Old Music
I took along several of my old cassettes to listen to on the drive from Grande Prairie to Medford. Many of them, I hadn’t heard in over ten years, so I wanted to see if I still liked them.
I found that Terry Scott Taylor’s A Briefing for the Ascent was still great, even after all this time. (I notice that this page has annotations for all the songs!)
Daniel Lanois’ first album, Acadie is an eclectic blend of styles, all with the Lanois atmosphere I first heard on U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, and I enjoyed it on this listen as much as I did when I first heard it.
Tom Waits’ Blue Valentine is still gripping nighttime listening.
Los Lobos’ Will the Wolf Survive? is still fun.
The 77s’ self-titled album was still good, though not quite as good as I’d remembered.
Love and War by Robert Vaughn and the Shadows was still interesting, but … a bit too much the same throughout and altogether too bombastic.
There was a time when (I must confess) I used to love Resurrection Band, enough that I went to JPUSA in Chicago when I was around 18. On this trip, I fastforwarded through Colors and Mommy Don’t Love Daddy Anymore, listening to at least a bit of each song. The only ones I could really stand on this listen were “The Struggle” from Colors and “The Chair,” “The Crossing,” and “Mommy Don’t Love Daddy Anymore” from the album of that name.
I also have to admit that R. E. M.’s Document, which I loved when I first heard it, grates on me now.
But the real soundtrack for our move, the music we listened to over and over and over again, starting with my trip to the border to get my work permit and continuing throughout our packing, was the glorious singing of Lizz Wright on Salt, her first album, and Dreaming Wide Awake, her second.
Favourites? “Salt,” “Fire,” and “Stop,” but as soon as I list them I realize there are more that I like. She has an amazing voice, and I’d listen to her sing almost anything. Thanks, Jeff Overstreet, for recommending her!