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No Song No Supper: Sugar Hill Singer-Songwriters Dish It Up
Sugar Hill Records SUG-CD 1072
The hardest thing about reviewing this album was listening to the full fourteen tracks. That's because the opening four tracks are just so good I kept pushing the replay button to listen to them again but eventually the telephone rang and number five on the roster, Jimmy Murphy, managed to sneak through the speakers. I pushed replay again! Eventually I made through to the end to hear good ol' Tim O'Brien rattling out Nellie Kane. I was about to start over again when I realised I had gone without food or water for several days, the dog was howling at the moon, the little 'uns were crawling around unkempt and uncared for, the post lay unopened and cheques unbanked …
Well, maybe not, but you get the idea. In short, this is a collection of contemporary Americana that will fix itself in your soul. Those opening four tracks - Scott Miller's Daddy Raised A Boy, Townes Van Zandt's live Waitin' Round To Die, The Gourds' outrageous life-affirming Ants On The Melon and Guy Clark growling Let It Roll - just soften up your defences for what it is to follow. Some names may be familiar to you - Peter Rowan, Terry Allen and Robert Earl Keen, along with the backing players Jerry Douglas and Ricky Scaggs - whilst others may prove to be a joyful discovery. Mississippi writer and self-confessed country addict Larry Brown's liner notes are a good read. Importantly too, as the CD is about songwriters, the presentation of the lyrics in the booklet is very clear. As you expect with a sampler, the original album sources are specified and it works … I've already ordered The Gourds' Cow Fish Fowl or Pig and Guy Clarke's Keepers.
Paul Saunders - March 2003
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Folk & Acoustic
