On the heels of a movie soundtrack, we get a record that is the soundtrack to…a book. Strange, but true.
Disc 1852 is…Blazing: Hell is Naked Soundtrack
Artist: Mean Mary
Year of Release: 2017
What’s up with the Cover? Just words. Considering one of the underlying themes to this record is the observation that “a woman would run naked into the street to save her baby, but a man would stop to put on his pants first,” this cover is an opportunity missed.
How I Came To Know It: In a very short window of time I have become a pretty serious Mean Mary fan. This was just me digging into her back catalogue.
How It Stacks Up: I have six Mean Mary albums, and I’m on the lookout for two more. I love every single one of the six I have, but something had to be last. I’m going to put “Blazing” in at #6. Competition is fierce.
Ratings: 4 stars
“Blazing” is an oddity I’m not sure I’ve encountered before – a soundtrack to a book. In this case, a book called “Hell is Naked” co-authored by Mean Mary (aka Mary James) and her mother Jean. The pair write a lot of books together, and a cursory overview suggests the characters make it into many of Mean Mary’s songs. This is the only time I am aware of where a whole album is dedicated to a book also written by the songwriter.
I have not read “Hell is Naked” – and apart from some overviews I’ve read (that include the observation I quote in “What’s Up with the Cover?”) – I don’t know much about it. The good news is you don’t have to know anything about the book to enjoy this record. It is just more of Mean Mary doing what she does best – writing and singing great songs and playing the banjo with skill and artistry few can match.
Let’s start with that banjo playing, which is transcendent. It stupefies me to listen, and made writing this review difficult, because when Mary is deep in her instrument the beauty is overwhelming. I can’t do anything but sit and let it soak over me. I had to turn the volume down just to concentrate on writing. And I hated doing it, too.
The album is replete with examples of banjo at its absolute finest, but the best is “Rainy”, a mid-tempo instrumental appearing at Track Two. “Rainy” is the light splash of a warm summer rain, and trills along in a way that makes you want to dance in that rain. You will get water in your shoes and – against all previous experience – you will find the experience joyful.
This song calmed and lifted my spirit in a way that reminded me of early experiences on first hearing the fiddle of Capercaillie’s Charlie McKerron. My heart wondering, “can this be happening, and please let it happen for a little longer.” “Rainy” is sadly over in 3:12, but I took solace that I had it on recording, there for whenever I needed it.
I’ll now go back to the start, and the opening track, “Harlequin” on which Mean Mary eschews banjo for fiddle and guitar. The song has a bluesy barroom sway that introduces you to the titular character in a way that is soaked in sin and mystery. One of many great lines that draws you in by only teasing what may be going on…
“Bogged down in the Tinsel Town of sin
Harlequin, dressed up as paladin
Confident—but not confiding
You fool the world by hiding—what’s within”
Cool.
The album showcases Mean Mary’s considerable range of style. “Harlequin” is all sway and smoke, and songs like “Sugar Creek Mountain Rush” are pure bluegrass jump n’ holler, and just as compelling.
Mary also delivers a devout and deeply moving version of “Rock of Ages” arranged with just vocals and banjo. Think the banjo can’t properly deliver a solemn hymn? Think again.
All of the songs benefit from Mean Mary’s compelling warbling tone. Her vocals are like the ocean: on the surface a a myriad of tiny variations and light touches that make every note unique, and underneath an inexorable power that flows over and through you.
The album’s final song, “I Face Somewhere” has a “final credits/triumphant last scene” feel that befits the end of the book’s “soundtrack”. It’s the first and only time we feature an electric guitar (played by Mary) and it is used to create a rock n’ roll groove that drives off into the distance in the rarely welcomed fade out. Great stuff.
I hope one day to read the book “Hell is Naked”. The CD case has excerpts from it alongside each song and the writing looks top grade. But even if I never get to it I’ll be glad to have the record, which stands tall and inspiring, independent of any other artistic medium that might be associated with it.
Best tracks: Harlequin, Rainy, Face Somewhere, Sugar Creek Mountain Rush, Rock of Ages, I Face Somewhere
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