LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III
Years in the Making
StorySound Records
As I’ve noted before, I’ve known Loudon Wainwright III for a
long time. I first met – and heard – him when he was married to my friend, the late Kate
McGarrigle, in the early-to-mid-1970s. After the marriage broke up, I’d
occasionally see him at folk festivals, at Kate’s when he’d come up to Montreal
to see their children – Rufus Wainwright
and Martha Wainwright – and booked
him for a couple of concerts at the Golem when he’d come to town for those
visits. In 2000, we sat down and did an extensive and very candid interview on
the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio show. Most recently, in 2015, we had a nice
visit in Clearwater, Florida after a concert he did while Sylvie and I were on
vacation there.
Years in the Making is “a comprehensive 2-CD audiobiography” of 45 years’ worth of
outtakes, live recordings, radio performances and demos that comes beautifully
packaged in a 64-page hardcover book featuring a lifetime’s memorabilia – from
Loudon’s birth certificate to the cover page of his will. Among those making
cameo appearances on some of the tracks are Kate, ex-partner Suzzy Roche, sister Sloan Wainwright, long-time
collaborator Chaim Tannenbaum, Steve Goodman, and all four of his kids
– Rufus, Martha, Lucy Wainwright Roche
and Lexie Kelly Wainwright.
The songs are sequenced in seven thematic groupings beginning with “Folk.”
This set includes some traditional songs, Woody
Guthrie’s “Philadelphia Lawyer,” and “Love Gifts,” a Loudenesque parody of “I
Gave My Love a Cherry.” My favorite tracks in this section are a sweet version
of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going
Nowhere,” recorded at home in 1974 with Kate on harmony vocals, and a duet with
Chaim on “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” from 2008 that I presume is an outtake
from High Wide & Handsome, Loudon’s terrific Charlie Poole tribute.
The second section is “Rocking Out,” with most of the tracks dating
from the 1970s after Loudon had a commercial hit with “Dead Skunk” (which is
not on this album) and he went on the road with rock bands. But the best track
in this section is “Cardboard Boxes,” a 1993 live cut about moving with just
Loudon on guitar and lead vocals, Chaim on banjo and harmony vocals and David Mansfield on mandolin.
“Kids,” the final section on the first CD begins with a 1986 home
recording of “Birthday Poem/Happy Birthday/Animal Song” on which children Rufus,
13, Martha, 10, and Lucy, 4, wish their father a happy 40th birthday. Lexie,
Loudon’s youngest child, appears later in this section in a 1999 home recording
singing his “Ballad of Famous & Harper,” a precious song about a pair of
pet cats. More serious fare includes a 2003 live version of “Your
Mother & I,” a song from the ‘80s in which Loudon tries to explain her
parents’ breakup to his young daughter (Lucy).
The second CD begins with “Love Hurts,” six songs about love and/or
lost love. The finest entry in this section is “Rowena,” which he based on
courting letters written by his grandfather to his grandmother in 1918.
A section called “Miscellany” is grab-bag of tracks highlighted by a
beautiful version of “Down Where the Drunkards Roll,” one of Richard Thompson’s most stunning songs.
Greg Leisz’s pedal steel work on
this track is lonesome and lovely; and by “Meet the Wainwrights,” that features Loudon with Lucy, Suzzy, Martha, Rufus and Sloan
singing about their relationships with him.
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| Mike Regenstreif & Loudon Wainwright III (2015) |
A short section called “Hollywood,” includes a snippet of an
interview with Liza Minelli, in
which she remembers “little Loudon, the kid next door,” her childhood neighbor,
as well as “Hollywood Hopeful,” a 1975 song describing Loudon’s attempt to break
in as an actor, and “Valley Morning,” a song he wrote from Judd Apatow’s film “Knocked Up.”
The final section, “The Big Picture,” kicks off with the hilarious “God’s
Got a Shit List,” which you probably won’t be hearing in the radio anytime soon,
and finishes with the equally hilarious and equally radio-inappropriate “Birthday
Boy,” an a cappella song on which Loudon celebrates his birthday and himself.
Years in the Making might not be the best introduction for someone hearing Loudon for
the first time. But it’s a terrific addition to his discography for those of us
who have listened to and enjoyed his work over the past (almost) five decades
(or parts thereof).
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--Mike Regenstreif
