(My humble vote for “Best yet in ‘07″)

You’ve heard of the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?” I prefer the “Six Degrees of Richard Thompson.” As a nascent Folk-Rock fan, I took a gamble on a little album called Shoot Out the Lights, and the floodgates opened. From producer Joe Boyd, I followed a breadcrumb trail to Fairport Convention, then to Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, June Tabor, Steelye Span and anything else I could find on Boyd’s Hannibal label. That one album cost me a small fortune…and enriched me at the same time.

Imagine listening to Tom Rush’s Circle Game in 1968 and gleaning the coming greatness of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor. Richard Shindell’s new album of remakes, South of Delia, is that kind of album — a windfall of suggested listening for a shameless musical piggybacker (like me).

As one-third of the Folk “supergroup” Cry Cry Cy (with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky), Richard Shindell showed a knack for unearthing anonymous gems. For that project, he enlightened us with James Keelaghan’s exquisite “Cold Missouri Waters” and Cliff Eberhardt’s “Memphis.”

South of Delia builds on that promise with twelve more borrowed compositions that cover the full chronology of Roots music from pioneers like Woody Guthrie and the Carter Family to contemporaries Josh Ritter and Jeffrey Focault. The twelve songs are from six different decades, but Shindell’s breezy, acoustic style provides a sonic blend that makes them all flow.

Shindell describes the collection as “twelve songs that belong together.” It’s true; the lyrics share remarkably similar traits. The songs are rife with tales of weary characters in motion: drifters, refugees, hunters, soldiers and soul searchers.

“Acadian Driftwood,” Robbie Robertson’s account of the 1755 expulsion of French settlers from Nova Scotia, provides an energetic opening. Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) is another song about displacement, this time with a solemn but penetrating tone. Written by Woody Guthrie about the indifferent treatment of Mexican immigrants, the words are 60 years old but could have been written yesterday. Eliza Gilkyson contributes a pretty harmony on this one.

Other renowned songwriters are represented on South of Delia, but Shindell’s selections from their catalogs are surprising. Of all the Springsteen songs to cover, “Born in the U.S.A.” seems an unlikely choice, but Shindell’s subdued reading brings out the best in this misunderstood lyric. He segues that with, of all things, a Peter Gabriel song! But “Mercy Street” is another winner, aided by Lucy Kaplansky’s yearning vocal. He also smartly revives Bob Dylan’s “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power),” an overlooked nugget buried on the maligned Street Legal LP.

The best cuts, though, come from the least heralded artists. Newcomers Josh Ritter and Jeffrey Foucault contribute two mature-beyond-years songs in “Lawrence, KS” and “Northbound 35″ — thoughtful compositions that speak highly of the current crop of singer-songwriters. “The Humpback Whale” is even more memorable; it was originally “popularized” by Nic Jones on his cult classic, Penguin Eggs, voted the 2nd best folk album of all time by BBC radio listeners.

By the way, Richard Shindell is, himself, an accomplished songwriter, with five albums of original material to his credit. His debut, Sparrows Point, is well worth checking out for fans of contemporary Folk, and his live album, Courier, is a tidy career summary. Both include his signature, “Are You Happy Now,” a Halloween breakup song in which the departing lover flees with the toaster, the “spices from the rack,” and, yes, the Halloween candy.

Happy hunting.

Excerpts:

“Acadian Driftwood”

“Lawrence, KS”

“The Humpback Whale”

The cover of Richard Thompson’s latest CD is no accident — each song on Sweet Warrior is a battle of sorts, and the vintage French photo (no, it’s not from RT’s baby book) illustrates its stark subject matter.

Sweet Warrior navigates territory as dark and familiar as RT’s trademark beret: Unrequited love (”Needle and Thread,” “Too Late to Come Fishing”); infidelity (”Johnny’s Far Away”); divorce (”Mr. Stupid”); malice (”I’ll Never Give It Up”); betrayal (”Sneaky Boy”); and death (”Poppy-Red”). Of course, you’d expect as much from a guy who released an album called Doom and Gloom from the Tomb.

