Spooked
Sage Arts
It’s a meeting of the Americana minds, with Van Dyke Parks — the musical equivalent of Currier & Ives — producing and playing keyboards on the latest effort from one of America’s greatest old-timey bands.
Parks expertly applies myriad techniques gleaned over the years from his production work for the likes of Ry Cooder, Randy Newman and Brian Wilson, resulting in a sonic upgrade of Marley’s Ghost’s unadulterated, front-porch sound.
The opening pair of cuts have a familiar feel: An autoharp-laden “Sail Away Ladies” sounds a lot like George Harrison’s “Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond),” a song from Ringo Starr’s 1973 self-titled album, while the chorus to “Get Off the Track” has an “Old Dan Tucker”-like melody and politically charged lyrics that surely inspired Woody Guthrie.
Other highlights include a version of Bob Dylan’s “Wicked Messenger” that brings its Dock Boggs influence to the fore. “Cowboy Lullaby” rolls all the best parts from the cream of the cowboy-song crop into one neat, sentimental package. And “Love, Not Reason” sounds like it could have been an outtake from the studio half of David Bromberg‘s “How Late’ll Ya Play ‘Til?”
Tracks
1. Sail Away Ladies
2. Get Off The Track
3. Wicked Messenger
4. High Walls
5. Last Words
6. Palms Of Victory
7. Old Time Religion
8. Girl With The Blue Dress On/Sally In The Garden
9. Cowboy Lullaby
10. Ballad Of Johnny Hallyday
11. Love, Not Reason
12. There’s Religion In Rhythm
13. Seaman’s Hymn
14. hidden track
Total time: 42:12
External Links
artist’s link
amazon.com
iTunes Store
