Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind
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CD Details
Artist: Nanci GriffithBrand: GRIFFITH,NANCI
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2009-06-09
Music Label: Rounder / Pgd
Soundtracks:
- The Loving Kind
- Money Changes Everything
- One Of These Days
- Up Against The Rain
- Cotton
- Not Innocent Enough
- Across America
- Party Girl
- Sing
- Things I Don't Need
- Still Life
- Tequila After Midnight
- Pour Me A Drink
Music reviews of The Loving Kind
Music Review: CLASSIC NANCI--I'm still a true believer, ya'll
Rating: 4 Stars
Being an old fan of Nanci, it's been about a decade since I've really enjoyed an album of hers, so I was floored--to tears, really--to hear her old sound in the title track, "The Loving Kind," and digest what the song was about: Mildred and Richard Loving--their God-given names--who fought the Supreme Court to be legally wed. In the liner notes, Peter Cooper suggests that Nanci may have been "robbed of her inspiration" for songwriting by the direction America had taken in the last decade, and politics show up in several songs on the cd. Nanci has always been an advocate of civil rights, and I can't think of a songwriter who has given us more songs about love--and hate. What would my life have been like without "Love at the Five and Dime" and "Gulf Coast Highway?"
This cd was totally panned in Rolling Stone; the reviewer actually quoted the first verses of the title track as an example of political cheesiness. I admit that there is some cheesiness here, as in the song, "Across America," which is an anthem about the hope the election of Obama brought to so many folks. But what is cheesiness, exactly? Earnestness? Simple lyrics? Nanci Griffith is sometimes cheesy in the same way that John Denver was a little cheesy. Her lyrics have always been simple and regional. She posed on many of her album covers holding novels by Southern writers like Truman Capote and Carson McCullers before those writers were in the sights of English departments. She never "posed" with a book by freakin Jacques Derrida.
So I think the poison pen of Rolling Stone reflects their magazine rather than the quality of this cd and what Nanci's fans expect. It's no mystery why she has devoted fans in Ireland and Scotland; her writing reflects their musical traditions of folk sensibility and simplicity.
What you will hear in this cd has the same sound as her best work, more country than folk: good Texas regional writing (songs about Townes Van Zandt, LBJ, Dubya, cotton and drinking tequila), a slight overdose of politics, a sweet cocktail of twanged-up honky tonk songs, and stunning harmony vocals from a newcomer, Elizabeth Cook (who sounds a lot like Iris DeMent or Casey Chambers), Todd Snider, John Prine and others, and backed by the Blue Moon Orchestra--sans James Hooker on piano--and with the magic of Fats Kaplin on pedal steel. I do miss the elegant picking of some of Nanci's quieter songs, and her voice is in a "tween" stage between youthful soprano and golden gravel. Still, all the songs here have great melodies and the end result is seamless and classic.
1. "The Loving Kind." GREAT start. Heart melted at first twang of pedal steel and realization that Nanci has found her feet again in returning to a country sound, and this is a catchy ditty that tells the story of the Lovings. One-of-a-kind capture for a songwriter.
2. "Money Changes Everything." Pretty good song, written by Gale Trippsmith, kind of uptempo and poppy, sounds a lot like the songs from "Flyer," a bongo drum beat--great vocals on the chorus with Nanci flying into the upper registers.
3. "One of These Days." I LOVE this song. Just sounds like old Nanci--Todd Snider singing harmony vocal--upbeat country song about being a homesick Texan in New York. Nanci has a bunch of "homesick for Texas songs" and this another good one. The vocals are a little pitchy in spots like Todd and Nanci are trying to stay together, but still a great song.
4. "Up Against the Rain." A ballad for Townes Van Zandt. Everybody's missing him these days. It's a pretty song, but if the liner notes hadn't told me, I never would have guessed it was about Townes. I don't think anyone wrote better about his own road to hell than the Townes himself; the first song he wrote was "Waiting Around to Die."
5. "Cotton." BEST SONG. It has an Irish chord progression, an accordion, mandolin, fiddle and cryptic lyrics. Everybody always wonders why Nanci wears an LBJ pin: this song is about cotton, big agriculture, peak oil, victory gardens and LBJ--totally uncanny--maybe Nanci is reading postmoderns after all. And you still won't know why she wears that LBJ pin.
6. "Not Innocent Enough." A song about Phillip Workman, who was executed for a botched robbery--joining singers like Steve Earle and Mary Gauthier in speaking out against the death penalty. GREAT LYRICS, twangy pedal steel, and a grand chorus harmony vocal, with John Prine coming in as the voice of God (weird, actually--every time I hear John Prine I expect him to say something funny and goofy). I love the lyrics, but I think the song would have been better with a simpler arrangement--no angel band choir and John Prine trying to be serious.
7. "Across America." A song about things getting a little better now (wishful thinking?) that the administration has changed. A little cheesy, yes, but someone's gotta write about how people in New Orleans felt when Obama got elected.
8. "Party Girl." BEST SONG. Penned by Dee Moeller. Get your two-stepping boots out--killer twang going on here.
9. "Sing." Love this one. It's a low-key folksy song with a great melody, good picking by Nanci on her Taylor acoustic, nice piano by Barry Walsh.
10. "Things I Don't Need." Not my favorite song, but the melody--like all the songs on the cd--is fantastic--the music and vocals are great. It's a low-key "moving on" song. Nanci must have missed George Carlin's monologue about having too much stuff, because that's all I can think about when I hear this song.
11. "Still Life." Another "moving on" song. A little slow, but it's growing on me. Good melody lines, and Nanci does some good vocal bends, nice twang.
12. "Tequila After Midnight." BEST SONG. This is another Dee Moeller song, pure two-stepping twang. Elizabeth Cook is outstanding on high harmony vocal, Shad Cobb on fiddle.
13. "Pour Me a Drink." More tequila. The cd closes on this slooow honky-tonk-styled standard. I think there might be just a little-bitty bit too much drinking going on here. In fact, Nanci dedicates this cd to the memory of Odetta: "All God's children needs Vodka." If there were a song #14, it would be a cover of "Rehab!" Cheers!
Description of The Loving Kind
The Loving Kind finds Nanci Griffith at the top of her game as a songwriter, interpreter, and singer. Featuring nine songs written by Griffith and her collaborators, and four well-chosen covers, the album takes its place alongside the consistently acclaimed work of this Grammy® Award-winning, genre-defying artist. The songs touch on newsworthy issues as well as matters of the heart, capturing life at its most complex. The Loving Kind marks a triumphant return for one of America's most revered singer-songwriters.Country CDs
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