What’s unexpected, perhaps, is Thompson’s newfound knack for bold social commentary; when the metaphorical well runs dry, he chooses battles straight from the headlines. Undoubtedly, the album’s flashpoint is the searing “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” — an unusually frank indictment of the Iraq war. Though it has a few clumsy lines (It’s someone’s mess I didn’t choose / At least we’re winning on the Fox Evening News), it’s a sincere position statement which has already earned responses ranging from “It’s about time…” to “How dare you…”

Another war-conscious song further cements Sweet Warrior’s theme: The ambitious “Guns Are the Tongues” is an epic ballad in the tragic mold of “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.” This new classic builds to an emotional peak and ultimately resolves into a sublime guitar solo that I wish would go on forever. It neatly captures the album’s essence in its recurring couplet: Guns are the tongues, Little Joe / The only words we know.

As with all RT records, there are moments of “sweet” relief. “She Sang Angels to Rest” (with a rare string arrangement) and “Take Care the Road You Choose” are the “Beeswing” and the “Waltzings for Dreamers” of the new CD, though not quite of that lofty caliber.

Musically, the songs are direct and vibrant — a refreshing counterpoint to the stern lyrics. The styles are as varied as anything since Rumour and Sigh, ranging from catchy rockers (”I’ll Never Give It Up,” “Mr. Stupid,” “Sneaky Boy,” “Bad Monkey”) to Ska (”Francesca”) to traditional Irish (”Johnny’s Far Away”) to RT’s familiar Folk brilliance (”Sunset Song”).

Thompson’s touring band lends him tight support and seamlessly blends his musical ideas. Longtime collaborator, Danny Thompson sits in on half the tracks — his walking acoustic bass on “I’ll never Give It Up” is a highlight. And, as usual, RT’s celebrated guitar playing hovers somewhere between tasteful and stunning. Check out the swirling mandolin and biting electric guitar fills on “Needle and Thread.” What a gift.

Devotees will detect a couple references to past Thompson triumphs: “Needle and Thread” sounds suspiciously like “Back Street Slide”; and “Bad Monkey’s” punchy sax riff could have been lifted straight from “Tear Stained Letter” or “Fire in the Engine Room.”

Sweet Warrior boasts at least half-a-dozen keepers and potential RT classics — a nice addition to a pretty terrific catalog. After 40 years in the biz, Richard Thompson is still a major force as a songwriter and performer.

Samples:

“Needle and Thread”

“I’ll Never Give It Up”

“Guns Are the Tongues”

“Dad’s Gonna Kill Me”

The best album not on CD…is finally on CD. Rhino Records rescued Warren Zevon’s classic live album from Asylum’s vaults and released an expanded and remastered version in late March.

This album isn’t just live; it’s ALIVE — a vicious assault on songs taken (mostly) from Zevon’s first (and best) two albums. Almost without exception, the versions on Stand in the Fire are more inspired, more resonant and more entertaining than the studio recordings that preceded them.

Since its 1981 release, SITF was a commercial footnote, though critics consistently raved about it; even with its muddy sound, blurry cover, and limited availability (a long OOP cassette), it thrived as a cult favorite among fans who worshipped it in secret.

What elevates SITF above other obligatory concert albums is the personnel. For these small club gigs, Zevon abandonded the safety net of the L.A. session players who propelled his music to that point. Instead, he opted for a hungry band of unknowns from Boulder, CO. Along with Zevon friend/lead guitarist, David Landau, the group recast Zevon’s early catalog into some of the hardest rocking, thrilling live music of the waning Classic Rock era. An eruption of machine gun guitars and impassioned invention.

Zevon, himself, was even more dialed in. If he was sedate and studied in the studio, on stage he was possessed. By the time of these 1981 shows, Zevon had overcome his storied addictions, but he hadn’t mellowed. This night he was boiling with emotion, and his typically mordant wit was as keen as ever; fueled by the prescription painkillers he was taking for a strained nerve, he peppers his lyrics with comical adlibs about Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Prez Carter. At one point, he summons his road manager to the stage: “Get up and dance, or I’ll kill ya! And I’ve got the means!” he exclaims. He was so volcanic, you believe he’d try it.

