Going Driftless: An Artist's Tribute to Greg Brown
Red House Records
by Bonny Holder

Senior Reporter

Probably all reviewers have this feeling, I know I feel it frequently. It's a competitive desire to declare that the emperor/ess has no clothes when it comes to writing record reviews. This Going Driftless CD, compiled songs of Greg Brown as sung by women (a benefit project for San Francisco's The Breast Cancer Fund) has been getting so much good press (do we still call it "ink"?) that I kind of hoped I would find The Flaw. The fly in the ointment. The bee in the cranberry sauce (this really happened at our house.) I thought I might be able to say "yeah, it's pretty good, but on the other hand..."

No-can-do.

This is a terrific album of terrific songs. I've been voluntarily promoting Greg's music for 30 years, ask my old buds. But not everybody "gets" Greg right away. The songs on this CD are so accessible and so interesting that respect for Brown as a songwriter should double, and rightfully so.

It is not, however, the first time women have recorded Greg Brown's songs. There is a wonderful CD of Minneapolis's Prudence Johnson singing all-Greg from a few years back, and (Robin and) Linda Williams have recorded a large handful of them over the years. I could run a Google search and give you more info, but you should have more fun doing that for yourself.

The most remarkable thing about this CD is that, while each track is recorded by a different woman, or in the case of "Ella Mae", sister trio, each artist approaches her song as if she had written it herself.

Lucinda Williams sings it loudest and soonest, and arguably sexiest, on the first track, "Lately." "Do you love me, or do you hate me? I haven't seen you lately," she croons. She performs this track in all sincerity, as if she had written it herself.

Iris DeMent sounds just as much at home singing "The Train Carrying Jimmie Rodgers Home," long noted as one of Greg's best folk songs.

Ani DiFranco offers up "The Poet Game," amongst Brown's most confessional lyrics. While I found the squeaky arrangement to be mildly annoying -- I thought the same thing about the warbling during Victoria Williams' weird version of "Early" -- that's Ani's deal, and she delivers the emotional goods in this blunt confessional.

Ferron, whose voice is almost as low as Greg's, does a compelling version of "Where is Maria?" and Lucy Kaplansky spits live spirit into "Small Dark Movie." Karen Savoca, who has toured with Greg, offers a calypso-flavored version of the charming "Two Little Feet."

And speaking of charming, I have to join all those other reviewers who have noted that Greg's daughters, Pieta, Constie, and Zoe Brown, present a version of "Ella Mae," written by Greg for his grandmother. I've always found this tune to be a-melodic, but that impression has now been corrected by hearing this honeyed version. Their voices blend like corn pudding.

I had never heard of Robin Lee Berry before, but "Hey Baby Hey" puts a lot of soul into one of Greg's lesser lyrics. And Leandra Peak (of the duo Neal & Leandra) does a beautiful job of "Wash My Eyes," her low, nuanced voice taking the album out like a patchwork quilt of comfort.

Because I've known Greg casually for decades and seen him dozens of times, I've often said, in a semi-tease, that he's a god to me in terms of writing songs. In fact, I am dead serious about that. These songs, sung by these women, will tell you why I and so many others feel that way about his ingrained way with words and music.

There are no lyrics included with the CD or I could quote till next Wednesday, Greg Brown being a real writer's writer. Discover them yourself.

I hope Red House takes this another step farther and does another benefit album of Greg's songs with even more women singing them. I'd like to hear Tori Amos, Tracy Grammer, Natalie Merchant, Monica Taylor, Betsy Kaske (yeah, she's my sister but she's pretty good) and Toni Price sing their personal faves. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

This time, believe the accolades. Going Driftless is a fine, fine CD.

* Greg's site is www.gregbrown.org Red House Records is at www.redhouserecords.com

You can contact Bonny Holder at bonny-at-rockzilla.net

 
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