I must confess that when I saw the title of this CD, I was hoping it might signify a new musical beginning, maybe something dark and sinister or even an ounce of angry emoting. Alas, Mr. Gladstone reliably adheres to his pacifist folk, bluegrass and ragtime roots while maintaining his optimistic, humanitarian perspective on people, and life in general.
Along with his uniquely quirky vocal delivery and sometimes overly verbose lyrics, he has a knack for incorporating his droll sense of humour into songs like �Office Tower Blues�, �Wally�s Pre-Owned Automobiles�, �Couch Tomato� and �Nag�.
Brian�s longtime sidekick and co-producer, Tony Quarrington, is obviously more diverse as a lead player, whether his instrument is a guitar, mandolin, banjo or kazoo (performing on all four on �Nag�), and I really should check out his own recordings sometime soon. Tony demonstrates how well these acoustically-based compositions can be transformed to a higher plateau on �A Year in the Valley�, layering a tastefully-played electric guitar with Brian�s acoustic guitar-picking. This is the best song on the CD, where musical progressions are concerned, but I also liked the blues-grass feel of �Office Tower Blues�, where he mentions watching sleazy sales guys and buyer babes �as I collate my life�.
Brian is also joined by Allen Soberman on bass and backing vocals, erstwhile drummer Maureen Brown on percussion and tambourine, Ken Yoshioka on harmonica (�The Flags of Freedom� and �A Time for New Beginnings�), Frank Barth on dobro and Randy Kemph on bass and vocals (�Wally�s Pre-Owned Automobiles� and �Every Day Can Be a Sunny Day�) and Larry Larmand on washtub bass (�Couch Tomato� and �For a Day in the Park�). Laura Fernandez also guests very nicely on backing vocals on several tracks.
Brian adroitly fingerpicks on acoustic guitar and sings the lead vocals on mostly all of the tracks (as well as playing banjo on �Wally�s Pre-Owned Automobiles�), but vocals are dispensed with entirely on the aptly named �Mr. Pick Quick�s Polka� and the flowery �Estrogen�, a song that would have sounded even better with flute accompaniment.
Brian Gladstone describes these recordings as �humble and hopeful�, which pretty much describes his own personality. His love and respect for peace and the beauty of nature will probably always figure as central themes in his songwriting, but sometimes one has to release suppressed emotions to be heard above the rest. Then again, perhaps we could all learn a lesson from him in anger control management, as our modern society needs no additional aggression in its collective and individual behaviour. |
