A long weekend is a beautiful
thing. If you are like me and are lucky
enough to be experiencing one right now, take a minute to appreciate it. Also resolve to be particularly nice to all
those people in jobs that have to work.
All those cab drivers, servers, and retail clerks that get paid low
wages to ensure we nine-to-fivers can go for lunch, go shopping or otherwise
entertain ourselves. Treat them well,
and tip them generously.
Disc 515 is…. Self-Titled
Artist: The
Rankin Family
Year of Release: 1989
What’s up with the Cover? As folk covers go, I’ve seen worse. This is basically just a family portrait taken
in a studio. Heather (centre) looks
particularly radiant but what I’m struck by most is that two of the Rankin
family (Raylene and John Morris) are no longer with us; victims of cancer and a
car accident respectively. Damned
sad. To both of them I can only say,
‘fare thee well’.
How I Came To Know It: I was introduced to the Rankin Family in 1990 when I
bought their second album and loved it.
I eagerly cast about for more by them and since they only had two albums
at the time, this was the next thing I bought.
How It Stacks Up: I have six Rankin Family albums, which I think is
all of them. I like them all to varying
degrees, but I must be honest and put their self-titled debut last in terms of
how it stacks up.
Rating: 3 stars.
You
could sum up the Rankin Family’s eponymous debut in one word: cheerful.
In places it is almost too much so, but if you’re going to have a
surfeit of something, cheer seems like as good a thing as any.
I bought
this album very early in my exploration of Celtic folk music, and it was a nice
entry point. The three musical medleys
(the “Piano Medley”, the “Fiddle Medley” and the “Jigging Medley” respectively are a
couple of quick tours through a number of catchy traditional Celtic songs (thirteen
little pieces in all, with a John Morris original, “Hull’s Reel” bringing up the rear of the “Fiddle Medley”).
The
Gaelic tracks are accessible, and both have their titles translated so you will
know what they are about, even if you can’t sing along. “Chi Mi
Na Morbheanna (Mist Covered Mountain)” is down tempo and haunting, and “Mo Run Geal Dileas (My Faithful Fair One)”
is fast and fun. “Mo Run Geal Dileas” is the first track and when I first starting
listening to the album it was the first thing I heard as I walked to work. It put a spring in my step and a smile on my
face.
“Dileas”
(pronounced jee-lass) means faithful, and when Sheila and I went to Scotland in
1996 we met a sheep dog at a highland pub named “Dileas.” I remember that pub well, which was 90%
locals (and given the size of the town, likely 90% of the available locals), a
couple of U.S. sailors from a visiting aircraft carrier that had gotten a bit
farther afield than their fellow servicemen, and us. I usually hate having a dog in a pub, but
when they are as friendly and well behaved as Dileas, I’ll make an exception. Knowing what his name meant because of the
Rankin Family made me feel that much more part of the local crowd. Of course, the Rankins are Canadian (holla!)
not Scots, but being Cape Bretoners their musical connection to Scotland and
Ireland is easy to spot.
Another
song that inspires me to flash a grin is “Mairi’s
Wedding, also traditional. If this
song doesn’t make you want to dance then there’s something wrong with you. Each of the three sisters and brother Jimmy
take their turn singing a verse. They do
this throughout the record, and I would prefer that the stronger voices take
more centre stage on some other songs. That
approach would just seem unkind given the wedding celebration vibe of “Mairi’s Wedding.” John Morris doesn’t sing, but he tags his own
fiddle reel (titled “Michael Rankin’s Reel”)
onto the end of the song. John Morris is
an accomplished fiddle and piano player and his musicality is a big part of the
album’s success.
The
album is also an early demonstration of Jimmy Rankin’s songwriting. Jimmy would later be responsible for many of
the more memorable Rankin Family songs, and after the band went their separate
ways, would release a number of excellent solo albums. At this early stage, his
songwriting prowess is not yet fully developed, and I found songs like “Lonely Island” and “Loving Arms” a bit stilted or trite in places. His best effort on this record is “Roving Gypsy Boy.”
Even so “Roving Gypsy Boy” has some odd
lyrics. Jimmy sings that the gypsy boy “left the high road to live on the low/And
all different kinds that he met there.”
He means that he didn’t pursue monetary wealth, but in Gaelic lore the low
road often refers to being dead, which made for a weird association for
me. Also, while I like this message…
“There’s a lot more to gain from
this living than wealth
There’s a lesson to learn with
devotion
Be kind to all others as well as
yourself
Or you’ll drift like a boat out
on the ocean.”
…isn’t a
boat supposed to drift on the ocean? It seems to serve the rhyme more than the
thought, which is a poetic no no. I
still love the song, though.
The
album can tend a bit away toward being a bit too ‘dear,’ and the ever-present cheerfulness
lifts the spirit, but it doesn’t create enough emotional range. “Lament
of the Irish Immigrant” tries to deliver a bit of despondency, but sung a capella
in such a technically precise manner it feels more like a musical exercise than
a dirge.
Because
of the beautiful harmonies, the early signs of Jimmy Rankin’s musical genius and
the superb musicianship of John Morris Rankin, I bumped this record just north
of three star territory but I still consider it the weakest entry in their
catalogue.
Best tracks: Mo Run Geal Dileas, Mairi’s Wedding, Roving Gypsy
Boy, Chi Mi Na Morbheanna, Fiddle Medley.
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