plant

i’m flying to baltimore tomorrow, so i’ll be out of the blogging scene for three weeks. i take it as a great opportunity to visit the east coast in the last days of autumn before winter sets in. the colors of autumn are a sight to behold with leaves of trees in hues of red, orange, and gold. albert camus said it best, “autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

i’ll be in the dc area for a while and then sneak to new york if i can. even though i had lived there only for a few months, i still consider it home. it’s probably because my closest relatives live in the area.

i went to new york from the philippines to follow someone who i thought was the one. but it wasn’t meant to be. i remember our last date. it was a trip to long island to visit her former roommate who was by then married. at that time, i was unemployed, living on the charity of my cousins, and thinking of joining the army. she must have found me a boring companion, indeed.

a month later, i took the greyhound bus to chicago determined to be on my own, then headed west to meet my destiny as many had done before me.

people tell me it takes a lot of spunk to pull off something like that, but not really. it was like being thrown out of the ocean with a rope to save you from drowning. in the event it didn’t pan out, i had three options: go back to my cousins in new york, take my dad’s offer of plane ticket back to the philippines, or jump off the golden gate bridge and kiss this life good-bye. fortunately, i didn’t have to use any of them. as they say, if there’s a will, there’s gotta be a way. it was tough sailing in the beginning, but i survived.

she has since moved to new jersey. i got her current address and phone number on the internet. i wonder if i should attempt to contact her after all these years. i’d like her to look at me now. i didn’t end up as a total failure after all. at the same time, i feel that maybe it’s time to just let go. there’s no point in picking up the pieces of the past and try to put them back together again. i’ve got this life to live now and so does she. it’s time to let bygones be bygones.

autumn is a time for reflection. for me, it’s not thinking about the past and what might have been. rather, it’s about being grateful for how life has turned out to be. it might not have been what i’ve expected, but it’s still alright. life’s what you make it.

sighs, i’m holding on to her number just in case.

Yesterday, my good friend Peter Ryan passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was buried this morning in Singapore. We are mourning him.

Pete was a wonderful man, kind and loving and always helping out. He was a teetotaler, not drinking a sip of alcohol, but his liver failled him nonetheless (cirrhosis).

He tought me, among others, how ups and downs are part of human existence and that in end both do not matter. I also learned from him to appreciate the beauty of eccentricity.

He was a fan of Johanna Budwig and defeated his liver cancer successfully following the Budwig diet.

I salute you my dear friend. We will drink a bottle of champagne tonight in your honor, I will smoke a cigar and we will be reminiscing about the good times we had together. We will celebrate your life and the impermanence of it.

Though I am not particularly religious, I like the Irish folk song, “Your long jouney”, especially its version by Robert Pant and Alison Krauss. Two of the verses I find appropriate and want to share with you.

Your long journey

1. Verse
God’s given us years of happiness here
Now we must part
And as the angels come and call for you
The pains of grief tug at my heart

3. Verse
Fond memories I’ll keep of happy ways
That on earth we trod
And when I come we will walk hand in hand
As one in heaven in the family of god

Llevamos un tiempo viendo como grupos veteranos de gran calado volvían a anunciar su unión en detrimento de toda esa nueva generación de promesas que salen de los concursos. Les hacen sombra, no se puede negar y es que la fama, a pesar de ser desagradecida, siempre queda en el recuerdo nostálgico.

Grupos que dieron el pelotazo en su época como Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys o la posible reunión aún no confirmada de Take That ponen de relieve este hecho. Sin embargo, no solo bandas a las que muchos podrían considerar oportunistas se quieren reunir, también otras que tuvieron un auténtico gran éxito como Queen (una reunión que de vuelta casi solo tiene el nombre, por cierto), The Police o Blur.

Sin embargo, a las alegrías, penas.

Pulp ya confirmó que no iban a reunirse mediante Jarvis Jocker (ex líder) quien negó que Pulp, uno de los grupos más conocidos de la década dorada del brit pop de los 90, fuera a reunirse.

El último grupo que ha tenido que desmentir la supuesta unión, han sido los legendarios Led Zeppelin. El grupo se reunió varias veces para ensayar sus viejos temas sin la presencia del cantante. Seguramente, también nostálgicos, llegaron a revivir sentimientos de una época que acabó marcando a varias generaciones hasta el punto de surgir la idea de retomar la formación.

Pero el cantante no estaba; Robert Plant estaba sumergido en su aventura musical con Alison Krauss (cantante de Bluegrass) y no quería volver con Led Zeppelin para ninguna gira a pesar del éxito de su última unión sobre los escenarios en el O2 de Londres.

Embriagados por la ilusión buscaron durante un año un nuevo cantante. Finalmente, será John Paul Jones quien desmentirá la posible unión. Claro que al estar sumergido de lleno en el proyectoThem Crooked Vultures (del que ya os hemos hablado) seguro que le ha roto la ilusión, pero no las ganas de triunfar.

Läste nånstans idag, tror det var i en gratisblaska på tåget, att Schlager/Fame/pop-Jessica Andersson vill göra country till sin nästa grej. Och då “inte som Jill Johnsson, utan mer soft country, som Alison Krauss”. Well, vi ska väl inte döma nån i förväg, man kan ju överraskas eller få äta upp sin (cowboy-)hatt, så vi låter väl Jessica göra sin skiva och dömer ut den då. Istället för att sitta som på nålar i väntan på det (…)  rekommenderar jag att du bekantar dig med originalet.

