Nanci Griffith - #1 on my playlist

Everyone has one CD that will conform to just about every mood they can feel. This CD does that for me. Nanci Griffith has a voice that most people either love or hate. Some describe it as ‘nasal’ or ‘fingers on a chalkboard’. To others it is as sweet as the first robin of Spring or as clear as a babbling mountain stream. Obviously, my opinion aligns with the latter.

I have been a fan of Nanci’s before I even knew who she was. Many of her songs have been covered by some of country music’s up and coming stars over the years. ‘Love at the Five and Dime’ was the first song of hers that I can recall. I knew that the person that had written that song had something special.

From time to time I would see her name on an album or CD jacket singing backgrounds with Emmylou Harris or Iris DeMent. Finally, about 10 years ago, my boss at that time put this CD on one day and I just stopped everything I was doing and listened and listened and listened. The hook was set deep.

'Other Voices, Other Rooms' is a wonderful project. For once, Nanci puts aside her own fabulous songwriting talent and focuses her voice on the works of other great folk singers. The play list and writers follows:

Across The Great Divide – Kate Wolf
Woman Of The Phoenix – Vince Bell
Tecumseh Valley – Townes Van Zandt
Three Flights Up – Frank Christian
Boots Of Spanish Leather – Bob Dylan
Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness – John Prine
From Clare To Here – Ralph McTell
Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound – Tom Paxton
Do Re Mi – Woody Guthrie
This Old Town – Janis Ian & Jon Vezner
Comin’ Down In The Rain – Buddy Mondlock
Ten Degrees And Getting Colder – Gordon Lightfoot
Morning Song For Sally – Jerry Jeff Walker
Night Rider’s Lament – Michael Burton
Are You Tired Of Me Darling – G.P. Cook & Ralph Roland
Turn Around – Malvina Reynolds, Harry Belafonte, and Allen Greene
Wimoweh – Traditional South African

If the list of songwriters is impressive, what is even more impressive is to see how many of them (and others) were willing to participate in the creation of the album. Band members and background vocals vary from song to song and are provided by no less than the following “who’s who” list of folk:

Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Arlo Guthrie, Frank Christian, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Pete Cummins
Guy Clark, Iris DeMent, Don Edwards, Chet Atkins, and The Indigo Girls

Are you ready to go buy it yet? If not, chances are you may not be a folk music fan. That’s okay. By the time you listen to this CD once, you’ll be as hooked as I am. The lyrics are at time tragic. Some times just the music will stir your soul. There are several songs that I have a hard time listening to and trying to do anything at the same time. I simply need to close my eyes and let the music flow over and through me. Nanci’s voice has the ability to reinvent itself with every song. She puts her heart into each and every song as if she didn’t want to disappoint a single songwriter. Believe me when I said she doesn’t. I’ve never heard the originals of some of these songs and I’m not really sure I would want to. These versions are so close to perfect that I can’t imagine enjoying anything more.

One of those songs is ‘Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness’

You come home late
And you come home early
You come home big
When you’re feeling small
You come home straight
And you come home curly
Sometimes you don’t come home at all

The lyrics themselves speak volumes but the perfect harmony of Nanci’s voice with John Prine’s will truly captivate you.

Another of my favorite songs is ‘From Clare To Here’

The only time I feel alright
Is when I’m into drinking
It can sort of ease the pain of it and it
Levels out my thinking

Pete Cummins’ “Irishman’s Duet” is truly haunting. I wish that I could find words to describe how it effects me. It is beyond words. It is quite possibly one of the most perfect vocals I have ever heard.

Some of these songs are old classics that you may not recognize by name but if you are older than 30 you probably know anyway.

‘Night Rider’s Lament’ has been covered by countless performers, including recently Garth Brooks. It tells the tale of a cowboy reading a letter from a friend at home who doesn’t understand how someone can pass up a good woman and a profession for a life in the saddle staring at millions of twinkling stars and cows. Don Edwards provides the beautiful yodeling solo of ‘Camp Cookie’. What’s that? You’ve never considered yodeling as ‘beautiful’? Then you’ve never heard Don Edwards.

‘Turn Around’ is the tale of a parent looking at their daughter and watching her grow up right before them. This song can bring a lump to my throat when I think of the speed with which my own daughter is growing and how before we know it, she’ll be outgrowing her toys and thinking of boys.

Where are you goin’ my little one, little one?
Where are you goin’ my baby my own?
Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

‘Wimoweh’ provided the music for The Tokens 1961 classic, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’.

This CD is without a doubt one of my all time favorites. I listen to it at work at least 2 to 3 times a week and never get tired of it. And nobody else does either. Since I share an office with 4 other people, that’s important. It is good background music that makes time simply fly by. Look for it at your local library and then buy a copy for yourself.

Thanks for Reading!!