An interesting idea, given the talented family tree of the McGarrigle
Sisters: Gather the family together (including Kate's ex-husband Loudon
Wainwright) and record a CD as they play the family piano and sing traditional
folk tunes, originals, and old pop standards. Add in some friends (Emmylou
Harris turning in a stirring vocal on "Skip Rope Song"), Linda
Ronstadt, and Chaim Tannenbaum, and the end result is a pleasant yet somewhat
mediocre CD. But even a mediocre release from this family has several
redeeming qualities. Kate and Anna's harmonies have never sounded tighter,
and the choice of using Joe Boyd as producer (he produced their first
two albums) was a good one, as he seems able to highlight their vocals
and harmonies. There are some truly amazing songs as well, especially
when they tackle pure, traditional folk tunes. Loudon Wainwright's "Schooldays,"
the opening track, is an early highlight, featuring great vocals and a
great tune. The traditional folk song "Dig My Grave," featuring
Chaim Tannenbaum, is chilling, and Anna's version of her own "Cool
River" is incredibly moving -- all beautiful songs. The problem with
this album is that there are no new songs, which is a real shame since
this is the follow-up to 1996's brilliant Matapedia. This may be a small
complaint, as the songs all mean something to the family, as evidenced
in the notes in the package. Overall, however, a good album, but not the
best release from the McGarrigles.
(by Aaron Badgley , All
Music Guide)
|
Attempting to recapture the spontaneous informality of their childhood
home in Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, Quebec, the McGarrigles surrounded themselves
with siblings, children, ex-husbands, and longtime musical friends to
create this 21-song document that not only revisits the significant stops
in their 22-year recording career ("Talk to Me of Mendocino")
but also stretches to cover songs dear and familiar to their family, from
the works of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin to Sonny James's 1956 pop confection
of teen innocence, "Young Love." This family songbook reaches
far into the past for traditional folk tunes like "Dig My Grave"
(done in a stunning a cappella version) and the piano-sweet "Gentle
Annie" by Stephen Foster, as well as sampling old French radio hits
like the wistful, accordion-flecked "Bon Voyage" and even a
smoking Cajun version of D.G. Menard's "La Porte en Amiere."
If that weren't enough of a musical spread, the McGarrigles also accompany
their children, Martha and Rufus Wainwright and Silvan and Lily Lanken,
on new, next-generational songs of their own. The musical cast of this
family and friends reunion recording also includes sister Jane McGarrigle;
Kate's ex-husband Louden Wainwright III; Anna's current husband Dane Lanken;
longtime collaborator, tourmate (and philosophy professor) Chaim Tennenbaum;
musical friends and interpreters Joel Zifkin, Michel Papin, Linda Ronstadt,
and Emmylou Harris; and producer Joe Boyd and engineer John Wood, the
two who created their first album (Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Warner Brothers
BS 2862) in 1976. Even Randy Saharuni, the photographer and record jacket
artist for the early McGarrigle albums, is on hand to design and illustrate
this effort!
The result is a homespun jewel that reflects feelings of reassurance,
reconciliation, and gentle nostalgia while sparkling with the intuitive--and
at times idiosyncratic--vocal interplay that has characterized the McGarrigles
throughout their performing career. At poignant moments, the intertwining
of these distinctive voices says it all--the McGarrigle-Wainwright foursome
who, until now, had "never sat down to a Christmas turkey together
let alone sing a song," come together on Irving Berlin's "What'll
I Do," a song the McGarrigles had chosen and sung at their mother's
funeral in 1994; or Kate and Anna's version, with Linda Ronstadt, of Stephen
Foster's "Gentle Annie," a song that was their father's particular
favorite, and that father and daughters harmonized to around the piano
as they were growing up; or the three sets of family duets that weave
through the sexually mischievous "Schooldays," a song penned
by Louden Wainwright III, and which first appeared as the leadoff cut
of his first album (Louden Wainwright III, Atlantic SD 8260) in 1970.
Stellar cuts abound, from the aforementioned tunes to a wonderful reprise
of Jesse Winchester's classic "Skip Rope Song" (with Emmylou
Harris providing just enough weary vocal rasp to connect this haunting
ballad to its Appalachian roots), and Anna and Audrey Bean's stately and
regret-filled "Cool River," which producer Joe Boyd had first
included on Maria Muldaur's second album, Waitress in a Donut Shop (Warner
Bros. MS 2138) in 1974 (with McGarrigles on backing vocals and piano--a
performance that would lead to their own contract with Warners and their
first album, released eighteen months later).
Sister Jane remembers that first recording experience over two decades
ago:
"I was struggling through twenty-seven takes of the organ part
of "Heart Like A Wheel" and finishing off the bass line down
on my knees playing the Hammond B3 pedals with my hands. Joe Boyd was
down on the floor with me, giving me moral support."
With the group busking that went on during the recording of "Baltimore
Fire" for the current album--not to mention the major partying allegedly
involved in Rufus Wainwright's "Heartburn"--it's clear that,
along with a deep love of tradition, the spirit of oblique innovation
and mischievous fun is still very much alive and a part of the McGarrigle
family and their music. As engineer John Wood remarked upon his reunion
with this musical family for the current album, "It's nice to see
that everyone has held up so well." Indeed it is. And indeed, they
have!
(George H. Lewis, University of the Pacific)
|