The 2007 CD reissue celebrates this madness in a grand way. Needless to say, the remastering is significantly better than the muffled sound of my worn out cassette. And the bonus cuts are especially crucial; the four extra tracks are as important to the concert as the original ten. “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” is so good, its exclusion from the 1981 issue is mystifying.

I haven’t been this excited about a reissue in a long while. I think Stand in the Fire combines the guitar moxie of At Fillmore East and the pop perfection of Live at Leeds. And it only took 26 years for the record company to figure it out…

Though they orginated in Dublin, the Young Dubliners’ turbo charged sound owes more to Alternative Pop than Irish Pub Rock. Over the years, they have merely peppered their six albums and their concerts with traditional Irish tunes; but when they DO perform authentic Irish, the results have been outstanding, and fans have cried out for more.

In response, the band hastily entered the studio in December and, in only a few weeks, recorded a batch of their most beloved Irish covers. You’re not likely to hear a Paddy’s Day record as rowdy as this. The Young Dub’s focus their aggressive attack on thirteen venerable songs, and the result is a rich blend of melody, glorious poetry and punk attitude. This is not your father’s Irish music.

Not that their original material isn’t worthy, but treasures like “Follow Me Up To Carlow” and “The Foggy Dew” come around once in a hundred years. Throw in a pair of Pogues’ gems, the charming, danceable “I’ll Tell Me Ma” and a couple of temperate ballads for relief, and you’ve got the perfect St. Patrick’s Day primer.

If you wanna be “green” this week, but John McCormack and the Irish tenors aren’t hip enough for ya, then wet your beak with this CD (and some Guinness). If you wanna thrill your friends with some blazing tunes at your St. Patrick’s party, walk in the room with this tucked under your arm. If not, just blast it out your car stereo.

Excerpts:

“I’ll Tell Me Ma”

“Follow Me Up to Carlow”

“The Foggy Dew”

“Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore”

Sure, the major acts fly in from time to time. You can still watch the Billy Joel hit parade amble through Miami; or you might get a floor seat for Aerosmith or the Stones for $300.

But I’m talking about GOOD concerts. Where you can sit 30 feet (not 30 sections) from the stage. Where you can park a block away. Where you meet the band after the show and chit-chat about Marshall Crenshaw. For 17 bucks! Try doing that with Mick Jagger.

That’s the way it went down last week. The Bottle Rockets brought their wit and grit and a truckful of their great “outsider country” tunes to Lake Worth, FL. If they were weary from the long trip, it didn’t show. They managed a 90+ minute blue collar set in support of their strong 2006 release, Zoysia.

The show was a testament to the strength of their growing back catalog. With 8 discs to their credit, they can pull out one signature song after another in concert: $1000 Car, Gravity Fails, Welfare Music, Smokin’ 100’s Alone, Get Down River, I Quit, Radar Gun, Kerosene, and the should-have-been-a-hit, I’ll Be Coming Around. Introducing the latter, Brian Henneman alluded to their astounding lack of notoriety , saying, “This is the song girls would scream for…if we were famous.”

The setlist was so bursting that crowd favorites Wave That Flag, Kit Kat Clock, Better Than Broken and When I Was Dumb all had the night off. In fact, the band turned in its finest performance with a non-album track, a blazing version of Hoyt Axton’s Never Been to Spain.

Never Been to Spain — and pretty much every song — was fueled by the organic interplay of guitarists John Horton and Brian Henneman. Sometimes dueling, sometimes in harmony, their improvisations added a soulful urgency that the studio never quite evoked. The Rockets fully ignite on stage.

This is a band in their prime — check them out when they hit your town. Tour dates can be found at www.bottlerocketsmusic.com/tour.php.

#1
John Gorka
Writing in the Margins
My favorite contemporary lyricist, John Gorka has been my little singer/songwriter secret through ten terrific albums; it’s time to share him with the world. My full review is here.

#2
Tom Russell
Love & Fear
Tom Russell is a fabulous artist who flies way too far under the radar. After 15 albums filled with blue collar characters and tales of the American Southwest, the master storyteller turns his attention to l-o-v-e. No, not Donny Osmond love, but the bittersweet emotions of a man approaching 60 whose life is littered with ex-girlfriends.

