A Review of the Marley's Ghost CD
"Spooked"
"Spooked"
by Marley's Ghost
copyright 2006
Sage Arts Records
http://www.marleysghost.com
http://www.sagearts.com
This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 5/06
"Kevin and Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews"
Take wonderful harmonies, dip them in an Applachia pool, add equal
parts country western and cowboy influence, burnish with elements of a religious
tent revival--devil included--and you have the peripatetic sound of
Marley's Ghost. This is a group that acknowledges no musical
boundaries, morphing from genre to genre and offering music as full
as that of a
big city orchestra.
Imagine fiddle, guitar, bouzouki, banjo and mandolin, supplemented by
tuba, jews harp, pedal steel, piano, accordion, trumpet, saxophone,
organ and drums. Listening to Marley's Ghost is
a hoot, because what will appear next on the musical menu is delightfully indeterminable.
The highlight cuts:
- "Get Off The Track" is an engaging abolitionist-emancipation Civil War song
- "High Walls" enticingly depicts a defiant gunslinger
- With a delightful twist at the end, "Last Words" is a companion piece to Cheryl Wheeler's "Estate Sale"
- "Palms Of Victory" has verses reminiscent of Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More"
- Roy Rogers or Gene Autry can easily be pictured astride a horse singing "Cowboy Lullaby"
- "The Ballad Of Johnny Hallyday" is a quirky French road trip song, culminating in attending a concert of the French Elvis
- How did Johnny "Get Rhythm" Cash ever miss
recording "There's Religion In Rhythm"? This offering could be from
Rudy Vallee's songbook.
The foremost exhibit of Marley Ghost's musical anarchy is the
traditional spiritual "Old Time Religion." But check out the closing verses of this version:
"...Let us worship Zarathustra
Just the way we used to
I'm a Zarathustra booster
And that's good enough for me
Let us worship Aphrodite
She's naughty and she's flighty
And she doesn't wear a nightie
And that's good enough for me..."
Oh, and Robert Crumb did the instantly recognizable artwork for the release.
There was the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Now, we have the Marley's Ghost Experience.
Track List:
- Sail Away, Ladies (3:04)
- Get Off The Track (2:56)
- The Wicked Messenger (3:41)
- High Walls (3:14)
- Last Words (3:21)
- Palms Of Victory (3:33)
- Old Time Religion (2:57)
- The Girl With The Blue Dress On/Sally In The Garden (3:14)
- Cowboy Lullaby (3:36)
- The Ballad Of Johnny Hallyday (4:10)
- Love, Not reason (3:04)
- There's Religion In Rhythm (2:34)
- Seamen's Hymn (1:05)
Ownership, copyright and title of this folk music CD review belongs to
me, Kevin
McCarthy. Ownership, copyright and title are not transferable or
assignable to you or other parties regardless of how or if you or other
parties use, copy, save, backup, store, retrieve, transmit, display, publish,
modify or share the CD review in whole or in part. Please read the "Terms,
Conditions and Disclaimers" section on my web site for additional
information about using, quoting, or reprinting this CD review.
Send inquiries to: celticfolkmusic@icogitate.com.
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