Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan

CATHERINE MacLELLAN

If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan

True North Records

catherinemaclellan.com

truenorthrecords.com

I remember Gene MacLellan (1938-1995) as a performer I’d occasionally see on CBC-TV programs from the Maritimes like “Don Messer’s Jubilee” and “Singalong Jubilee” and as the songwriter behind several big hits for Anne Murray like “Snowbird” (which sits on my record shelves in a version by Doc Watson) and “The Call” and the gospel crossover hit “Put Your Hand in the Hand” (which I have in a version by Joan Baez), and as the father of Catherine MacLellan, an accomplished singer and songwriter in her own right whose work I have greatly appreciated over the past decade or so.

On If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan, Catherine, who was a young teenager when she lost her father, pays tribute to her father’s songwriting legacy by interpreting – and, occasionally, reimagining – 13 of his songs.

It’s the two biggest hits that are most radically reimagined – making them both standout tracks on an album with no weak links. As an Anne Murray hit, “Snowbird” was bright, bouncy and infectious. Catherine, though, slows the song down, and accompanying herself on electric piano with no other musicians, finds the poetic heartbreak at the essence of the lyrics and lovely melody – and includes a seemingly essential verse that Murray did not sing.

“Put Your Hand in the Hand” is also performed in a much less flamboyant style than Ocean’s hit version allowing the emphasis to shift away from the singalong chorus to the verses’ story. Catherine on lead vocal is beautifully supported by J.P. Cormier and Dave Gunning on guitars and harmony vocals.

My favorite track on the album is Catherine’s duet with John Connolly on “The Call,” another hit that her father wrote for Anne Murray (perhaps my favorite of all of Murray’s many hits). The song, a panhandler’s plaintive plea, has a quietly infectious melody that is beautifully stated here by the nylon-string lead guitar work of Chris Corrigan.

Among the other standouts are “Bidin’ My Time,” a gentle country song beautifully sung over an arrangement also highlighted by Corrigan’s lead guitar playing; “Faces,” which captures deep feelings of loneliness and depression; and “Shiloh Song,” which seems like a song of encouragement sung by a parent whose circumstances might dictate too much time away from his kids.

Along with the release of this album, Catherine has also created a new stage show, “If It’s Alright With You: The Life and Music of My Father, Gene MacLellan,” that she is performing through September at the PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown. And Catherine will be bringing much of the show to her National Arts Centre concert here in Ottawa on November 9.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Claire Lynch – North By South

CLAIRE LYNCH

North By South

Compass Records

clairelynch.com

Writing about Claire Lynch’s album New Day in Sing Out! magazine in 2006, I referred to her as “one of the finest bluegrass vocalists of the modern era.” And, indeed, she was/is that. But, as early as that album, if not before, she was also finding inspiration in contemporary folk-rooted styles, singers and songwriters.

On her new album, North By South, Claire specifically finds inspiration in Canadian songwriters – nine of the 10 songs were written by Canadians, most of them familiar to readers of the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog and to listeners of the radio programs I’ve done over the years in Montreal and Ottawa.

An album of Canadian songs might seem an odd choice for an artist long based in Nashville but Claire was inspired by her recent marriage to a Canadian man – and the other song on North By South is “Milo,” an up tempo tune inspired by her new husband.

Canada, of course, is known for many great songwriters (Canadian Spaces, a radio program on CKCU in Ottawa that I co-host every couple of months or so, is primarily dedicated to Canadian singer-songwriters) and Claire has picked some gems to sing on this album.

Perhaps my favorite track on North By South is Claire’s haunting version of Lynn Miles’ “Black Flowers,” whose narrator is a young mother whose husband was recently killed in a coal mine accident. As I’ve mentioned before, “Black Flowers” is one of the best coal mining songs of recent years. 

Other favorites include Old Man Luedecke’s “Kingdom Come,” an infectious melody that has Claire’s voice weaving in and around virtuoso playing by the likes of Béla Fleck on banjo, Bryan McDowell on fiddle, and David Grier on guitar; “Molly May,” J.P. Cormier’s seafaring ballad; Willie P. Bennett’s lovely “Andrew’s Waltz”; “Empty Train,” the compelling title track from David Francey’s latest album; and “All the Diamonds in This World,” Bruce Cockburn’s gentle song of spiritual belief.

“In all honesty, this collection of Canadian songs only touches the tip of the iceberg,” writes Claire in the liner notes. So, hopefully, this is just the first in a series of North By South albums by Claire Lynch.

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--Mike Regenstreif

The Laws – Try Love

THE LAWS
Try Love
JML Music
www.thelaws.ca

I first encountered John and Michele Law – or The Laws as they later became known – back in 2000 when they sent me a copy of their first album, Estimated Time of Arrival. I enjoyed the CD, heard a lot of promise in them and their songs, and played it quite a bit on the radio show. Then, on May 31, 2001, they zipped into Montreal and we had a nice visit on the radio that included some fine live performances.

They’ve now released Try Love, their sixth album, a CD that goes a long way toward fulfilling the promise that I heard a decade ago. Their songwriting is strong (all but one of the songs is credited as co-written by John and Michele), their harmonies are exquisite, and their arrangements, which draw on folk, country and bluegrass influences, and are built on John’s guitar and Michele’s bass, are very tasteful. The only sideman is producer J.P. Cormier who variously adds keyboards, percussion, guitar, banjo and mandolin.

The album opens with the sweet duet, “I Believe in You.” With its references to love at first sight, music and the road, I would guess the song is a tribute to the Laws’ relationship and to the travelling musicians’ life they lead.

Among my other favourite tracks are “Rebel Cowboy Dream,” which Michele sings from the perspective of woman left behind by a man who left to pursue an impossible dream and now lives hand-to-mouth “picking up gigs a s a rodeo clown” and maybe spending the night with “what’s left when last call comes around,” and “Who’s Keeping Score,” a western swing tune that could almost be a response from the guy with the rebel cowboy dream.

Another favourite is their version of the Gordon Lightfoot classic “Wherefore and Why” that has Michele singing lead on top of straight-ahead bluegrass arrangement featuring some excellent banjo and mandolin playing by J.P. (One of J.P. Cormier’s best albums, by the way, is The Long River, his tribute album to Gordon Lightfoot.) The trio – John, Michele and J.P. – are back in full bluegrass mode on “Beer Mountain Rag,” the album’s lone instrumental.

--Mike Regenstreif