#3
Johnny Cash
American V: A Hundred Highways
As the Unearthed box portended, American V is probably just one of many posthumous recordings Cash’s estate will issue — reports indicate American VI is already in the can. I thought the Rick Rubin experiment ran out of gas two albums ago, but this one is truly inspired, perhaps divinely.

#4
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
All the Roadrunning
Emmylou Harris lends a touch of class and her Nashville pedigree to Mark Knopfler’s 6+ year folk rock project. Like a new wife who sweeps the cobwebs from the house of a committed bachelor, she polishes Knopfler’s rough edges into an elegant gem.

#5
Vance Gilbert
Angels Castles Covers
Mostly R&B and soul covers ranging from Stevie Wonder/Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix/Joni Mitchell, performed in a distinct Folk style by Vance Gilbert, the man with the Golden Voice.

#6
The Bottle Rockets
Zoysia
A very strong album from a band with 7 albums already to its credit. This is both a return to the fine songwriting form of the early days and the birth of a grittier, focused sound, in the esteemed tradition of Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

#7
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River in Reverse
A tough and tender collection of mostly Allen Toussaint classics. This parade of musical genius — the tuneful Toussaint and the quick-witted Costello — fulfills its lofty promise.

#8
Van Morrison
Pay the Devil
Fifteen enduring classic C&W covers, done in a non-chalant, Sinatra-esque style. True, the songs are perfunctory, and Van’s been repeating himself for twenty years, but THAT voice and THESE songs are undeniably great. At the end of one of the tracks, Van whispers, “Without even trying.” Yeah, and he gets away with it because he’s, well, the Man.

#9
Loomer
Songs of the Wild West Island
A mature work from a relatively new band. See my full review here.

#10
Richard Thompson
1000 Years of Popular Music
Asked to submit a “songs of the Millenium” list by Playboy Magazine, Thompson took the request literally, and this musical history lesson is the result: a live tribute to the luminaries of popular music. You know, Cole Porter, Lennon/McCartney…Britney Spears? That’s right, Richard Thompson applies his considerable skills to “Ooops, I Did It Again.” It’s a musical chop suey, but entertaining and educational. For diehards only.

Note: Although the CD has been available on Thompson’s web since 2003, the setlist of the 2006 CD is different, so both editions are needed to have the complete concert.

#1
Bing Crosby
Christmas Classics
1962

My favorite pick is a bit of a curveball; while many favor the 1940’s White Christmas-era recordings of a younger Bing Crosby, this 1962 Capitol release is the one I loved most growing up. The older Crosby (he was nearly 60 when these were recorded) chose more reverent, less playful material, and this album yields definitive versions of “O Holy Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and the ultra-rare, “The Littlest Angel.” This kind of craftsmanship is seldom found anymore. Oh yeah, his voice ain’t half bad either.

A long overdue remastered edition was finally released in 2006. Two songs from the ‘62 LP have been reunited with the original cuts, and the “Little Drummer Boy” duet with David Bowie is thrown in as a bonus.

#2
Bing Crosby
The Voice of Christmas
1935-1956

No collection is complete without this one. These are the mega-familiar tunes der Binger recorded for Decca when he ruled the pop charts in the 40’s. They include his most popular secular carols, many backed by the Andrews Sisters. He practically invented the genre during this time. This 2-disc set is pricey but worth it; it’s remastered and very comprehensive. It includes multiple versions of his peerless “White Christmas.” Factoid: the original 1942 version was so popular that its master deteriorated from overuse. Another recording was commissioned in 1949, which is the one everyone knows today.

#3
The Louvin Brothers
Christmas With the Louvin Brothers
1961

You probably won’t find this in stores, but it’s worth seeking out on Amazon. Of all these recommendations, this is the most austere; it’s a low-budget, sparsely produced throwback that relies on the close harmony style perfected by the two brothers before Ira Louvin died in 1965. Good for listening to by the fire because it sounds like it was recorded by the fire, not in a studio. Sincere cheer.

