I have finished my Christmas
shopping and I’m feeling very much in the spirit of the season. It was fun engaging with people at stores and
in check-out lines and I’m feeling relaxed and happy to be a part of the human
race. Sure we’ve got our faults, but we’re
not so bad overall. Try to remember that
as you maneuver through crowded streets and malls over the next ten days.
Disc 576 is…. Song Dog
Artist: Jimmy
Rankin
Year of Release: 2001
What’s up with the Cover? Jimmy plays
guitar. Someone should tell him that the
fret hand actually needs to be on the guitar to make the chord work.
How I Came To Know It: I had been a fan of the Rankin Family for some time
when I saw Jimmy Rankin’s video for the song, “Followed Her Around” on CMT.
I liked it, and given my previous experience with the Rankins decided to
give him a chance.
How It Stacks Up: I have three of Jimmy Rankin’s solo albums. Originally, I had ranked “Handmade” as the best. “Handmade” does have my favourite Jimmy
Rankin song, “Colorado” but having
listened to “Song Dog” again, I have to say overall it is the better record, so
I’m putting it first and bumping “Handmade” down to second.
Since
this completes this artist in my collection, tradition dictates a quick listing,
in order of preference:
- Song
Dog: 4 stars (reviewed right
here).
- Handmade: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 130).
- Edge
of Day: 2 stars (reviewed at
Disc 509).
Rating: 4 stars
If you ever listen to the Rankin
Family albums and wish that there was less sing-song Celtic traditionalism, and
more of Jimmy Rankin’s contemporary folk compositions, then “Song Dog” will
definitely appeal to you.
Sister Cookie Rankin’s pretty
voice is still present on a number of tracks, but only as background vocals, filling
out the songs with touches of colour to the upper range of the melody. This is definitely Jimmy Rankin’s baby, and
it his vocal, pure and purposeful, which carries the album.
When I first heard this record, it
caused me to go back into the Rankin Family catalogue and listen to the songs
that he is featured on. Each of those
old albums has a Jimmy Rankin original like “Your Boat’s Lost at Sea,” “The
Ballad of Malcolm Murray” or “Let it
Go,” and when I look back at my reviews of those albums, they are
consistently some of my favourite songs on those records. “Song Dog” is basically
an entire album of this type of song, which combine the sights and sounds of
Atlantic Canada with an introspective style that borders on confessional.
The album is dedicated to John
Morris Rankin, who had died tragically in a car accident the year before, and
many of the songs feel like Jimmy’s attempt to come to terms with the loss. On “Wasted” this is particularly acute, a
gorgeous song about drowning your sorrows with booze and bad habits. I don’t know if this song is about John
Morris, but it is hard not to think about him when Jimmy sings:
“I’d trade all of the fine life
Everything I’ve tasted
Just to have you near, just to have you near
Instead I’m wasted.”
Other songs cover lost love, and
while living up to the exceptional “Colorado”
on “Handmade” is a tall order, “Midnight
Angel” and “Stoned Blue” come
damn close.
Jimmy brings in the talents of fellow
Cape Bretoner Gordie Sampson’s musical talents on a number of tracks to good
effect. Sampson’s amazing work on the bouzouki
on the instrumental “We’ll Carry on
(Prelude)” is an absolute joy to listen to, and sets the emotional tone for
the entire record. Sampson is worth
checking out as a solo artist as well, and I even reviewed his album “Sunburn” back
at Disc 173. Check him out.
“Drunk and Crucified” and “Tripper”
are the social conscience of the album, the former a snapshot of a homeless man
in the cold, and the latter a character study that reminds us that even
hardened criminals were once just kids like us, with dreams of their own that sadly
never came true.
The guitar and piano work on this
album are amazing, and Rankin lets his finger picking bring out the melody and his
strumming patterns to add resonance, blending them artfully together. Electric guitar is used for flavour in places,
but like sister Cookie’s background vocals care is taken to ensure it doesn’t overwhelm
the album’s rootsy sound.
Lyrically, the record has many
high points, although they work best with Jimmy’s exceptional phrasing and
delivery. Internal rhyme helps as well. It may be an old trick, but that’s because it
works so well.
The exception would be “Lighthouse Heart” which is schmaltzy and
forced. “I wanna be your lighthouse keeper/I wanna be your beacon in the dark”
is a clumsily delivered metaphor and the song pushes the point home a bit too
hard. The tune is pretty though, as
Jimmy has a great ear on where a song should go for maximum emotional impact,
all the while staying in fairly conventional three and four chord progressions.
I came to this record liking the
Rankin Family already, but even if you don’t, this record is a different beast
and you shouldn’t write it off. “Song
Dog” is a deeply honest record from an artist who clearly had plenty to say as
a solo act that he could only partly accomplish as part of the Rankin Family
band. It is an explosion of his solo
talent, and while it isn’t perfect, it deserves to be considered a classic in
the Canadian folk genre for years to come.
Best tracks: Followed Her
Around, Midnight Angel, Drunk & Crucified, Wasted, We’ll Carry On
(Prelude), This is the Hour, We’ll Carry On, Stoned Blue
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