Alison Krauss är en vän, högst ödmjuk i såväl framtoning som sound, bluesgrass-/countrysångerska med flinka fiolfingrar. Hon släppte sitt första album redan som 16-åring och även om hon har åtnjutit tämligen god framgång som soloartist, är det tillsammans med bandet The Union Station som Alison huvudsakligen gör sin musik.

Alison tycks även ha en fäbless för film då hennes musik har förekommit på en hel del uppmärksammade soundtracks. I den underbara filmen O’ Brother, Where Art Thou gör Alison Krauss en fullkomligt klockstannande acapella-version av “Down To The River To Pray”, i en magisk scen i filmen. Alison har även gjort musik Åter till Cold Mountain och Ya-Ya flickornas gudomliga hemligheter.

Förutom att spela med The Union Station har Alison samarbetat med en rad andra artister, såsom Emmylou Harris, Brad Paisley och senaste i den lite oväntade konstellationen tillsammans med Robert Plant från Led Zeppelin. 2007 släppte Plant/Krauss albumet Raising Sand som blev en stor framgång såväl inom som utanför countryvärlden. Albumet vann inte mindre 5 Grammis för bland annat “Årets album” och “Bästa folk/americana album”.

Men Dagens Låt hämtas från ett annat album, nämligen “New Favorite” från 2001 tillsammans med The Union Station. Låten “The Lucky One” blev Alisons största hit sedan “When You Say Nothing At All” som hon spelade in 1995.

Albumet “New Favorite” med Alison Krauss & The Union Station hittar du på Spotify här.

Vill du försvinna in i sakral musikalisk magi i form av “Down To The River To Pray” hittar du soundtracket till O’ Brother, Where Art Thou här.

Albumet “Raising Sand” med Robert Plant & Alison Krauss hittar du på Spotify här.

There have been times when I’ve found it difficult to pick a favorite record for a given year, but 2007 wasn’t one of them. Granted, any time Joe Henry releases a new album, it makes the Album of the Year race fairly tough to call for me, but 2007’s Civilians felt particularly timely and triumphant. Part of it was that the album was the follow-up to Tiny Voices– an album that had by then become my all-time favorite, by Henry or anybody else– and that it had been some four years in the making. But more than that, the album followed on the heels of a particularly turbulent political season and looked ahead to the election cycle that was to come, yet it was not, as Henry has always been quick to point out, a “political album.” Actually, it was a decidedly spiritual one, casting its eye to national affairs but also invoking God’s name on nearly every song and exploring profoundly theological matters– namely, the providence and grace of God, themes it addresses more poetically and richly than any other album I know of, save perhaps Sam Phillips’ A Boot and a Shoe.

Henry was 2007’s true MVP, not only for that album’s superb songwriting but also for his skilled work as a producer, both on Civilians and on a pair of albums he cut for other artists– Loudon Wainwright III’s Strange Weirdos and Mary Gauthier’s Between Daylight and Dark. These three albums are produced immaculately and cut with the same core band, which made them feel, at the time, a bit like a trilogy, though all three have very distinct characteristics. If Henry’s album is about poetry and spiritual exploration, Wainwright’s is about joy and humor, and Gauthier’s about gritty blues. All three are utterly excellent, though, and rank as three of the finest albums from 2007, which I still think of as The Year of Joe Henry.

But if the big story in 2007 was, for me, Joe Henry, it was, for everyone else, Radiohead. In Rainbows appeared from out of the blue at the tail end of the year and made huge waves for its unorthodox release strategy, but, with a little distance, the album is now starting to be celebrated not just for its cutting-edge marketing, but, more importantly, for its standing as a very fine Radiohead album. In fact, it’s become one of my favorites: The sound of it is (comparatively) warm, romantic, and comfortable in its own skin in a way that no other Radiohead album is. When I get a Radiohead itch, it is, more often than not, for In Rainbows.

Another trend: Rock and roll. 2007 was full of great rock, ranging from The White Stripes‘ Icky Thump– their hardest-rocking set, and one of their most peculiar– to Queens of the Stone Age and the loud, nasty, primitive roar of Era Vulgaris. My two favorites might be Arctic Monkeys‘ piledriving rock and roll set Favourite Worst Nightmare and Spoon’s sensational, inspired tribute to pop songcraft, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Rounding out the rock and roll set is Dinosaur Jr. and Beyond, one of the decade’s most thrilling comebacks, an album of great hunger, energy, and roaring rock and roll vigor.

Behind Joe Henry, though, the thing I listened to most in 2007 was The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, a blindingly great pop album for which I hold boundless affection. I’m not sure that anyone else loves the album in quite the same way that I do, but I stand behind it completely: Ritter reshapes American myth and music in his own image, and the album is both heartfelt and incredibly fun. More than anything else, it reminds me of the great Nick Lowe albums of the late 1970s– it’s a jukebox of great songs and styles, but it holds together due to the sheer magnetism of the singer and the consistent nature of the songwriting.

2007 was also the year of what is arguably my favorite soul album of the decade– it’s gotta be either Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up on Me (from 2002) or Bettye LaVette’s The Scene of the Crime. The latter album is an exemplary entry in the genre, for a number of reasons: Not only is it a crash course in the art of song interpretation, with LaVette pulling songs from diverse sources and styles and turning them all into not only soul songs, but soul songs that tell her own, unique story, but it’s also a primer on inspired collaboration; LaVette and her backing band, the Drive-by Truckers, create a speaker-rattling, soul-stirring roadhouse fury, and few soul albums released in the 00s match this one in sure, unhinged fervor or edginess.

