by Trevor
Raggatt
When
a 23 year old kindergarten teacher from a small town outside of
Austin, Texas gave up her job to record and promote her delicate,
country-tinged folk songs in 1978, she could scarcely imagine that
she would become an icon. Yet here we are nearly thirty years later,
and it’s fair to say that Nanci Griffith has earned herself
a special place in the hearts of those for whom country means more
than tasselled shirts, ten-gallon hats and terrifically naff lyrics.
She’s even managed to coin her very own musical genre with
her self-styled ‘folkabilly’ – a perfect description
of her unique blend of folk storytelling flavoured with the best
of country – all impeccably delivered. Although she’s
still relatively little known in the UK (certainly she’s never
bothered the singles chart compilers), it’s hard to underestimate
her influence on a generation of women singer-songwriters. Griffith
has shown an incredible level of consistency over her fifteen studio
albums; the fact that she’s never really produced a below-par
album that’s not crammed full of interesting words and melodies
makes the job of compiling a buyer’s guide both simple and
very difficult. Simple because you’re tempted to say, “Oh,
just buy any of them! All of them!”; difficult because the
task requires the differentiation and ranking of her music. Oh well,
in for a five and dime, in for a dollar serenade...
CAN'T
LIVE WITHOUT
Flyer,
1994
Arguably her best album, Flyer
is chock full of beautiful songs that, even at their most melancholic,
are infused with hope and strength of spirit. Released after Griffith’s
flirtation with a more mainstream sound on Storms
and Late Night Grande Hotel,
and though unmistakeably contemporary sound (thanks to the production
of Peter Collins, better known for his work with the likes of Rush
and Gary Moore) it retains the country-folk essence that Griffith
excels with. The album also includes some stellar contributions;
Emmylou Harris and the Indigo Girls guest, as do Adam Duritz of
Counting Crows, U2’s Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., REM’s
Peter Buck, The Chieftains, Mark Knopfler and Tony Levin.
Lone
Star State Of Mind, 1987
Griffith’s
first album with MCA proved to be her real breakthrough. As the
title suggests, the approach is firmly rooted in the country sound
she’d been developing since Once
In A Very Blue Moon. Lone
Star State Of Mind stands out for its memorable
tunes and world-class performances. It also features the original
and best recording of the much-covered, From A Distance.
Here, the song glides along with tender piano and gentle guitar.
There’s none of the bombast of the Bette Midler version or
the overbearing saccharine production of Cliff Richard’s rendering.
Other standout tracks include the title track, the beautiful depression-era
ballad Trouble In These Fields and a re-recording of the
title song from her debut, There’s
A Light Beyond These Woods.
PRETTY
DARNED SPECIAL
Other
Voices, Other Rooms, 1993
As
a collection of covers paying tribute to her songwriting heroes,
Griffith’s first album after moving to Elektra was an unusual
but inspired choice, and a welcome return to her folkabilly sound.
The choices take in a diverse range of artists, from Bob Dylan and
Ralph McTell to John Prine and Emmylou Harris. Where Other
Voices... succeeds is the palpable sense of Griffith’s
enjoyment of the material. In fact, so infectious is this feeling
that even the more peculiar choices, like album closer Wimoweh,
seem charming rather than odd.
Last
Of The True Believers, 1986
This last album before her move to MCA shows all the hallmarks of
an artist growing in confidence and maturity. Again, it’s
full of great bluegrass-tinged country-folk tunes performed by Nashville’s
best, many of which have become long-time fan favourites. Standout
tracks include the brilliant title track, Love At The Five &
Dime’s poignant tale of young lovers, More Than A
Whisper, Love’s Found A Shoulder and The
Wing & The Wheel. And, yes, that is Lyle Lovett waltzing
with mega-platinum songwriter, Diane Warren, on the front cover.
Stranger things have happened. my friends.
WORTH
A POP
Storms,
1989
Late
Night Grande Hotel, 1991
The
lack of support (or even appreciation) afforded to her Lone
Star State Of Mind and Little
Love Affairs albums by the Nashville music press
and country music radio prompted a move to MCA’s pop division
in Los Angeles. This led to the two most atypical, mainstream albums
in the Nanci Griffith canon. Whilst their sound is markedly different
from her earlier works, there’s no dearth of great songs;
It’s A Hard Life Wherever You Go and Listen To
The Radio are particular highlights. Storms
employed Eagles producer Glyn Johns and featured guest spots from
former Eagle, Bernie Leadon, Phil Everly and legendary country guitarists
Jerry Donahue and Albert Lee. Late
Night Grande Hotel moved even further from Nashville
in both sound and geography, with the main recording sessions being
held in the UK. The mainstream AOR production by Rod Argent and
Peter van Hook seemed to almost completely divorced many of the
songs from Griffith’s trademark country sound, save for unmistakeable
Texas twang of the vocals. Still, the album stands on its own merits
and features contributions from Tanita Tikaram and Phil Everly.
ALSO
RECOMMENDED
Poet
In My Window (Rounder/Philo, 1992), Once
In A Very Blue Moon (Rounder/Philo, 1994) and Little
Love Affairs (MCA USA, 1988) for classic, early
country-flavoured Griffith. In addition, Other
Voices Too: A Trip Back To Bountiful (Elektra, 1998)
is a worthwhile second set of folkabilly cover tunes and The
Dust Bowl Symphony (Elektra, 1999) is a nice retrospective
collection of songs re-recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra.
LIVING
IT UP
One
Fair Summer Evening, 1988
Winter
Marquee, 2002
These
two live records are quite different prospects. The more recent
Winter Marquee canters
through the back catalogue with able musical muscle from Griffith’s
usual band, the Blue Moon Orchestra, and conveys her live show well.
One Fair Summer Evening
sees the singer in a more exposed setting, with only keyboards,
double bass and harmony vocals as backing. This wonderfully intimate
experience is added to even further by Griffith’s sometimes
rambling musings and twanging Texas narration. Perhaps not one for
the uninitiated, but a little gem of an album for those more accustomed.
FOR
THE FANS
There's
A Light Beyond..., 1978
Blue
Roses From The Moons, 1997
Clock
Without Hands, 2001
Hearts
In Mind, 2004
Griffiths’
debut, There’s A Light Beyond
These Woods, is a fine set of tunes that is only
overshadowed by the quality of what came immediately after, but
should be checked out afterward. Blue
Roses From The Moons is an album which, with the
collaboration of Buddy Holly’s backing band The Crickets and
the Blue Moon Orchestra, should be amazing but somehow falls short.
The two most recent albums, Clock Without
Hands and Hearts In
Mind, are both good, workman-like sets of songs
and, while there’s nothing wrong with them, don’t seem
to hold the magic of the earlier discs.
A TOE IN THE WATER
Complete
MCA Recordings, 2003
There
are numerous compilation albums out there, all of which mine similar
areas of Griffith’s catalogue – notably the MCA years.
But whilst many of these are a good starting point and great value
for money, The Complete MCA Studio
Recordings narrows the options to one. This 2CD
collection, available in many places at single album prices, gathers
together the complete Lone Star State
Of Mind, Little Love
Affairs, Storms
and Late Night Grande Hotel
albums with some rare tracks and B-sides, all of which are generously
remastered. For anyone looking to dive into the oeuvre of Nanci
Griffith, there can’t be a better buy. Snap one up before
MCA comes to its senses and realises what it’s doing! Others
are: The Best Of Nanci Griffith
(MCA, 1993), Wings To Fly & A Place
To Be: An Introduction To Nanci Griffith (MCA/Universal,
2000) and From A Distance: The Very
Best Of Nanci Griffith (MCA, 2002).