#4
Perry Como
A Perry Como Christmas
1946-1982

Perry Como’s interpretative skills — his conversational voice and phrasing — are second only to Bing Crosby. Any Como Christmas CD will do (you gotta have at least one), but this one is a singular treat. Of the 22 tracks, maybe 9 are standard carols; the rest are either obscure Christmas tunes or just songs about family, but they’re so evocative that the spirit of the season pours from the grooves. The 10-minute “Story of the First Christmas,” “Love in a Home” and the hard-to-find “Ave Maria” are delights you won’t find elsewhere.

#5
Johnny Cash
The Christmas Spirit
1963

This is the spare, storytelling Johnny Cash from his earliest days on Columbia records, not the overproduced, made-for-tv-specials Cash of the 70’s and 80’s. Here his voice radiates the “Christmas spirit” with humility and reverence as he reflects on the spartan Christmas pasts of his hometown in Dyess, Arkansas. With only spoken words, his powerful imagery transports us 2000 years.

#6
Bruce Cockburn
Christmas
1993

Apart from being one of the most authentic celebrations of the meaning of Christmas (Bruce doesn’t sing about reindeer or shopping), this 1993 album signaled a return to the fine acoustic form of Cockburn’s High Winds White Sky era, after a decade of music shaped by politics and technology. It features several overlooked, regional carols: “Riu Riu Chiu,” “Jesus Ahatonnia” and “Down in Yon Forest” are seldom covered by other artists. Of his 25+ albums, this is near the top.

#7
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
1960

In the late fifties, Ella Fitzgerald made some of the most important contributions to recorded music when she covered the songbooks of eight esteemed American composers, including Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. This Christmas album combines the inspiring orchestras and arrangers of the songbook series with her crystalline voice. The result is a classy, almost regal collection of secular holiday goodies that would sound trivial in lesser hands.

#8
The Clancy Brothers
Christmas
1969

I doubt this CD is still in print (I think I bought the only copy), but it’s worth tracking down for afficionados of Irish music. Like an Irish wake, the Clancy’s celebrate Christmas with piety and verve. “Home then to the laden table / ham and goose and pints of beer / Whiskey handed ‘round in tumblers / Christmas comes but once a year.” Priceless.

#9
Windham Hill Artists
A Winter’s Solstice II
1989

Perfect music for contemplation and reposing by the fireside. Will Ackerman, formerly of Windham Hill, dared to publish quiet instrumentals that evoke the wonder of Christmas, often without having much at all to do with the season. Volume II is my personal favorite, though the first two releases are practically interchangeable; the rest of the Solstice series grows progressively redundant and inconsequential.

#10
New England Christmastide Musicians
New England Christmastide
1987

This collection of earthy instrumentals will bring a bit of Appalachia into your suburban home; if you don’t live on a mountaintop, this is the next best thing. Totally unplugged, its colorful stringed and woodwind instruments include flute, banjo, concertina, mandolin, cello, harmonium and hurdy gurdy. If music was played at the first Christmas, it might have sounded like this.

“My dream came true. I saw America changed through music.” As a Grammy Awards audience acknowledged his genius, a frail Harry Smith, months before his death, basked in the recognition that had eluded him for a half century. The importance of his landmark Anthology of American Folk Music cannot be overstated: it is often credited with spawning the 60’s folk revival, revitalizing fading legends (Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson), inspiring budding legends (Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin), and perserving slices of American culture before they could be doomed to legend.

BACKGROUND
Painter, musicologist, filmmaker, anthropologist and eccentric, Harry Smith is best known today as a maverick record collector. In the early 1900’s, before record collecting for cultural edification was widely practiced, he amassed an archive of tens of thousands of, mostly 78 rpm, records — treasures that would have been discarded, literally, if not for his passion. At a time when the war effort demanded records be melted for shellac, Harry Smith raided record shops and rescued folk, blues, cajun, old country, hillbilly, gospel, jazz and other precious artifacts of Americana.

His collection wasn’t the biggest, but it was well curated — not just a pile of discs, but a museum of songs which were thoroughly researched, annotated and numbered. Unprecedented for its time, it caught the eye of the newly formed Folkways Records. In need of cash, Harry Smith sold half his collection to Folkways (the other half was eventually sold to the New York Public Library) with the understanding that the songs would be issued to the public with his annotations.