And though he didn’t release any album of his own in 2007, Bob Dylan was nevertheless the source– or at least the source material– of one of my very favorite albums from the year, the dynamite two-disc soundtrack to I’m Not There. Dozens of vintage Dylan tunes covered by some of the best artists around, and the whole thing is virtually devoid of clunkers of filler. It’s inspired, and compulsively playable; it still finds its way into my stereo all the time.

And the list goes on and on. Over the Rhine got playful with The Trumpet Child. Maria McKee made her more inspired and colorful album with Late December. Nick Lowe made his best-yet collection of country/rock/R&B gems with the easygoing, romantic At My Age. Arcade Fire mixed politics and religion for the fiery, ferocious Neon Bible. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss got contemplative for the sublime Raising Sand. Patty Griffin turned in another winning set, mixing country and folk and gospel, in Children Running Through. LCD Soundsystem made what might be my favorite dance recording of the decade, Sound of Silver. Nick Cave and some of his Bad Seeds rocked their way through midlife crisis in Grinderman’s self-titled debut. Andrew Bird made one of his most ambitious and provocative works, Armchair Apocrypha. Miranda Lambert gave mainstream country a much-needed dose of rock and roll in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The National turned in working-class poetry with their beautiful album Boxer. And on and on it goes; all told, I’m pretty sure 2007 was my favorite musical year of the decade.

But how about you?

See also: 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; and 2006.

Wenn jemand wie Nanci Griffith ein neues Album vorlegt, hält die Country/Folk Szene US-Amerikas zunächst mal kurz den Atem an; schließlich handelt es sich bei Mrs. Griffith nicht um irgend jemanden, sondern um eine der Ikonen des US-Folks schlechthin – sowohl als Songwriterin als auch als Interpretin.

Im Laufe ihrer Karriere hat sie sich nicht nur als brilliante Texterin und wunderbare Musikerin einen Namen gemacht, sie hat sich auch ihre Lorbeeren als Sängerin und Interpretin von Fremdmaterial verdient. Und so ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass sie sich nach vielen Jahren Bühnen- und Studioarbeit die Zeit nimmt, ein ganz persönliches Potpourri von Songs zusammenzustellen – Songs von Weggefährten, von Wegweisern und Freunden. Mit einer erstaunlichen Auswahl an Songs und einer noch erstaunlicheren Auswahl an Gastmusikern beglücken Griffith und ihr Produzent Jim Rooney uns auf dem Album “Other Voices | Other Rooms” (nicht umsonst nach Truman Capotes erstem Roman benannt).

Als Musiker hören wir: Nanci Griffith (Gitarren, Vocals, String Arrangements), Lee Satterfield (Gitarren, Vocals), Emmylou Harris (Vocals), Pete Kennedy (div. Gitarren), Fran Breen (Percussion, Drums), Pat McInerney (Percussion, Dinner Bell), James Hooker (Piano, Keyboards, B-3, Barrel House Piano, Vocals), Stuart Duncan (Mandolin, Violin), Frank Christian (Gitarre), Edgar Meyer (Bass Strings), Alison Krauss (Violin), John Catchings (Cello), Andrea Zonn (Viola), Arlo Guthrie (Vocals), Bob Dylan (Harmonica), John Prine (Vocals), Philip Donnelly (Gitarren), Pete Cummins (Vocals), Carolyn Hester (Vocals), Guy Clark (Gitarre, Vocals), Pat Flynn (Gitarre), Roy Huskey Jr (Upright Bass), Bela Fleck (Banjo), Iris DeMent (Vocals), Don Edwards (Jodler), Chet Atkins (Gitarren), Leo Kottke (12-Seiten Gitarre), Mary Ann Kennedy (Percussion), John Hartford (Banjo, Tap Dance), Chor auf “Wimoweh”: Roy Huskey Jr, John Hartford, Odetta, Nanci Griffith, The Indigo Girls, Kennedy-Rose, John Prine, James Hooker, Holly und Barry Tashian, John Gorka, Dave Mallett, Marlin Griffith, Jim Rooney.

Als nächstes möchte ich aus den weisen Worten zitieren, die Nanci für das Booklet zu diesem wunderbaren Album geschrieben hat:

This recording project has been the dream of a lifetime come true for me both as an artist and songwriter. No other producer could have lent the knowledge and the compassion to this music with the patience and dedication Jim Rooney has put into this body of work. Nor do I feel we could have found two engineers, Mark Miller in Nashville and Brian Masterson in Dublin, who had better ears for acoustic instruments and instinctively knew that the secret of capturing Folk Music, if indeed it can be captured, is to let it roll and keep your hands off the wheel.

Nanci schreibt in diesem wunderbaren Vorwort zum Album, wie sie zu dieser Auswahl an Songs gekommen ist, und welche Künster sie noch gerne für dieses Projekt gewonnen hätte, deren enge Zeitpläne es aber nicht zuließen. Und eingedenk der Tatsache, dass das erste Stück des Albums eine wundervolle Aufnahme von Kate Wolfs “Across the Great Divide” ist, verwundern diese Zeilen Griffiths nicht: In Memory of Kate Wolf, Malvina Reynolds and Bob Claypool … please save me and Emmy a seat at the bar.

