The latest from Marshall Crenshaw is a live/solo acoustic set from his latest tour. I was dissapointed when I missed Crenshaw in Milwaukee a few months ago. I didn't realize that he was just touring alone, but this cd is a good document of these performances. My first reaction to this set was; "Yeah, I like the approach, but...". Crenshaw's music is stylistically simple yet eloquent pop with beautiful harmonies and danceable hooks. Recording many of these previously released songs is a welcome addition to my collection, but I soon had the desire to pull out the "full blown" versions of these tunes after listening to this new release.
I shouldn't be too hard about "I've Suffered..." since Crenshaw is a brilliant song writer and a very capable acoustic guitar player. The first two tracks here are probably my favorites of the bunch. "Television Light" is tightly played and almost coming off like some old folk song. Crenshaw shows his ability to joke and tell stories to the crowd prior to "Endless Sleep". An old 50's tune that Crenshaw would listen to in his father's car when he was growing up, "Endless Sleep" could easily pass as one of Crenshaw's own recordings. "Cynical Girl" is approached with an almost blue-grass feel, much different than the very electric version from his first album. The version here is nice enough, but there is literally too many notes being played here. It kind of takes away some of the fun and simplistic beauty of the original. "T.M.D." is arranged with sparse guitar playing backed with light accordian. What the listener may relize is the beauty of this song is Crenshaw's ability to make a great pop melody with his voice alone. The minimal musical background is just enough to make the song effective. Crenshaw finishes off the cd with three of his bigger hits. "Whenever You're on My Mind" seems to work best of his hits here. The original studio recording is a lush "wall-of-sound" production, but the true heart of this song comes through very well when played alone. It kind of sounds like one of Lennon's demos from the "Rubber Soul" or "Revolver" period. "There She Goes Again" is interesting; a pleasant blues approach added to this slower-tempo version. "Someday Someway" is Marshall Crenshaw's signature tune. Still his most recognizable song, the acoustic approach here still maintains much of the beauty of the original. This song is still very powerful, but I can imagine him adding some slight percussion, like tambourine, and a second acoustic guitar to make this an even better version. Regardless, this is a nice way to finish the cd off.
"I've Suffered for My Art... Now it's Your Turn" is just a clever way of making a different title for "Marshall Crenshaw: Unplugged"! He does a good job in presenting these songs in their raw form, but he does try a little to hard on a few of these tracks here. As a fan of Crenshaw's music, I can still appreciate this release and realize that it must have been a much more enjoyable experience to see these performed live in person. For the casual fan, you may want to stay away from this release and give "Marshall Crenshaw (1rst relase)" or "Field Day" a listen.
