Various Artists
“Parkinsong Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope”
(Ryko 2004) Available: May 11th 2004 * * * *
Anybody
reading Americana UK’s reviews pages over the last couple of years
will no doubt be aware that it’s been an almost impossible task to try
and find a bad americana compilation, and “Parkinsong Volume One,” a
compilation put together to raise awareness around the crippling
condition Parkinson’s Disease, is no exception to that rule. Inspired
by the courage of Selma Litowitz, a retired high school English
teacher in Lawrence, NJ who’s suffered from the disease for the last
fifteen years, her son and daughters enlisted the help of both lesser
known and high profile artists (including Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby
and Graham Nash) along with production by Lloyd Maines (father of
Dixie Chick Natalie) to come up with this thirty eight track
collection of songs from the best of today’s singer songwriter fold in
the US. Much of the material here has been released before, but the
selections are so good and broad that most people are bound to find
much to discover alongside tracks they’re already familiar with – Dar
Williams’ “The One Who Knows” and Neko Case’s “I Wish I Was the Moon”
are particular highlights among many other strong cuts from the likes
of Caitlin Cary, Lucy Kaplansky, Alejandro Escovedo, Catie Curtis, Kim
Richey, Amy Rigby, Tom Russell and Utah Carol. There are also
previously unreleased new recordings from Chuck Prophet, Dave Alvin
and a beautifully understated track from Steve Forbert, “It’s a Shame
You Know.” The cause is good, the tunes are superb, and if that’s not
enough there’s over two hours of it to wander through. Music for
strength and hope.
www.parkinsong.com
MW