Song 1: Kate Wolf – Across the Great Divide

Eine Verbeugung vor einer anderen großen und völlig zu Unrecht vergessenen Dame des US-Folks, Kate Wolf. Nanci hat schon früher verschiedene Versionen dieses Songs aufgenommen, doch auf diesem Album legt sie ihre beste vor. Einfühlsam, schlicht und atemberaubend ruhig erzählt sie die Geschichte, die Wolf verfasste. Stuart Duncan steuert wunderbare Mandolinen-Einlagen zu den ohnehin über jeden Zweifel erhabenen Gitarren von Nanci und Lee Satterfield bei, dazu Pete Kennedys Lead Guitar. Kate Wolfs Song ist ein Paradebeispiel klassischen Folk-Songwritings, und Griffiths Interpretation mehr und etwas anderes als das “Ausschlachten” einer Cash-Cow, sondern eine zutiefst ehrfürchtige Verbeugung vor dem Vorbild, ehrlich und solide. (5/5)

Song 2: Vince Bell – Woman of the Phoenix

Zu diesem Stück steuert Nanci ein geschmackvolles aber nicht übertriebenes Streicher-Arrangement bei, gespielt von Edgar Meyer, Alison Krauss, John Catchings und Andrea Zonn. Und es scheint mir schon sehr interessant zu sein, wenn Alison Krauss sich für ein einziges Stück auf einem Album ins Studio begibt, um eine “Nebenrolle” zu spielen, was wieder zeigt, welchen Einfluss und Bedeutung Nanci Griffith hatte, und zweifellos auch heute noch hat. Ansonsten gibt es an diesem Song weder etwas besonders auszusetzen, noch zu bemerken. Wie das gesamte Album ruhig, schlicht und unaufgeregt produziert, eher zurückhaltend instrumentiert – was auch nicht verwundert, liegt doch Nanci Griffiths Interesse bei allen Songs auf diesem Album nicht in der Musik in erster Linie, sondern vor allem in den Geschichten, die die Songs erzählen. (4/5)

Song 3: Townes Van Zandt – Tecumseh Valley

Bei einer Erinnerungen-Kollektion darf natürlich eine Verbeugung vor Townes van Zandt nicht fehlen. Und wie immer schafft Griffith es, einem Song, den schon jeder kennt (oder zumindest kennen sollte), ihren ureigensten Stempel aufzudrücken, ohne ihn zu vergewaltigen – ein Balanceakt, der in unserer Zeit angesichts Casting-Bands und Cover-Bands en Masse schon fast unmöglich geworden ist. Nanci und Arlo Guthrie erzählen die Geschichte von Caroline, der Tochter des Minenarbeiters derart eindringlich und fast schon gespenstisch gut, dass man meinen möchte, das Lied hätte sich immer schon so angehört wie hier. Weniger ihr Verdienst als der von van Zandt ist der geniale Einfall, die erste Strophe zum Schluss zu wiederholen, was der Geschichte eine emotionale Dimension verleiht, die man sonst kaum wo findet. (5/5)

Song 4: Frank Christian – Three Flights Up

Christian ließ es sich nicht nehmen, für dieses Album auf mehreren Songs in seine Saiten zu picken, und auch hier übernimmt er in seinem eigenen Song die Lead Gitarre – was herrlich klappt. James Hooker greift diesmal nicht in die Tasten des Pianos sondern in die des Keyboards, und verpasst dem Song einen zusätzlichen Akkordeon-Sound. Erstaunlich gelungen ist die Verbindung von Percussion und Gitarren in diesem Stück. Wer allerdings hier Bass spielt, ist fraglich, denn in den Credits steht nichts davon (vielleicht hat James Hooker diesen auf seinen Tasten nachgereicht). Erfrischend, herzig und wie immer einfach gelungen. (5/5)

Song 5: Bob Dylan – Boots of Spanish Leather

Ausnahmsweise überlässt Nanci die Gitarre Frank Christian und Pete Kennedy alleine und beschränkt sich hier aufs Singen. Ob Bob sich gedacht hätte, dass sein Song auch so klingen kann? Was er sich natürlich auch von Sophie B. Hawkins Interpretation von “I Want You” hätte denken können. Immerhin hat er Zeit gefunden, schnell mal ins Studio zu kommen, um den Mundharmonika-Part beizusteuern. Es ist schon faszinierend, wenn man Hawkins “I want you” mit dem Original vergleicht: es klingt zwar völlig anders, aber selbst bei Hawkins hört man einfach, dass es ein Bob Dylan Song ist. Nanci Griffith bringt es aber fertig, ihn so klingen zu lassen, als hätte sie oder Patrick Alger ihn geschrieben. Nur ihre gesangliche Interpretation verrät noch, dass hier ein Bob Dylan dahintersteckt. Und auch das ist eine Kunst. (4/5)

Song 6: John Prine – Speed of the Sound of Loneliness

Na hier hat James Hooker es aber etwas mit seinen Keys übertrieben. Etwas weniger Synth-Sound wäre besser gewesen. Vermutlich ist dies der schlechteste Song des Albums, falls man bei diesem Album überhaupt von gut oder schlecht sprechen kann. Schließlich versteht sich dieses Album durchaus auch als Konzeptalbum, bei dem Jim Rooney seine Produktionsmethoden eisern durchzieht. Was grundsätzlich nichts schlechtes ist, verleiht es dem Album als ganzem doch genau den Charme und die Ehrlichkeit, die Nanci Griffith hören wollte. (3/5)

Song 7: Ralph McTell – From Clare to Here

Es war eine weise Entscheidung, nicht McTells Standard-Hit “Streets of London” einzuspielen, sondern diese besonders traurige Ballade, deren Aufnahme hier eine echte Meisterleistung ist, sowohl gesanglich als auch musikalisch. James Hooker unterlegt auf den Keys das Ganze diesmal sehr gelungen mit Bläsern, Pete Kennedy steuert ein paar “Diamonds” bei und das ganze ergibt dann ein Gesamtbild, wie es besser hätte nicht sein können. Langsam sich aufbauend als Ballade mit einem Höhepunkt zur Bridge, melancholisch, traurig-schaurig-schön, ein Song für einsame Abende am Kamin. (5/5)

