Nanci Griffith - Ruby's Torch
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CD Details
Artist: Nanci GriffithEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2006-11-14
Music Label: Rounder / Umgd
Soundtracks:
- When I Dream
- If These Wall Could Speak
- Ruby's Arms
- Never Be the Sun
- Bluer Than Blue
- Brave Companion of the Road
- Grapefruit Moon
- Please Call Me, Baby
- Late Night Grande Hotel
- In the Wee Samll Hours of the Morning
- Drops From the Faucet
Music reviews of Ruby's Torch
Music Review: Griffith's "Torch" Lights Up with Fervor and Affability
Rating: 5 Stars
Prime Cuts: Late Night Grande Hotel, When I Dream, Ruby's Arms
With the en masse of high profile acts (ranging from Barry Manilow to Rod Stewart to Michael Bolton) going back to the vaults to resurrect the standards of yore, what makes Griffith's latest attempt of covers essential? Unlike her peers, Griffith makes no attempt to circumscribe her Texan drawl and she brings to many of these old chestnuts a folk-like ambience that comes across as intimately tepid. Further, her choice of material centers around the theme of unrequited love. With her world weary vocals laced with a callously girlish delicacy, she offers a lucid perspecuity to the complexities of heartache that is dolorously alluring. Moreover, instead of just tackling other people's work, Griffith has unabashedly re-visited two entries from her own catalog, namely "Late Night Grande Hotel" and "Brave Companion of the Road." Backed by her Blue Moon Orchestra and recalling her 1999 "Dust Bowl Symphony," this is a string-laden ballad-hued album. However, unlike her 1999 predecessor, the backings do not overwhelm. Rather, the gentle strings and sesnitive piano complement her, making her vocals the cynosure of this project.
Of the covers, most breathtaking is Griffith's take of Sandy Mason's "When I Dream." An ode of longing for true love, Griffith strips this gorgeous ballad from the artifical sheen of professionalism from Crystal Gayle's original rendition, making the desire for love even more engaging and real. Similarly, Griffith's read of Charles Goodrum's "Bluer Than Blue," far surpasses Michael Johnson's somehow monolithic read by giving it a relatively more animated delivery. While on Tom Waits' "Ruby's Arms," Griffith tells the lugubrious tale of a lover leaving not as a bystander, but she sings as if it were from a page in her diary. As a tribute to her mother, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," a sober ballad of loneliness often associated with Frank Sinatra, gets the full-on sepia toned lush that conjures up an old fashioned charm so befitting of the song's tenor.
When hearing her two originals side by side with these classics, Griffith's compositions do not sound malapropos. The title track of her 1991 CD "Late Night Grande Hotel," a track written by Griffith in the loneliness of touring, still sends out pangs of ache when she sings "I feel like Garbo in this late night grande hotel/Cause living alone is all I've ever done well." While she does not deviate too much from her original read of "Brave Companion of the Road," this time, the added strings bring out a warm affinity for those battling life alone. However, why she would reprise Jimmy Webb's "If These Walls Could Speak" of which she had had already recorded earlier is behooving.
Over the years, Griffith has had gone through multi-permutations: from folk to country to pop to now torch, but she has never been averse to leave her own mark. Unlike lesser artists, Griffith does not just go through the motions and tackle these paeans with a karoke professionalism. Rather, she infuses each note with heartfelt emotions and her ingrained ardor garned from her years of singing songs that deal with the heart. And unlike others who are bashful about including their own compositions with these evergreeens, Griffith's showcases her own craftsmanship vis-à-vis her own enduring classics that stand toe to toe with these masterpieces. In short, when Griffith burns the torch, these songs light up with fervor and affability.
Description of Ruby's Torch
Rounder Records is pleased to announce the release of Ruby's Torch, a new album by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and "folkabilly" artist Nanci Griffith. Ruby's Torch is a collection of intimate torch songs, some penned by Griffith, others by some of her musical heroes. "Recording an entire record of torch songs has been a dream come true for me," says Griffith, "and something my listeners have been asking me to do for many years."Rather than relying on tried-and-true torch standards, she pays homage to an eclectic array of influences. "When I Dream" has been performed by Crystal Gayle and Willie Nelson, and represents country balladry at its most powerful. Griffith also tips her hat to Jimmy Webb, whose masterful songwriting is at its peak in the touching "If These Walls Could Speak." Griffith offers lush interpretations of three Tom Waits numbers: "Grapefruit Moon," "Ruby's Arms," and "Please Call Me, Baby."Also included is "Bluer Than Blue," the bittersweet ballad penned by Charles Goodrum and popularized in the late '70s by one of the masters of mellow country-pop, Michael Johnson. Griffith also offers her take on the bluesy, winsome "Drops From the Faucet," written by former Blue Moon Orchestra Guitarist Frank Christian, as well as the delicate yearning of "Never Be the Sun" by Irish baladeer Donal MacDonagh Long.The one track with a genuine torch pedigree, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (popularized by the inimitable Frank Sinatra), fits in seamlessly, thanks to Griffith's ability to mesh her many inspirations and deliver them with her own charismatic style."The challenge in performing these songs is that you have to somehow remain true to the spirit of the song but infuse it with your own story," Griffith explains. "If you don't fill the song with your own emotions, then you really are just going through the motions."Backing Griffith on this collection is the Blue Moon Orchestra, which has been with her since 1986. Over the past two decades these musicians have evolved with Griffith every step of the way. Which is what makes the reinvented versions of "Brave Companion of the Road" (from Griffith's 1989 album, Storm) and the title track to her 1991 album, Late Night Grand Hotel, so fascinating."Sometimes you find whole new personalities in songs when you perform them in a new setting," Griffith observes. "It's like looking at a landscape from different angles. You can really appreciate all the textures and features of the terrain if you approach it from different directions."Griffith has been described as a singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter, but the accolade really rings true if you consider some of her biggest fans: Bob Dylan (who requested that Griffith sing "Boots of Spanish Leather" at his Madison Square Garden anniversary concert) as well as Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, who have performed Griffith's songs. And then there are the awards: five Grammy nominations (including a win for 1993's Other Voices, Other Rooms) and two more for her dazzling performances on albums by the Chieftains.Folk/country singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith shifts into chanteuse mode on this lovely outing. The sumptuous string-drenched arrangements are a change from Griffith's typically stark recordings featuring acoustic guitar and skeletal backing, but it's a natural progression in her nearly three-decade career. She has previously worked with an orchestra, on 1999's The Dust Bowl Symphony, but those results were mixed, due to the instruments' nearly overwhelming presence. On Ruby's Torch, the accompaniment is more organically integrated, and the sound supports Griffith instead of vice versa. No stranger to covers, Griffith taps Tom Waits for three of his older ballads, Jimmy Webb for one, and a few less famous tunesmiths: Donagh Long, Frank Christian, and Charles Goodrum, whose "Bluer than Blue" is a highlight. The durable "Late Night Grande Hotel," one of Griffith's most enduring originals, also makes an appearance in what could be its defining version. This is beautiful music for somber, but not depressing, moods, and closing-time last calls. The chestnut "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," best known in its classic rendition by Frank Sinatra, fits perfectly in this company, and the opening "When I Dream," written by Sandy Mason, sets the tone of regret and longing, both in life and love, that dominates the album. This lush, reflective work is a wonderful vehicle for Griffth's yearning, supple voice. It shows her to be as commanding a torch-song interpreter as a guitar-strumming roots veteran, and points the way for future projects in this vein. --Hal Horowitz
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