From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V9 #46 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Wednesday, April 4 2007 Volume 09 : Number 046 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [RS] Out back by the willow trees... [Greg Dennis Subject: Re: [RS] Out back by the willow trees... Liked rcomments, Chris, and I especially agree about the freeness of voice, etc. on Delia, as Richard honors and reinvents these wonderful songs. It's another reason to appreciate his many talents. And as for Mavis, well, along with Nietzche spinning in his grave, we await your analysis. Chris Foxwell wrote: I received my pre-order of "South of Delia" a few days ago, and after giving it a few whirls, I figured I'd chime in with my thoughts. Apologies for this huge post... I didn't mean to blab on so, but hey, we've got all this pent-up Shindell excitement... First off: Jim, when you quoted "Delia's Gone," I immediately thought of Al Stewart before Johnny Cash. Heh. Must be 'cause I'm excited to see him live in a few weeks... Right then. I really like the record, and pretty much all of Richard's interpretations. He exudes a palpable reverence and love for the songs, and it really shines through in his arrangements and presentation. He also sounds more relaxed and comfortable than I'm used to hearing him in the studio. Maybe those seem like mutually exclusive states, reverence and relaxation, but somehow they both seem to fit. I could go on to craft some lofty theory about the relationship of an artist to his creations, and how the presentation of one's own creations might differ from a comparatively egoless reworking of others' creations that you know and love, with corresponding differences in performance...but I'd totally be out of my element. :) Regardless, this album just feels...I dunno, freer, to me. Effortless, and beautiful because of it. All the same, I can't wait to hear more of his new material, and I'm glad that he's still performing mostly his own tunes in shows. Nothing beats Richard doing Richard in my book. Anyone hear any further workings on that "Juggler Out in Traffic" song? That has haunted me--in a good way--ever since I heard it last year. I'm curious about how "One Man's Arkansas" is shaping up as well. In terms of the overall theme of the album, I agree with John McD, Richard pretty much says it all in the liner notes. [Spoiler warning!] The artists have "met" on the album "to exchange news, to share their disbelief that it could ever come to this, to warn, to point the way, to provide a light." Applying my own further interpretation to this (also similar to John's), it seems to me that all of the songs have the common theme of loss, with its accompanying sorrow/plaintiveness/wistfulness, and occasionally outrage, applied in various ways and voices: through social/historical commentary, through personal lives, or via eternal expressions of universal feelings. Or, to repeat Richard's words, the feeling of "how could it ever have come to this [in my life/country/world]?" is, to me, the most omnipresent concept in the album. A few thoughts about the individual tunes: - --I love Richard's performance of "Acadian Driftwood" more each time I hear it. I believe I remarked, over a year ago, that Richard was "born to sing this song," and I still feel that way. I prefer his solo rendition best, I think, where his voice really really shines, but already my fondness for this recorded version has grown in the several times I've listened to the record. - --Conversely, I've never cared much for his solo performances of "Senor," but I love the version on this record. Dylan's original is hard to beat, of course, but Richard's is way more accessible. - --"Humpback Whale," along with "Storms Are On The Ocean," are probably my "meh" songs of the album. I like both of them, very much, but they don't really grab me the way the other tunes do. Or, rather, the lyrics themselves don't grab me; for "Humpback", what I like most is how the words *sound*, with Richard's voice as an additional "instrument" in the song, as opposed to what the words actually say. (I could go on to craft a lofty theory about...eh, never mind. Heh.) - --"Born in the U.S.A.": at first I just plain disliked Richard's version, period. That was after hearing it in several shows (solo). I confess that it's growing on me, though, and like "Senor" the album version has made it more listenable for me. I really like how he brings a different--more appropriate?--feel to the lyrics. I've never been a Springsteen guy, and hell, I always thought the song was a big ol' U.S.A. anthem/rallying call (and rather nauseating for that reason), having never really listened to the lyrics at all. RS's cover really brings out the lyrical meaning, as others have observed. Score (another) one for Richard. - --"Mercy Street" is quickly becoming the album's hidden gem for me. It's gorgeous. ("Hidden" only because I was fairly ambivalent about it before, and now I absolutely love it.) Richard's voice gains a lot when he sings very softly, I've always felt, like in his harmony on Lori's "Never Die Young," and this song really showcases that at times. - --"Northbound 35"...this one's tricky, because of how much I love the original, and Jeffrey Foucault in general (man, what an amazing artist). It has long been one of my favorite songs, ever, so I can't claim even the slightest objectivity. If I had to try, I'd say that there's something about Foucault's voice that is just perfect for the song, conveying a particular mixture of gruffness and tenderness, hesitancy and conviction, that I just can't see anyone duplicating. I prefer Foucault's lyrics emphasis in the song as well, but that's not a knock against Richard; just, if a song has already been done to perfection, anything short of a carbon copy isn't going to be, y'know, as perfect. (Totally my subjective opinion re: its perfection, of course.) - --Sitting on Top of the World: love it, but I was kind of hoping Richard would cut loose vocally a bit more, the way he does when performing it live. It's a bit more conservative here. But perhaps that's better, since it makes it easier to hear it as something other than the cheerful ditty that some people hear it as. (It may in fact be exactly that, and meant to be interpreted simply and literally, but I've never heard it that way.) - --Deportee: wonderful. Can't say much more about it...and you know I would if I could... - --Solo le Pido a Dios: a new one for me, and really pretty. Perhaps another song to play for my ESL students? Not as relevant as "Cancion," but I'm sure I could fit it in... (Speaking of language, as someone who is getting ready to attempt to learn some smattering of Spanish, I am extremely envious of how well Richard wraps his tongue around those "r"s. Just, damn.) - --Lawrence, KS: another tough one. Richard's voice is much nicer than Josh Ritter's, hands down, but in my opinion--and this is gonna sound crazy--I feel like it's almost too nice for the song. