For those who are new (or may have forgotten), for the past six years or
so I’ve been alternating between a “new to me” album (rule # 5) and a random
album “from the stacks”. The “new to me”
section is also random, as I select it from the backlog of albums that I haven’t
put away yet. I never put an album away until it gets a minimum of three listens,
with two of those listens happening consecutively. At any give time there are
between 60 and 100 albums waiting for this event.
My first two albums by this next artist came out of this “new” experience back in 2017, but the last one made it into the stacks where it happily lurked until now. Don’t feel bad for it though, I gave it more than a few listens over the past five years. I was glad to give it yet another before writing this review.
Disc 1574 is…. Together You and I
Artist: Barton Carroll
Year of Release: 2010
What’s up with the Cover? Barton is pictured in the upper right. I don’t know who that woman is in the lower left (my guess is guest vocalist Anna-Lisa Notter, who is co-lead singer on a couple of the tunes).
There are two nifty features of this album cover. The first is that Barton Carroll signed it for me! I ordered it direct through his website. The second is that the case is made out of brown construction paper and folded up into a flat box with a tab to open it, rather than the usual centre-fold system. How do I like it? It is…OK.
How I Came To Know It: I read about a different one of Carroll’s albums (“Avery County, I Am Bound To You” reviewed at Disc 1073) on a list of obscure folk albums to check out. This led me to the rest of his discography, and here we are.
How It Stacks Up: I have three Barton Carroll albums. “Together You and I” comes in at #2. Here’s the full list
- Avery County, I Am
Bound To You:
3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1073)
- Together You and I: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
- Love & War: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1058)
Ratings: 3 stars, but almost 4
Barton Carroll is one of folk music’s best kept secrets, and that’s a damned shame. As near as I can tell he hasn’t made an album since 2013, and the internet was singularly unhelpful in telling me why. And I searched sites for ten minutes; an eternity when it comes to web searches.
The worst part is that Carroll was just getting better. “Together You and I” is his second last record and demonstrates his songwriting continuing to grow and mature as he mixes in other influences, converting each of them into his stripped-down folk arrangements, and quavering, confessional vocal style.
Carroll is at his best when he is telling stories, and “Together You and I” features some great ones. Often understated, Carroll’s narratives are small in scope, but rich in emotion and character. The best song on the record (and quite possibly the greatest song Carroll ever recorded) is “Shadowman”. It is a tale of sibling rivalry that walks us through the life of two brothers, one perpetually in the shadow of the other, seething with a combination of envy and admiration.
“Shadowman” is one of those songs that is so powerful that I find it hard to listen to it – even in the background – while writing. I just want to stop typing and listen every time. The opening stanza sets the stage:
“I laid in the
schoolyard with my face in the sand
There were bruises on my neck from an angry bully's hand
But when you came out to meet him, he was running like a deer
And you said, "Your brother's here."
And you'd think I'd be happy you were looking out for me
But how great you were and small I was, was all that I could see
And a younger brother's envy bored its way into my heart
And it was just a start”
From here it gets darker, as the elder brother is a hero in war, marries the woman his younger brother loves. The tale ends in both tragedy and epiphany. I’d tell you about it, but I encourage you to instead go listen.
…OK, then. Back and recovered, are we? Well, there are plenty more where that came from. “The Poor Boy Can’t Dance” is an up-tempo moment that flutters just like the heart of a boy asking a girl he fancies to dance for the first time.
And less innocent, but no less full of love, the title track, which is about a couple’s enduring love as he serves time, and she waits patiently for him to get out of the joint and go dig up his buried loot and so they can run off together and “slide off the edge of the world”. The song is a duet with the aforementioned Anna-Lisa Notter, who is equal parts sweetness and tough.
Carroll branches out from this narrative style in places, embracing some basic blues riffs and even a cover of a Sound of Music number with “Something Good.” Listening to the latter I knew I didn’t like it, but couldn’t place why. Once I realized it was from “Sound of Music” it all fell into place. Blech.
When Carroll does branch out stylistically, he never abandons his storytelling nature, singing in a light and gentle way that will not blow down any doors, but suits the songs well. If you want vocal gymnastics this won’t be for you, but if you’re interested in what a singer has to say as much as how well they sing it, you will find yourself pleasantly drawn into these tales.
Best tracks: The Poor Boy Can’t Dance, Shadowman, Let’s Get On With the Illusion, Together You and I
No comments:
Post a Comment