Roustabout, by Charlie Parr (CD on Misplaced Music)

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This record left our Phil feeling ecstatic.

If you're after a history in American early folk and bluegrass music then you have to delve no further than this weeks album of the week by Charlie Parr. Previously only seeing him live had really caught my attention but after 'Roustabout' had been played I decided I was a massive fan. I should have been ages ago but wasn't for some reason. I was probably being contrary or something 'cos everyone else in the office liked him. Humans are stupid like that. This is the most soulful and honest sounding unpretentious music I've heard in a long while. It's 12 tracks in total, 9 are Charlie's penned originals and the others are traditional songs played in the style of said Charlie. Anyone into American folk music will love this. It's done with so much feeling and knowledge about the subject you'd think Charlie was about 100 years old and had been making it for years. Authenticity is the word here. There's some amazing guitar plucking on here which sends shivers down my spine. It's a fantastic album and by far the best I've heard from him (in my opinion). If you're a fan of Charlie Patton and John Fahey you'd probably like this. Even if you like Seasick Steve you'd like this. Note this is about a million times better than him!! Check it funsticks.

What the label says about Roustabout, by Charlie Parr:

LP is limited to 400 copies only. For fans of: authenticity, but see also Doc Boggs, Charlie Patton, John Fahey, Dave Van Ronk, Bukka White and Nick Drake. Charlie Parr’s seventh album of raw, soul-piercing Piedmont-style blues is a true joy to behold. Only three of these twelve finger picked guitar and banjo tracks are traditionals arranged by Parr, but you’d never know it. The feeling, experience and sheer talent ranks Parr’s compositions right up there with the classics. It’s no surprise that he counts among his fans the illustrator R. Crumb and slow-core rockers Low. Charlie’s music has an appeal that spans genres. From old folkies, punks, soccer moms, indie kids to everyone in-between, the authentic voice and utter lack of pretence of the music speaks to everyone. While some may be tempted to class Parr with novelty acts like as Seasick Steve, there is only the most superficial of similarities in their music. He’s considered “one of the most important contemporary protagonists of the American folk tradition” by the Bath International Music Festival, and it’s no surprise. Charlie’s songs are records of the journeys, troubles and experiences of real people. He creates music in the folk and blues tradition of just about anyone you’d find on the Smithsonian’s seminal box-set, the Anthology of American Folk Music, many of the artists within he’s cited as influences.‘God Moves on the Water’, a real standout, is an arrangement of the classic blues track by Blind Willie Johnson describing the horrors experienced by those souls aboard the Titantic as it sunk. The urgency, fear, confusion and also hope of those attempting to escape are all eerily palpable in Parr’s interpretation. To see Charlie Parr perform this track live is an incredible and awe-inspiring thing. Fortunately for us, Mr Parr is planning three tours of the UK and Ireland in 2009, to include stops at the End of the Road Festival in September and the Bath International Music Festival in May.  

Tracklisting:

1. Don’t Send Your Child To War
2. Far Cry From Fargo
3. Walk Around My Bedside
4. Warmin’ By The Devil’s Fire
5. Midnight Has Come And Gone
6. Come Along And See
7. Adrift In Lake Superior At Sunrise
8. Cropduster
9. Last Payday At Coal Creek
10. The B&J Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hole In The Ground
11. Farmer
12. God Moves On The Water

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