Song 8: Tom Paxton – Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound

Nach dem “Tränendrüsendrücker” (aber im Besten Wortsinn) brauchen wir etwas Aufheiterung, und auch Griffith weiß das, und bringt uns nun ein Ständchen von Tom Paxton, Country im ursprünglichsten Sinne vielleicht, nicht ganz stilecht interpretiert natürlich, etwas modernisiert, aber nicht moder-isiert. (4/5)

Song 9: Woody Guthrie – Do Re Mi

Seltsamerweise singt Arlo Guthrie bei diesem Stück nicht mit, warum auch immer. Dafür singt Guy Clark mit ihr. Nanci präsentiert sich und ihre Gitarre aber in gut gelaunter fast-Bestform, und bringt den augenzwinkernden Text perfekt und beschwingt “rüber”. Besonders erwähnenswert sind natürlich die Ragtime-Gitarrensolos zwischen den Strophen. (4/5)

Song 10: Janis Ian & Jon Vezner – This Old Town

Wieder ein Beispiel für die faszinierende Auswahl an Songs, die Nanci getroffen hat. Im stilistischen Gewand eines Country-Standards ein Text, der so politisch ist, dass er heute genauso wichtig erscheint, wie er 1929 gewesen wäre. Man fühlt sich gleich an Griffiths “It’s a hard life wherever you go” erinnert. Da ist die Tatsache, dass Bela Fleck sich für den Banjo-Part eingefunden hat, schon fast eine Nebensächlichkeit. (5/5)

Song 11: Buddy Mondlock – Comin’ down in the Rain

An diesem Song erkennt man vielleicht, wie Griffith die Songs für das Album ausgewählt hat, liest man sich den Text erst durch. Das Faible für schwermütige Texte ist aber nur ein scheinbares, denn dem aufmerksamen Leser wird nicht entgehen, dass die bisherigen Songs – trotz der oft überbordenden Melancholie – einer gewissen “Closure” nicht entbehren, einem “Aufmunterungs-Faktor”, der sich subtil ins Album eingeschlichen hat. Stuart Duncan tut wieder das, was er kann: die Mandoline zupfen, und James Hooker hält sich diesmal auch mit der B-3 zurück. (4/5)

Song 12: Gordon Lightfoot – Ten degrees and getting colder

Dass Griffith nicht nur ihren us-amerikanischen Kollegen Respekt zollt, versteht sich von selbst, und so ist es nicht verwunderlich, einen Lightfoot Song anzutreffen – glücklicherweise nicht “If you could read my mind”. Vocaliter begleitet von Iris DeMent schwingt sich Nanci durch den dankbaren Text. (4/5)

Song 13: Jerry Jeff Walker – Morning Song for Sally

Wunderschön gesungen und gespielt gelingt es Griffith und Rooney, die Stimmung des Textes perfekt musikalisch umzusetzen. Wie überall auf diesem Album ist das Zauberwort “Zurückhaltung” und nicht “da noch eine Gitarre, und dort mehr Percussion, und da noch ein paar Bläser …”. Die Beschränkung auf das Wesentliche macht einen großen Teil des Charmes des Albums aus, und in diesem Stück gelingen den Musikern (vor allem wieder Stuart Duncan und Frank Christian) die “Kleinigkeiten am Wegesrand” besonders gut. (5/5)

Song 14: Michael Burton – Night Rider’s Lament

Schon recht konventionell kommt dieses Stück daher, gemächlich und traditionell, sogar mit Gejodel. Ob das aber eine gute Entscheidung war, mag ich bezweifeln. So recht mag das ganze Stück nicht auf das Album passen. Aber ich bin sicher, Nanci wird sich schon etwas dabei gedacht haben. (3/5)

Song 15: G. P. Cook, Ralph Roland – Are You Tired Of Me Darling

Es ist schon verdächtig, wie ich mit jedem Song auf diesem Album weniger darüber zu sagen habe. Woran liegt das? Dass sich alles wiederholt, weil es schon im vorigen Song zu hören war. Ja, eindeutig. Erstaunlicherweise aber ist das bei einem Album wie diesen geradezu ein Geschenk, dass sich die Songs stilistisch so ähneln – es ist, als hätte man 17 Sonnenblumen nebeneinander hängen, allesamt beeindruckend – und doch so ähnlich. (5/5)

Song 16: Malvina Reynolds, Harry Belafonte, Allen Green – Turn Around

Malvina Reynolds kam erst kürzlich wieder – ohne dass es die meisten überhaupt wissen – in die Ohren vieler junger Fernsehzuseher, und zwar durch das Titellied “Little Boxes” der Serie “Weeds”. Griffith jedoch interpretiert hier eine Art amerikanisches Nationalheiligtum, Turn Around.

