![]() Their albums always featured great guitar work, stunning and original harmonies, and early on they started writing songs such as “Four Strong Winds,” “You Were On My Mind” and “Summer Wages.” Long before anyone knew who Gram Parsons was, Ian & Sylvia were mixing up folk, rock and country music, always with the best players. Unlike a lot of the groups of that period, they weren’t about singing rousing versions of “Michael Row The Boat Ashore.” They seriously explored traditional folk music, including the folk music of their country, Canada, and delved into blues and country as well. Ian & Sylvia were by far the greatest folk duo of the ’60s. It is available as a bundle (or separately) at the Frontera Records site.Įarlier this year Russell released Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North). It is beautifully done with Russell’s notes making the origins of each song quite clear. With Max De Bernardi providing Lightnin’ styled guitar, and interspersing singing with talking parts, some from Lewis’ writing, Russell spins the story of the time they met.Īvailable with, but not included in the album is a Lyrics Book, that includes Russell’s notes on the songs, stories of people such as Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Ian Tyson and Leonard Cohen, each song and story illustrated by a Russell Painting. ![]() The second is “Scars On His Ankles,” a song about the great Texas blues singer, Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins, but (typically of this album) it’s also about Texas journalist, Grover Lewis, who was one of the best writers Rolling Stone published. The first is a fine finger-picked cover of Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” sung in a duet with Joe Ely, with Joel Guzman on accordion.Īlternating verses, Russell and Ely sing it like they lived it. The climate that permitted that era to thrive is long gone, and when it does happen, it’s quickly wiped out by gentrification. What happened during that actually brief period in the Village was also happening elsewhere on a smaller scale. Perhaps Russell’s greatest achievement is that by writing about then, he’s really writing about now as songs such as “Harlan Clancy” and “The Last Time I Saw Hank” make clear. Garfield’s Been Shot Down” weren’t exactly mournful. John Hurt’s “Stagolee,” but such songs as Riley Puckett’s “McKinley” (covered in a well-known version by the Greenbriar Boys, or “Mr. “Rise Again, Handsome Johnny,” a song in part about JFK’s assassination, but also about how Russell had to play a football game that weekend is not set to a reverent melody, but to a tune similar to Mississippi Russell also shows a deep understanding about how folk music works. It’s an album about pursuing art and creating magic, and that the people creating that art and bringing often ancient songs to life were not necessarily living easy lives, but quite often lives of desperation. It is not saying, oh gee, wasn’t it great when all those people would sing nice songs in coffeehouses. ![]() Vocally, Russell is often channeling, sometimes specific singers, but more often the essence of those singers.įolk Hotel is anything but nostalgic. The expert picking itself a tribute a wide variety of sources. Much of the album’s charm is in the instrumentation and the sounds of the instruments, whether it’s Russel’s finger-picked acoustic guitar, Redd Volkaert’s subtle electric leads or Joel Guzman’s accordion. Detailed as some of the songs may be, he leaves enough room for the listener to form a picture in their own mind. He also leaves a lot to the power of suggestion. Russell is a compelling storyteller, and one of his greatest strengths is the way he puts his own experiences into songs you initially think are about something else. ![]()
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