Transitional Treasures
Mark D. Prouse | Riverdale (Bronx), NY | 07/03/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"A quick little story: I once met Ian Tyson at a hotel restaurant in Taos, New Mexico, where a sculptor who knew him introduced me. Tyson was having his dinner, so my friend and I only spoke with him very briefly. Mr. Tyson was in town to do a show at that hotel's ballroom a little later that same evening, and of course, we had tickets. During the course of our very brief conversation I couldn't help but gush about some of my favorite music that he and his former wife and musical partner had created so many years earlier. I mentioned how much I loved all of the Vanguard albums, but that the first one I had ever heard had been the later MGM record, THE LOVIN' SOUND. Mr. Tyson's face visibly drooped. We moved on; later, my friend explained that this was Tyson's least favorite record and that he actually hated it and wished it was not out there to tarnish an otherwise fine body of work. Some of us are our own harshest critics...
THE LOVIN' SOUND does have its charms, but I can sort of see why Tyson doesn't care for it. It is almost a pop record, and it belongs in neither the folk-folk/rock category with the Vanguard classics, or the later, more country-leaning records, THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD and YOU WERE ON MY MIND (the latter is one I'm still hoping will eventually see a CD reissue), and certainly not the entire cowboy music canon of Tyson's great solo career. But because it was the first vinyl album I ever owned by Ian & Sylvia, I have a sentimental attachment to it. "Windy Weather" is almost a jazz piece, while "National Hotel" is an amusing, old-timey tune with a vaudeville flavor. The other songs are harder to pin down, stylistically, and hover somewhere between folk and pop, with the beautiful "Where Did All The Love Go" and Johnny Cash's "Big River" headed in a decidedly country direction. "Hang On To A Dream" is my favorite song on the original LP, and their version of "Reason To Believe" tops any other rendition of the song that I've heard. According to the booklet, THE LOVIN' SOUND was recorded before the expiration of their contract with Vanguard, so Ian & Sylvia did one more studio record for that label, a very country oriented affair, appropriately titled NASHVILLE. That came together during the same period of time in which The Byrds created their breakthrough country-rock album SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO. Ian & Sylvia, Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie all made pilgrimages to Nashville to record albums when the rest of the folk acts were gravitating towards rock, fading into obscurity, or vanishing altogether. In retrospect, these acts can be seen as pretty cutting edge. Even Bob Dylan hopped onto the country bandwagon with his NASHVILLE SKYLINE album. In this stellar company, Ian & Sylvia were way ahead of the curve that headed eventually toward what became known as "alt.country." The current stars of the genre owe the above roster of folk pioneers a debt of gratitude, which, indeed, the more knowledgeable among them freely admit.
Next came Ian & Sylvia's second album for MGM, FULL CIRCLE, which continued down the country music path, and sealed their fate with what Sylvia calls "the Folk Nazis," who just couldn't bear the sight of an electric or pedal steel guitar on stage, and went "running for the exits!" In fact, it was during these few years when I think both singer/songwriters determined that they had finally come back to their roots and home. Country music had always been popular in Canada, and they had grown up listening to it. After their marriage and artistic partnership ended, they both stayed in the country genre. Tyson had the bigger, more successful career and all of his albums are worth investigating. FULL CIRCLE features some odd bedfellows, though. "I Learned From Leah" is really lovely and features some gorgeous pedal steel work, but then we have an amazing folk-rock epic with changing tempos called "Stories He'd Tell," and "Jickson Johnson" is a terrifying folk tale of robbery, abduction and murder, that has been done in many versions by several American and British folk acts through the years under various titles. It's a real nail-biter. There is a primo version of Dylan's "Tears Of Rage," too, so you can see that FULL CIRCLE, even with it's distinctive country-styled instrumentation is a rather eclectic project. In conclusion, LOVIN' SOUND and FULL CIRCLE are quite different, yet make an illuminating pair.
"
Reissue of the MGM tracks
J. Lewis | Lake Oswego, OR United States | 03/09/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This set appears to combine the two albums Ian and Sylvia recorded for MGM after leaving Vanguard. While you can still hear the folk influence, there are clear pop influences as well, particularly in "Sunday", which I used as the theme for a television program in the early seventies."Reason to Believe" is the best cover I've heard of the Tim Hardin song--"If I listened long enough to you/I'd find a way to believe that it's all true/Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried/Still I look to find a reason to believe"--recently covered by Rod Stewart.There's also great humor in "National Hotel" and a wistful love song to their child in "Mr. Spoons". This may be a bit more for Ian and Sylvia true believers than their folk era tunes, but it's a great collection."
A lot of music for the money and it doesn't sound dated to m
lighten_up_already2 | Kirkland, WA USA | 02/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this just to get "Lovin' Sound" which was a big hit in the United States when it was released. I have the 45 that my father bought back then. In fact, I bought this just to play that tune for him on a remastered CD (I assume) through a good stereo so he could hear all the detail he'd never heard before.
However, I ended up liking the whole disc much more than I thought I would. These two were good. Sylvia's voice is beautiful, more beautiful then most of the whiney guitar strumming coffehouse rock chicks of today.
So, why not give it a try? I'm not into folk and I like it. If you're into folk music you should love this stuff I would think."
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1