Song 17: Wimoweh

Als augenzwinkernden Abschluss präsentiert sich Wimoweh, jenes South African Tradidional, das schon in “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” verge … äh benutzt wurde. Doch so beschwingt wie hier und so geradezu amüsant wurde das Stück in der bekannten Bearbeitung von Paul Campbell wohl selten interpretiert. Neben Griffith und Rooney haben sich unter anderem die Indigo Girls, Kennedy-Rose, John Prine und John Gorka eingefunden, um im Chor zu singen. Als Abschluss für ein rundherum gelungenes Album perfekt. (5/5)

Fazit:

Es fiel mir ziemlich schwer, diese Rezension zu schreiben. Selten habe ich über die einzelnen Stücke eines Album so wenig zu sagen, wie hier. Das liegt an der Konzeption des Albums. Natürlich könnte ich über die Entstehungsgeschichte der jeweiligen Songs nachforschen, oder deren Texte analysieren, um Licht auf die Beweggründe zu werfen, nach denen Nanci Griffith hier ausgewählt hat, aber dann würde diese Rezension eher in eine Dissertation ausarten. Vielmehr als “rundherum gelungen” kann man aber über das Album nicht sagen. Es klingt technisch hervorragend, es ist herzergreifend, es ist bewegend, bei Zeiten komisch, und in jedem Falle jedem ans Herz gelegt, der ein solches hat. Ideal für alle Kaminfeuerabende, für Unterwegs im Kopfhörer, fürs Ausspannen, fürs Zuhören. Nancis Stimme zeigt sich von ihrer lieblichsten Seite, und die Musiker sind allesamt hervorragend. Die einfache, ehrliche aber wunderschöne Produktion von Jim Rooney, gespickt mit “Diamonds” der Musiker, die Kleinigkeiten, die man zwischen den Strophen hört, machen das Album zu einem echten Genuss. Nanci hat das ganz richtig gemacht, in jeder Hinsicht.

5 von 5 Sternen für das Gesamtkunstwerk.

Exciting times for Theme Park. This week marks the first show of the Summer season, our First Anniversary and it was our Melbourne Cup Special with a live cross to Melbourne for Australia’s #1 horse race. We ran a sweep for our subscribers, with great prizes, and lots of fun was had by all. But what about the music, you may well ask?  The theme this week, quite appropriately I think, was LUCK.  

We opened the show with Stevie Wonder’s  SUPERSTITION. Stevie knows that it’s easy to blame bad luck when things go pear-shaped, but he’s not up for making excuses. “When you believe in things that you don’t understand, then you suffer”, he states with no uncertain authority. Here he is in the studio, circa 1973:

People have a tendancy to limit a person’s achievements by simply limiting it to ‘luck’. But don’t be envious, things aren’t always as great as what they seem, as Britney Spears points out in her 2000 song LUCKY, which spookily foreshadows her future breakdown. Thin Lizzy have a similar problem: They can’t help thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side: Someone else, somewhere else, is luckier than them. The song is HOLLYWOOD (Down On Your Luck) from their Renegade album. Here they are performing live in 1982:

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes can even make a song about bad luck funky with a great piece of disco called, (what else?),  BAD LUCK. The JoBoxers are lucky in love and they want the world to know it. What better way than a song called JUST GOT LUCKY? Bonus: Cute dog in this video clip:

When it comes to love we all know there’s a downside and no other genre does bad luck as well as the Blues category. Memphis Minnie seems lucky in love, because she has no trouble finding a guy; the trouble is, as soon as she finds one, disaster strikes. The song is I’M A BAD LUCK WOMAN. We followed with one my favourite jazz performers,  the wonderful, melancholy voice of Chet Baker singing EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME.

I had to include two of my faves: The Verve with LUCKY MAN and PJ Harvey with GOOD FORTUNE - The track is from her album Stories from the City, Stories From the Sea:

Alison Krauss and Union Station sang THE LUCKY ONE right up until we crossed to to Melbourne for the Cup broadcast. Congratulations to BayFM subscriber Annette who drew the winner of the race, SHOCKING, and therefore won the sweep and the dinner for two at Utopia Restaurant with limousine transfers from Bangalow Limousines. Thanks to everyone who rang in for the sweep; filled in a record 5 minutes!- and thanks also to our sponsors.

While we recovered from all that excitement we listened to a little R&B: YOU WIN, I LOSE from Little Johnny Taylor and LUCKY LIPS from the fantastic Ruth Brown. Jason Mraz and Colbert Caillat offered up a cute bit of optimistic pop with their duet LUCKY. Matchbox Twenty aren’t so positive. Their song, SEMI-CHARMED LIFE, indicates a bit of a ‘glass-half-filled’ take on life.  

A song I’ve played before, but couldn’t resist, was LUCKY NUMBER by the amazing Lena Lovich. It’s a great piece of New Wave from 1978. If you want to check out the video clip go to the show on the Number ONE.

Remember Alan Price singing O LUCKY MAN! from the film of the same name? I’d forgotten how good that was. Starring a very young Malcolm McDowell and directed by the legendary Lindsay Anderson, here’s a clip from the film that features Alan Price singing the title song.

Another great song is FORTUNE TELLER. Originally recorded by Benny Spellman in 1962 it’s been covered many times. We played the version by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss from their Grammy Award winning album, Raising Sand. We also included two songs about how much ‘attitude’ influences luck. Lynard Skynard were crying out for sympathy with their song GOOD LUCK, BAD LUCK: “When it’s good luck you’re the last to get it, when it’s bad luck you’re the first.” Ah well, some would call that a persecution complex.  Mary Chapin Carpenter knows how to have a good time. She ignores all advice, to her benefit, with the very chirpy I FEEL LUCKY:

We closed the show with The OJays singing THEY CALL ME MR. LUCKY and then it was a perfectly pitched piece of pop – Rod Stewart’s  SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK.

Here’s the complete playlist:

Next week: FASHION. I’d love to have your suggestions for the playlist.

Listen to Lyn McCarthy at the Theme Park on BayFM, Tuesdays 2-4pm, Sydney time.  

Also streaming on http://www.bayfm.org

Tragically also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maccalyn

James “Blood” Ulmer plays the hardy perennial “Sittin’ On Top of the World” with backing from Alison Kraus on violin. Though I’ve never really understood the “harmolodic” music theory espoused by Ulmer and his mentor, Ornette Coleman (as with Buckminster Fuller, Coleman’s ideas become harder to understand the more he explains them), I know I usually like what I hear.  

