Peter Keane – Rural Electrification

PETER KEANE

Rural Electrification

Littlehat.com

I was a big fan of Peter Keane’s four earlier albums and their subtle mixtures of in-the-tradition originals and interpretations of country blues and folk classics. After about 13 years since his last album, Peter has resurfaced with Rural Electrification, an album that is both a continuation of what he’s done on earlier albums, and a departure.

The album continues where Peter left off as he remains a wonderfully subtle song interpreter. Most of these songs date from the 1920s and ‘30s and he gets to the essence of each song with his superb fingerpicking and easy going singing. Everything you could want in the guitar arrangement – and it’s a solo album, just Peter’s guitar and vocals – is there, and there are no unnecessary vocal gymnastics to distract from the lyrics.

The departure is that Peter played acoustic guitars on his earlier albums and – as hinted at in the album title, Rural Electrification – he’s playing an electric guitar, a rich-sounding Gretsch hollow-body, on this one. Happily, the switch to electric guitar doesn’t mean he’s cranking the volume to 11, adding feedback or weird effects, or rocking out. Mostly, the difference is in a bigger range of tone and some added sustain and reverb. The sound remains as purely musical as on the acoustic guitar. I wouldn’t say I like it more or less than Peter’s acoustic work, it’s just a little different.

Among my favorite tracks are Mississippi John Hurt’s “Nobody’s Dirty Business,” Elizabeth Cotten’s “When I Get Home,” the Mississippi Sheiks’ “Sitting on Top of the World,” Goebel Reeves’ “Hobo’s Lullaby” (which is often cited as Woody Guthrie’s favorite song), and his own “Almost Gone,” the only new song in the 12-song set.

Whether Peter sticks with the electric guitar or goes back to acoustic, or uses both, I do hope it will be much sooner than 13 years when we hear from him again.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Various artists -- Things About Comin' My Way: A tribute to the music of the Mississippi Sheiks

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Things About Comin’ My Way: A tribute to the music of the Mississippi Sheiks
Black Hen
blackhenmusic.com

One of the nice things about being my age is that as a young folkie, I had opportunities to see, in some cases meet, and, in a few cases, even work with, some of the legendary first generation recording artists whose music so influenced everything that came after. One of the artists I got to work with in 1974 as an area co-ordinator (stage manager) at the Mariposa Folk Festival was Sam Chatman, who I believe was about 77 or 78 years old at the time.

Back in the 1920s and ‘30s –- in addition to being a solo blues artist –- Sam often performed and recorded as a member of the Mississippi Sheiks, one of the great African-American string bands. Their biggest hit was “Sitting On Top of the World,” a song that has since become a standard in blues, bluegrass, western swing, folk and even rock repertoires. Sam had one of the most-lined faces I’ve ever seen, but there was so much musical history etched inside each and every one of those lines.

When I met Sam Chatman, he was 35 or 40 years removed from the heyday of the Mississippi Sheiks. And, now, 35 years after that, comes this excellent tribute featuring various artists interpreting 17 of their songs in their own individualistic ways.

I like almost all of these interpretations but some of my favourite tracks include a cool version of “Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down” by Bruce Cockburn that begins with some great fingerpicking blues patterns and builds into a Preservation Hall-style arrangement highlighted by William Carn’s trombone; Del Rey’s take on “We Are Both Feeling Good Right Now,” featuring her goodtime vocals and her ragtime guitar playing interacting with a choir of three clarinets; an arrangement of “The World is Going Wrong,” by Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Sheiks that recalls Geoff’s days in the Jim Kweskin Jug Band; and a faithful version of “Sitting On Top of the World,” by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a great trio at the forefront of the revival in African American stringband music.

Other highlights include tracks by Madeleine Peyroux, John Hammond, the Sojourners, Kelly Joe Phelps and producer Steve Dawson.

--Mike Regenstreif