JESSE WINCHESTER
Anthology
(Castle ESM CD 690)
Despite a near mythical
self-titled debut produced by Robbie Robertson and
aided by Albert Grossman (Dylan’s A-team) Jesse
Winchester has generally speaking faded into the
background more times than the snow falling on his
adopted home of Montreal. His inability to re-enter
the United States for many years due to his lack of
enthusiasm for Vietnam no doubt hampered his profile
but his own diffidence to the trappings of fame also
meant his light got stuck way under a bushel.
Sporadic attempts to promote him left the majority of
his six Bearsville recordings at the back of the
rack. This anthology collects together the majority
of his best tracks from the years 1971-78 in a
user-friendly digital package. Whether it will raise
his profile remains to be seen. This set of great
songs should put him at the top table of U.S.
singer-songwriters alongside Newbury, Hardin et al.
All the requisite credentials are there. Covers from
artists as diverse as The Everly Brothers, Peter
Case, Barrence Whitfield and Emmylou Harris who also
sang backing vocals on one LP. Perhaps because of the
popularity of his songs as material for others his
own recordings fell away until now with a new release
on Sugar Hill imminent. After 1978’s ‘A
Touch on the Rainy Side’ the total recorded
output consisted of the 1981 'Talk Memphis' and
1988’s ‘Humour Me’ plus some backing
vocals and a live track on a Mountain Stage
compilation. He still resides in Montreal despite a
U.S. pardon and shows no sign of residing any nearer
the Nashville that provides the main destination for
his songs. That great debut has never really been
bettered although each album contains hidden gems.
Perhaps this anthology is the best Winchester record
released since that debut. Highlights include the
Todd Rundgren produced ‘Midnight Bus’ that
sparkles with the guitar of Amos Garret and
‘Mississippi on my Mind’ which deserves
classic status as an exile’s lament. The overall
strength of this set suggests that he may well
deserve a better showing on the shelves of Americana
fans. In a rare U.K. interview he was described as
‘one of the very best song-writers you’ll
ever have the privilege of hearing’ - that
sentiment from 1976 still rings true all these years
later.
S.D.B.
KENNY ROBY
Mercury’s blues
(Glitterhouse GRCD 449)
Whiskeytown rose above
self-destructive tendencies as the other Raleigh.
N.C. band Six-String Drag ‘s house collapsed all
around lead singer Roby leaving him alone on the
porch with two solid releases in his hand. Not
wasting time he has launched himself as a solo artist
before the cymbals had stopped ringing. This perhaps
explains the short length of this CD which though
padded out as it is with a Parts I and II still
clocks in at under 40 minutes. Live solo he comes
across as confident, amusing and talented and
although this record isn’t a masterpiece it
suggests a lot more to come. His song-writing has a
genuine depth ranging through influences as diverse
as Randy Newman, the obvious Elvis Costello and a
knowledge of the country back-catalogue that
encompasses pre-war folk and blues as well as
stalwarts like Tubb, Acuff and Owens. Six String Drag
were known to mix ‘The Great Speckled Bird’
into a more power-pop orientated set and the rural
folk-blues line gains ground here.
The sometimes too obvious
Elvis Costello vocal style aside he turns in an
entertaining if somewhat premature disc that points
to a sound future. Best moments include opener
‘Mercury’s Blues’, the swamp-rocking
‘Book of Time’, ‘In a Dress’
where Elvis C. holidays in the Appalachian mountains
and the wonderfully Newman-esque ‘In this
Town’. The amusing live take on ‘Jesus
Tambourine’ seemed to have more bounce than the
recorded version but hats off to Roby for not falling
into the gothic alt-country doldrums and mixing light
and shade. Closer ‘Ace, My Radio &
Baseball’ mixes strong lyrics with hints of the
power of the old band’s performances. A great,
if somewhat clipped, signpost to a future career
which if it doesn’t raise the roof will
certainly be built on some solid foundations.
S.D.B.
