Appleseed Records - APR CD 1106
Available from Appleseed Records.
This is the final installment in Peggy's "home trilogy" of recent
recordings for Appleseed, following 2003's Heading For Home and 2005's Love
Call Me Home. It consists for the most part of newly-recorded versions of some
of Peggy's favourite traditional (or near-traditional) folksongs from the US
and UK, to which 12-track sequence is appended the beautiful, poignant, reflective
self-penned title track, which forms the most fitting conclusion to (and consummation
of) the trilogy that one could imagine. It's a deeply personal composition (how
could it be otherwise, with lines like "The first time ever I saw his face,
his heart became my own"?), and yet its sentiments and experiences also
can be seen to have an embracingly universal import; this aspect, together with
its very simplicity of expression, renders it profoundly moving. As for the
traditional material, well these new renditions are uniformly superlative and
often intriguing; not only do we get here the voice of a master interpreter
of these songs of many years' standing, one who loves and knows the songs in
depth and clearly truly understands them, but Peggy's also a lady who has immense
experience of actually thinking about these songs and carefully choosing the
ideal versions for her to perform. Not least with regard to the tunes she uses:
a case in point is Molly Bond, which Peggy sings unaccompanied here, to a tune
which conveys the intrinsic eeriness of the ballad and is commendably far removed
from the significantly sweeter "usual" melody, while conversely her
chosen tune for Newlyn Town is sweeter and more plaintive than the "usual"
one for this broadside. In fact, some of the tunes Peggy calls into service
here were new to me, and these prove especially intensely rewarding and refreshing.
Peggy's choice of songs is an interesting one by any standards, containing as
it does variants of the fairly well-known (Home Dearie Home, Hang Me, Roving
Gambler, Little Birdie) alongside other material which, though not exactly obscure,
can be regarded more as the province of the hardened folksong buff (the Texas
holler Dink's Song and the industrial complaint Let Them Wear Their Watches
Fine, for instance). Aside from Peggy's own excellent performances, the songs
are also blessed with beautifully considered yet spontaneous-sounding down-home-style
backings courtesy of Cary Findley, Calum and Neill MacColl, John Herrmann, Rosemary
Lackey and Vollie McKenzie (in varying permutations), and a further contributing
factor in the success of the whole enterprise must surely be the sympathetic
yet upfront production by Calum himself. Not to mention the ingenuity of the
at times uncannily simple instrumental arrangements (special mention for the
ghostly drone-enhanced concertina-and-harmonium backing for O The Wind And The
Rain and the unusual use of slide-guitar on the Napoleon ballad). This is an
exceptionally lovely release; in fact, the whole trilogy has proved eminently
treasurable - thanks, Peggy, for everything.
David Kidman
NetRhythms
January 2008
http://www.netrhythms.co.uk/reviews.html#peggy
It's really unfortunate that Peggy Seeger never got the same attention as her half brother. I know people will call this blasphemy, but I think they are fairly on par: both genius songwriters, genius players, and, well, essentially play the same songs. Younger than Pete by 16 years, and Mike by a few less, Peggy was born into music: musical parents, musical brothers, and a legacy to hold up.
She did well, let me tell you. Bring Me Home is the third in the "Home" trilogy: three albums worth of songs she learned when she was young, and re-imagined. She doesn't rely on fancy technology to make her music sound good. Most of the tracks star only her and her 5 string banjo or acoustic guitar, just how folk should be. "Hang Me" holds banjo playing that is a step up from phenomenal, and "Molly Bond" is strictly acapella, showcasing Seeger's slightly shaking voice which only adds more color to these recordings. I honestly cannot get enough of this!