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the original, but I've always felt that part of the song's lament is conveyed through the bleak, semi-tuneless quality of Ritter's delivery. I did really like Richard's live performances of this song last year, but as I recall, he sang with more roughness and less polish then. I suspect I might feel differently about this after listening to Richard's cover a bunch more, though. I was really struck by how Richard's voice absolutely soars upwards on the chorus, only to come falling back down, in a perfect approximation of what the narrator is feeling; that is something that Ritter's voice doesn't achieve as dramatically, and it lends a whole new feel to the song. Either way, it really is a beautiful tune. That's about it from my end, for now at least. (I've been kicking around a cool little Nietzschean analysis of "There Goes Mavis," but I think I need to reread "Birth of Tragedy" before formulating it any further. I know, I know, be still your beating hearts.) Again, sorry for the length. Oh yes, and thanks to everyone for the great reviews lately! It'll probably be fall before Richard swings by my neck of the woods, so keep the reviews coming! - --Chris - -- "We were born in a dark age out of due time (for us). But there is this comfort: otherwise we should not know, or so much love, what we do love. I imagine the fish out of water is the only fish to have an inkling of water." - --J.R.R. Tolkien ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:30:59 -0400 From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: [RS] Posting reminder. Hey, folks, a quick reminder: Please don't include the entire text of the posts to which you're responding. Particularly with the length of some of the posts (which are great, by the way), it winds up clogging up inboxes with content that's already been read. Just include the parts of the previous post you need to make your point. Thanks! RG ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 15:55:57 EDT From: Hopedancing@aol.com Subject: [RS] Richard in Seattle! The show last night at The Triple Door was superb. I'd never heard of the Triple Door before (as I am a recent Seattlelite) but was pleasantly surprised. It is a dinner theater with several semi-circle booths facing the stage. It holds maybe 300 people and I would say that virtually every seat was filled - -- which is just wonderful for a Tuesday night show. The food was delicious - -- sent down from the "Wild Ginger" upstairs -- and truly the best venue food I have ever tasted. Even Richard commented on how good the food was from the stage. The sound was great -- absolutely no complaints there. This is one venue I hope Richard returns to. The set list (in no particular order): Fenario Che Guevara T-Shirt Senor Fishing Deportee Hazel's House Mavis Last Fare of the Day Cold Missouri Waters Arrowhead Walden Well Reunion Hill Are You Happy Now? Waist Deep in the Big Muddy Transit Born in the USA (encore) It was a rare treat to hear Cold Missouri Waters again, live. I think the last time I heard Richard sing this was with Cry, Cry, Cry at the Troubadour in Los Angeles many years ago. Richard did a flawless version of the song. I loved Walden Well -- my first time hearing it. Richard told the story of his research for the song and finding out how there really wasn't a "well" at all, but that he thought he had "taken care of the problem" in the song (as he refers to there not being a well in a later verse) and that Thoreau took his water directly from the pond. I have my copy of "South of Delia" autographed by Richard :-) There was a long line of people waiting to purchase the new CD after Richard's performance. My friend and I were right near the head of the line having arrived later than anticipated to the show (which does have its benefits as it puts you closer to the CD table in some venues :-). I asked Richard how his road trip had been. He had mentioned earlier from the stage that he'd "had enough of planes" and decided to just "drive across country." When I inquired about the drive he seemed eager to share about his-- shall we say-- "run ins" with the law -- in the form of a speeding ticket... or two ... or maybe three :-) He explained how there was one stretch of highway (just between States) where unbeknownst to the weary traveler, the speed limit dips, and those going maybe only "5 miles above the limit" are at risk. I shared a similar experience where the highway patrol officer actually encouraged me to "write a letter to the Magistrate" (which I did) and to my amazement, a few months later, I received a reimbursement check in the mail from the County in which I had received the speeding ticket. The universe is full of amazement. Richard's accompaniment, Sarah on fiddle and Greg on guitar & bouzouki, were fabulous and really added a nice touch to the show. Richard was solo last year in Seattle (and billed as "solo" for this show, too) so it was an extra treat to have Sarah and Greg share the stage with him. Really a lovely sound. It was a terrific evening-- a wonderful show. And now I need to go listen more intently to "South of Delia" as I do believe this is one incredible CD. Candace (from CA and WA) p.s. Thank you, Richard, for singing Hazel's House! It carries a special meaning for my friend and I because of the line mentioning "flagstone steps" :-) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V9 #46 **********************************