I spent today buying household items that I had
neglected for many years before finally having to admit they needed replacing.
Despite all that, it has been a pretty nice Saturday. Now that the chores are
over I plan to reward myself in what remains in the afternoon by exploring some
music, starting with this review.
Disc 1219 is… Seaway
Artist: David
Francey and Mike Ford
Year of Release: 2009
What’s up with the Cover? Some kind of freighter sits
tranquilly in some water body. Not a lot of landmarks to provide clues as to
where we are, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest it is the Saint
Lawrence Seaway.
How I Came To Know It: I read a review of a later album
of David Francey’s in Penguin Egg magazine. This started me on a joyful journey
through his back catalogue. “Seaway” was one of the ports of call.
How It Stacks Up: I have 10 David Francey albums, but only this
one shares a billing with fellow Canadian folk singers Mike Ford. Ford has
equal billing and equal contributions making “Seaway” a collaborative project.
Consequently, I won’t stack it up against Francey’s other 9 albums.
Ratings: 3 stars
“Seaway” is a folk album devoted entirely to working
on freighters in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. This is a lot of
music about one very specific experience, but for the most part David Francey
and Mike Ford manage to pull it off.
The album was the result of Ford and Francey
spending two weeks aboard the MV Algoville and writing about their experiences.
At its best the experience is wonderfully immersive, and at its worse it feels
like some kind of CBC after-school special intent on educating you about Canadian
history. I love my country but sometimes we can become a bit too self-absorbed in
ensuring all of our art reflects on some aspect of our history, rather than
just focusing on making the best art possible.
On “Seaway” felt a bit preachy, but mostly Francey
and Ford demonstrate a deep, abiding and honest love for these stories. They
provide a positive and powerful voice for the those who work thankless jobs up
and down the St. Lawrence. Sometimes this work is overly romanticized, but
mostly you just get a sense of respect for folks who put in long days in hard
conditions.
This album is a love letter to the working man. The
Captain gets some time, but the perspectives are mostly the everyday worker:
the engineer, the cargo loader, the labourer and the school boy who dreams of
one day being one of them. Many of the
stories are about actual people Ford and Francey met, and reading about them in
the liner notes made me enjoy the songs that much more.
I didn’t like that the album was 16 songs long,
which is too long for any album. Adding to my frustration was that 4 of the 8
David Francey songs appear on his earlier albums, meaning I paid for them
twice. They fit thematically, and they are new versions, but they aren’t
sufficiently different to make it worth it.
On the plus side having Mike Ford’s vocals and songs
alternating through the record works well. Francey has a lovely Scottish brogue
in his singing, and Ford’s lighter more airy vocals provided a good contrast,
and keep you engaged.
In addition to the more traditional sea chanty
songs, Ford throws in some fairly ambitious decisions. “There’s No Rush” has steel drums and a Caribbean feel to it, and “21st Century Great Lake
Navigators” answers the oft-asked question “what would happen if you took a
Canadian folk song, turned it into a rap, and then sang it through a telephone
receiver?” I’m sure you’ve all asked yourself this question as well. The result
is…surprisingly OK. Most hilarious line…
“It’s a seaway, it’s
a freeway
Moving the goods
like a mega-mega e-Bay.”
Yeah – it is pretty nerdy, but also kind of fun. It
is this kind of song that shows Ford’s pop-humour roots (he was once in the
nineties band Moxy Fruvous).
Near the end of the record, Ford channels Gordon
Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” with “The Bottom of the Great Lakes” a song that honours all the wrecks and
souls lost sailing the treacherous great lakes.
The album ends with “All Lights Burning Bright,” a line Francey lifts from the ship’s
log entry near the end of their time aboard the MV Algoville. My joy for the
song was lessened with the knowledge that it was a repeat from his 2007 album “Right
of Passage” but it is still a good song by any measure, with a rolling rhythm reminiscent
of the sea and a story that shows the quiet pride in piloting a large ship
through shallow waters.
“Seaway” is a good record, marred at times by its obsession
with educating its listeners rather than letting the art speak for itself.
However, the love for its subject matter shines through and for the most part
allows you to overlook its faults.
Best
tracks: Banks of
the Seaway, the Chief Engineer, There’s No Rush, Ashtabula, The Bottom of the
Great Lakes, All Lights Burning Bright.
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