The John Shelton Ivey List # 313
****Shelton's Single of the Week: "Peacock Street"****
While Peggy Seeger was active as an artist as early as the 1950s,
and while she played a vital role within the traditional faction of the folk
revival, she seems to have recorded infrequently until recent years. Beginning
in 2000, however, she has released a steady stream of albums on Appleseed, a
folk label aptly suited for her bare-bones, traditional style. Many of Bring
Me Home's songs, "Dink's Song," "Wagoner's Lad," and "O
the Wind and Rain," will be familiar to fans of traditional music. As to
why she has remained committed to these golden folk oldies, she comments in
the liner notes: "These old songs...I wouldn't know how to live without
them. I don't choose the songs for these albums - they choose me." In fact,
Seeger's style and choice of material has changed very little since the 1950s
(and she has always clung tighter to strict tradition than her half-brother
Pete Seeger). The arrangements are very simple on Bring Me Home, acoustic guitars,
banjos, and harmonium, allowing Seeger's vocals to hold the center. What makes
Bring Me Home more fascinating than the average traditional album is that Seeger
and a few other musicians proceed with relaxed confidence: they easily fall
into the moment, allowing each song to unfold naturally. This easy-flowing confidence
makes Bring Me Home easy to like. (4-1/2 stars out of 5)
Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
All Music Guide
http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3bfwxzlhld0e
Bring Me Home represents the conclusion of Peggy Seeger’s “Home Trilogy” of CDs (see Heading for Home and Love Call Me Home…both available from Appleseed).
Seeger has long been a staple of American and British Folk Music. Her first recording was released by Folkways Records in 1955! “bring me home” is a haunting collection of songs that feature minimal instrumentation (mostly banjo, guitar, and concertina), and a couple of a cappella cuts. Seeger’s voice is a bit rough around the edges, but I think this serves to make the songs seem more real and immediate.
The dozen songs on the CD are mostly traditional versions of timeless situations…deserving chaps headed for the gallows (“Hang Me” and Newlyn Town”)…wandering lovers (“Dink’s Song”, “Roving Gambler”)…lost love (“Molly Bond” where the young girl is mistaken for a swan and slain by a bowshot from her lover (used to happen all the time in days of old). You have to check out Seeger’s liner notes for the old chestnut “O the Wind and the Rain”…”Sister drowning sister, brother stabbing brother, fathers burning their daughters at the stake, mothers strangling their babies…ah, family life!”
The CD closes with the lovely and very personal title track…a gentle tribute to her extended family including her parents, half-brother Pete Seeger, brother Mike Seeger, husband Ewan MacColl, and her current partner, Irish vocalist Irene Piper-Scott. Backing musicians include her sons Callum and Neill. “bring me home” is a solid effort from one of the most respected folk musicians. At 73, she is still going strong with plans for a couple of CD releases in 2008, a concert tour, and academia (she’s a visiting professor of songwriting at Northeastern U in Boston.
Bob Olsen
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mike Jurkovic
These songs have been with Peggy Seeger her whole life. She has sung at the gallows (Hang Me, Newly Town) and she has known the women who rarely return from the no-gooder's charm (Roving Gambler). She has been acquainted with Molly Bond and Dink (Dink's Song).
As in the previous releases which make up the Home triology - Heading For Home (2003) and Love Call Me Home (2005) - her ageless and unaffected voice is accompanied by sparse, yet superior, instrumental support, namely her own banjo, guitar, and concertina. Son and producer Calum MacColl also enters the mix on guitar and harmonium as does other son Neill MacColl on autoharp and mandolin.
Track List:
Produced by Calum MacColl
David N. Pyles
Copyright 2008 Peterborough Folk Music Society
Back to tying up her home trilogy after a detour with her
great birthday concert recording last year, the grande dame for the first family
of folk music does not disappoint. Once you pass 70, you might not be as concerned
with being an engineer as you once were, but you are concerned with comfort
in your surroundings. The view of Seeger’s vision of home rounds out the
trilogy nicely. When taken with the two preceding sets, this is a pretty grand
contemporary folk statement. With a gentle message and touch, Seeger knows that
love can take you home again, even when some of the songs here make you want
to run as far and as fast as you can from there.
Chris Spector
Editor and Publisher
Midwest Record
January 3, 2008
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Copyright© 2002 Real People's Music
This page last updated:
February 21, 2008