Here is Ulmer’s solo version of “Are You Glad to Be in America,” one of his earliest records: 

Here’s a showstopper: “First Blood” with Bernie Worrell on Hammond organ:

Check out the lame audience member with his fingers in his ears.

Simple post tonight: based on the last few weeks, I’m going to write up a list of must-listen-to albums. Even if you’ve heard them before, go back and bend an ear to the music. You won’t regret it.

Every now and again, I find some new sounds that make me fall in love with music all over again. It was first the Beatles, then Styx, then the Allman Brothers Band (still my favorite band), and then it was pretty much all music from the 60’s.

At the end of a busy first day at the National Preservation Conference in Nashville, I took off to the Grand Ole Opry House with about 20 close friends for the taping of a PBS special celebrating 40 Years of Rounder Records.  (Look for the show on March 10, 2010.)  While it started late and ended even later, it was an amazing evening of music.

Here’s just a few highlights:

• Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas playing that great accordion-driven dance music from Louisiana, where the “crawfish got soul and the alligators got the blues.”  My accordion-playing friend Jim Harrington would have loved it.  As my colleague and seatmate  Caroline Barker said, “If I could move my feet like Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas I’d be a dancer instead of a preservationist (perhaps).”

• Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn singing and playing Keys to the Kingdom.  I heard them do the tune at Merlefest, but it was even better in the controlled setting of the Opry House.  Then Bela and Jerry Douglas played a duet just to prove they are two of the best musicians on the planet.

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, a relative newcomer to Rounder, singing a great song, Grand Central Station, written just after 9/11.  As my friend and colleague Dolores said, she’s a preservationist.

• Alison Krauss + Union Station Featuring Jerry Douglas (longest band name ever) were just perfect.  Perfect.  The harmony between Alison and Dan Tyminski is a wonderful thing to hear, and then Jerry Douglas just adds another voice with that heavenly Dobro.  Alison also has the wackiest stage humor ever, which was egged on last night by hostess Minnie Driver.

I knew all those performers and had seen all by Nathan Williams live.  The singer I didn’t know was New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas.  What a set of pipes!  What a stage presence!  What a band!  If you don’t believe me, just take a listen to the video below where she sings her first big hit (which closed out her show last night) You Can Take My Husband, But Please Don’t Mess With My Man.

Keys to the Kingdom indeed!

More to come…

DJB

As the saying goes: if you smile the whole world smiles with you. A genuine, infectious smile and/or laughter can make a bad date turn good, seal a business deal and make friends wherever you go. So, it was my job this week to put a smile on everyone’s face with an absolute abundance of songs about SMILING AND LAUGHING. What better way to open the show than with David Bowie’s attempt at a novelty song - THE LAUGHING GNOME - released as a single in 1967. I’m not sure that he was laughing all the way to the bank with that release, but hey, I got a kick out of it.

Now I’ve discovered that not all songs about smiling and laughing are cheerful at all, which kind of threw me as I was hoping to enjoy a fully upbeat show this week.  But those renegade R&B singers, in particular, are prone to turning any song into a lover’s lament, but what can you do!  It was up to Sly & The Family Stone to deliver a very funky pop tune with YOU CAUGHT ME SMILIN’ to get the show moving in the right direction.

Winners of the prize for silliest band name ever has to be The The. Luckily, they are a very good band. We played what was probably their most successful track, UNCERTAIN SMILE, from the 1983 Soul Mining album. Jools Holland, in his role as session muso, played piano on the original recording. Here they are, without Jools, unfortunately, performing live.

It was inevitable that the 60’s soul singers would bring the sad clown into the mix. Mary Wells sang about her LAUGHING BOY and  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles reminded us of the paradox that is the TEARS OF A CLOWN, written, by the way, by Stevie Wonder. We needed to jump a couple of generations to entertain both sides of the love coin. Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas is madly in love with a particular girl, particularly WHEN SHE SMILES but that little vixen Lily Allen finds a bit of revenge on an ex-lover is all she needs to make her SMILE. The video made me smile, I know that much. Take a look:

Next it was Nat King Cole with IF YOU CAN’T SMILE AND SAY YES, recorded in 1946, which explains all the references to nylons and the like. The beautiful voice of Alison Krauss followed with her cover of WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL. Krauss was already a veteran bluegrass fidler and vocalist at age 23 when the recording won the 1995 CMA award for “Single of the Year”. Take a look:

More R&B songs followed and, as expected,  smiling was a struggle: The Undisputed Truth were Motown hitmaker Norman Whitfield’s favourite band and their track, SMILING FACES SOMETIMES,repossessed from the Temptations, was their only chart success. Wendy Rene’s song AFTER LAUGHTER (Comes Tears) was recorded on the Stax label in 1964. In 1967 Wendy was scheduled to fly with Otis Redding to what would have been her last live performance. She changed her mind at the last minute, wanting to stay home with her family. The plane crashed and Redding and six others perished. Thankfully Wendy is alive and well and resides today in Tennessee where she runs a publishing company.

Thank goodness for reggae! Max Romeo and The Upsetters (great name) cheered us up with SMILE OUT A STYLE.  And you can always rely on the Jazz singers for inspiration. Astrud Gilberto does a stunning version of THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE that had to be included (Thanks Quentin for the suggestion).