From thousands of tracks, 84 were chosen, carefully sequenced over 6 LP’s, and the Anthology was born. Released in 1952 to modest fanfare and worse sales, the quirky box slowly invaded America’s consciousness. Fifty years and 500,000 copies later, the collection is a national treasure; it was the first album added to the White House record collection, and it was added to the prestigious National Recording Registry in 2005.

50TH ANNIVERSARY
The enduring legacy of the Anthology is best demonstrated by the legions of musicians who claim indebtedness to Harry Smith. As the 50th anniversary of the 1952 event unfolded, contemporaries of Folk, Alt-Country, and Modern Rock performed selections from the 84 tracks in a series of recorded concerts in London, New York and Los Angeles. A souvenir box from the three concerts was released by the Shout Factory in October.

The 2-CD, 2-DVD set is a sprawling assortment of concert clips and film, with enough treats to delight old fans and a hipper, modern styling to attract some new ones. Disciples of Harry Smith will be drawn to the DVD content, especially “The Old, Weird America,” a brand new documentary which explores the origins and impact of the Anthology. It provides an insightful history and features rare footage and reflections from Greil Marcus and Alan Ginsberg. Essential viewing for the indoctrinated.

The concert clips, on the other hand, are as likely to please a younger audience as they are to confound the committed fan. By charter, the Anthology reveres the past, and the performances that stick to “the formula” are the most satisfying: Richard Thompson’s take on Clarence Ashley’s Coo Coo Bird is a studied performance (and a treat to watch him perform on the DVD); Beth Orton’s Frankie (Mississippi John Hurt) is stark and terrifying, like a murder ballad should be; Steve Earle’s Prison Cell Blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson) is just plain fun; and Van Dyke Parks loving orchestration of the Social Music instrumental, Sail Away Lady, is worthy of the 1952 box.

That describes about 65% of the collection; the remainder is contemporized and electrified. Traditionalists may wince at some of the tinkering: Nick Cave’s John the Revelator bears little resemblance to the humble handclaps and a capella of Son House; Lou Reed’s charged See That My Grave Is Kept Clean is a grungy revision; and Sonic Youth’s smoldering Dry Bones is practically a reinvention. These songs were birthed in fields, in churches and on front porches, so the high voltage arrangements can be intriguing, but jarring to the stubborn ear.

CONCLUSION
Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music changed America through music, and the Harry Smith Project Revisited ushers those ambitions into the 21st century and appeals to a new generation to broaden its milieu. Like Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, some like side one, some like side two, but no one questions its impact. So whether it’s the old or new, weird America you prefer, one of these compilations should be in the collection of the serious Folk music devotee.

Favorite tracks (excerpts):
“Prison Cell Blues” - Steve Earle

“Coo Coo Bird” - Richard Thompson

“Frankie” - Beth Orton

Also see:

Anthology Of American Folk Music

Roots N’ Blues: Retrospective 1925-1950

Bob Dylan performs songs from the Anthology:

When asked about remaking his favorite songs, Scott Loomer remarked, “You don’t cover ‘Crazy’ unless you’re Patsy Cline, which we’re not.” That’s a taste of the wit and wisdom that makes Loomer (the band) so appealing.

No flash, no pretense, Songs from the Wild West Island is just a solid batch of songs that pierce deep into the heart of Alt-Country. Loomer doesn’t overreach (no ill-advised Patsy Cline covers here); they quietly produce assured, instinctive music, with a world weariness that years of experience earn. Not bad for just their second album.

Loomer, from Toronto (not to be confused with that “other” Loomer from Detroit) formed in 1999, a six-piece propelled by the songwriting of namesake, Scott Loomer. Their obvious cohorts are the Jayhawks, but Loomer’s songs exhibit more varied influences: the compact pop of Counting Crows (”Anastasia”); the gloomy ambiguity of Michael Stipe (”Bang the Nails”); the toughness (”Dirt Angel”) and tenderness (”Only Lovers”) of Sticky Fingers-era Stones.

If you’re making your Best-Of-2006 list, save some room for Songs of the Wild West Island. You’ll find sample tracks on Loomer’s Myspace page and their official site.