I also love Regina Spektor and her song that questions God’s sense of humour – LAUGHING WITH - is beautiful. It’s from her latest album ‘Far’. Here’s the official clip:

Even more sad songs about smiling and laughing: Teddy Pendergrass’ has a problem with his ego. He reckons that THE WHOLE TOWN IS LAUGHING AT ME; Dusty Springfield is pining for  JUST ONE SMILE and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, milking the sad clown story for all its worth, gave us the much covered THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS. Happily, Bowling For Soup have got a completely different outlook on life. As their song SHUT UP AND SMILE states, all they need is love and beer. 

Happy to include three musical icons: Van Morrison with JACKIE WILSON SAID, Bob Dylan with IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY and Neil Young with THE OLD LAUGHING LADY.

We closed the show with Michael Jackson’s rendition of the classic ballad, SMILE. The song was originally used as an instrumental theme in the soundtrack for the 1936 film Modern Times and was written by comic genius Charlie Chaplin. Here’s a great video clip of Chaplin’s work with MJ singing SMILE over. Two of the best all-round entertainers the world has known:

Thanks to Quentin, Kira & Des for their help with the playlist this week. Remember, whatever happens: keep on smiling!

Here’s the complete playlist:

The Laughing Gnome - David Bowie

You Caught Me Smiling - Sly & The Family Stone

Uncertain Smile  - The The

Laughing Boy - Mary Wells

The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

When She Smiles - Matchbox 20

Smile - Lily Allen

If You Can’t Smile and Say Yes - Nat King Cole

The Smile On Your Face - Allison Krauss

We Laugh Indoors - Death Cab For Cutie

Smile Out A Style - Max Romeo & The Upsetters

After Laughter (Comes Tears) - Wendy Rene

Smiling Faces Sometimes - The Undisputed Truth

Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

The Shadow Of Your Smile - Astrud Gilberto

Sara Smile - Hall & Oates

Laughing With - Regina Spektor

The Whole Town Is Laughing At Me - Teddy Pendergrass

The Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles 

Just One Smile - Dusty Springfield 

Shut Up and Smile - Bowling for Soup

Die Laughing - Therapy?

The Old Laughing Lady - Neil Young

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry - Bob Dylan

Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) - Van Morrison

Fooled By A Smile - Swing Out Sister

Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers

Smile At Me  - Rocksteady

Smile - Michael Jackson

Alison Krauss knows about being honored — she holds the record for Grammy-gathering by a female artist and has a healthy share of CMA, ACM and IBMA Awards, too, writes Nicole Keiper in The Tennessean.

There are things in life that, when you experience them, you know they’re cool.  You see a cool movie, or you visit a cool place, and you tell everyone about it because it was cool.  There are also experiences that aren’t just cool, but very cool.  Not kinda cool – REALLY cool.  And then there those rare experiences that are so cool, that you feel like you yourself gained in coolness simply for having had the experience.  Listening t0 this album is like that.  Listening to this album makes me feel cooler.

Raising Sand is the first and only (to date) collaboration between Alison Krauss, the first lady of bluegrass, and Robert Plant, front man for classic rock giants Led Zeppelin.  Produced by prominent American musician/producer T-Bone Burnett, and utilizing the playing of some of the world’s top session musicians, the music can best be described as a “roots music” super group.  The vibe is dark, brooding, colorful, and incredibly interesting.  The songs are mainly covers from the 50’s and 60’s, with an eclectic variety of feels and sounds, but all in the classic “American folk” style.

As I mentioned earlier, this album is cool beyond the belief.  It’s cool because of the songs – witty and thoughtful lyrics with catchy but powerful melodies.  It’s cool because of the sounds – recorded beautifully with amazingly complex tones and interaction.  It’s cool because of the arrangements – fluid and easy, despite a surprisingly heavy use of odd meters and unsymmetrical phrases.  And of course it’s also cool because of the vocals – Krauss and Plant are an unlikely duet but work so well together (“one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music” according to Allmusic).

But the real reason this album is on the AEDSK list is the cool drumming.  Holy cow.  Jay Bellerose, a guy with very deep and impressive credits in the studio, is delivering on this record in a way that I’ve never heard anyone play.  His grooves, his feel, his sounds, his ideas… they are all amazing and so inspiring.  You know that “loose and jangly” feel that americana/folk fans talk about?  Bellerose DEFINES that sound on this record.  You know that mysterious “between-swing-and-straight” pocket that everybody wants to get into?  That’s where Bellerose LIVES for this entire album.  You know that vintage “deep-but-dead” tone that’s so popular in the studio right now?  Bellerose is a passionate expert on vintage gear, and he nails the sound on every track… but in a way that keeps it simultaneously classic and fresh, not just trendy.

For example…

The groove on “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” is the funkiest sounding train/backbeat I’ve ever heard, and then just try and wrap your brain around his pocket during the guitar solo on that tune, not to mention the fill into that section (2:56).  Then check out the kick/ride tone on the opening track, “Rich Woman,” and don’t miss the triplet fill after the final choruses (3:10).  Listen to the nuances of the one-handed brush feel on “Killing the Blues,” and the tasteful addition of the ride at the slide solo.  “Polly Come Home” has so much space… the room he leaves for everyone else is so effective but so difficult to pull off.  “Gone Gone Gone” is the coolest treatment of a tumbau pattern.  The deep cowbell sound on “Sister Rosetta” is so left field but so perfect.  I mean, what is going on with the cymbal/floor tom groove on “Fortune Teller”?  How about the awesome but completely unorthodox pattern on the out choruses of “Please Read the Letter”?  I could go on and on.

Raising Sand is well worth your money and time to buy it and listen to it.  Make it happen.

The link… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOuczlD5KBw