Excerpts from my favorite tracks:
“Anastasia”

“Only Lovers”

“Sunday Driver Down”

The Pogues pioneered a unique blend of Celtic and Punk that could evoke the Clash, the Chieftains, and the Dubliners in the same breath. They released five CD’s before their chief songwriter, frontman, and heart and soul, Shane MacGowan, departed for personal reasons; the first three of these are classics of the genre and some of my all time favorite albums.
 

Red Roses for Me
This is the Pogues at their most playful, MacGowan at his most lucid. A spry batch of songs is propelled by frenzied arrangements of a 50-50 mix of traditional tunes and MacGowan originals. Red Roses is a bridge to the band’s subsequent organic brilliance, marking time as MacGowan’s songwriting matured and the group developed its signature sound. My personal favorite.

NOTES: Includes six bonus tracks, three of which appeared on the orginal Enigma CD; the other three are moderately interesting B-sides.

Excerpt: Dark Streets of London

Rum Sodomy & the Lash
Shane MacGowan emerges as a songwiter of the highest order on the second Pogues album. He informs his songs with the rich history of the British Isles, and the line between his originals and the album’s celebrated traditional songs is virtually undetectable — he has an uncanny ability to make his songs sound old and old songs sound new. Not as cohesive as Red Roses for Me, but brilliant nonetheless, the recording sessions resulted in at least a half dozen masterpieces: “A Pair of Brown of Eyes,” “Sally McLenanne,” “The Sickbed of Cuchulainn” and “Dirty Old Town” are to-die-for Pogues tracks. And one of the bonus cuts, “Body of an American,” from the beloved Poguetry in Motion EP, trumps ‘em all.

NOTES: Produced by Elvis Costello and featuring contributions from his soon-to-be-wife, soon-to-be-ex, Cait O’Riordan. RSL draws its irreverent title from a glib remark about life in the British Navy, commonly attributed to Winston Churchill.

Excerpt: Body of an American

If I Should Fall from Grace With God
Casual fans of the genre should start here. The Pogues reached a critcal and commercial peak with the release of Fall from Grace. The band’s lineup swelled to eight with the addition of Terry Woods, and the sound of the album is glorious (the coda of “Turkish Song of the Damned” leaves no doubt). MacGowan’s songwriting is still first-rate, but other band members begin to make significant contributions — the Jem Finer/Shane MacGowan composition, “Fairytale of New York,” is one of those songs that knocks you off your feet the first time you hear it. The universally loved ballad is routinely voted the best Christmas song of all time in Ireland and England.

NOTES: The powerful duet with the Dubliners, “The Irish Rover,” is a great bonus addition. For some reason, “South Australia,” an essential cut from the original vinyl release, is also sequenced as a bonus track.

Excerpt: Fairytale of New York

Peace and Love
At the height of their powers, MacGowan’s erratic behavior caused him to gradually withdraw his influence from the band. Without his magic touch, Peace and Love is (to put it kindly) inconsistent. When it’s good (”White City”), it’s really good; when it’s bad (Philip Chevron’s “Blue Heaven” and “Lorelei”), you shake your head and wonder. Only a couple non-Macgowan compositions, Terry Woods’ “Young Ned of the Hill” and “Gartloney Rats,” rise to his level.

NOTES: The bonus tracks aren’t much better — two songs from the stopgap Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah EP and four perfunctory B-sides are included. Look closely at the album cover; the boxer has six fingers on his right hand.

Excerpt: Down All the Days

Hell’s Ditch
Hell’s Ditch is dominated by lyrical and musical references to Spain and the Far East (especially Thailand). This consolidated theme lends the album needed continuity following the ramshackle Peace and Love, and the album’s lead track, the energetic, “Sunnyside of the Street,” hinted that the band had returned to form. Unfortunately, MacGowan’s personal difficulties overwhelm his performances, which are listless and garbled. The band soon parted ways with their mercurial leader and released two middling CD’s; for all intents and purposes, this WAS the last Pogues album.

NOTES: Produced by the Clash’s Joe Strummer. Bonus tracks include the 90’s remake of the fan favorite “Rainy Night in Soho.”

Excerpt: Sunnyside of the Street