I've been very negligent of this blog of late, but I don't apologize. Life has just been putting the squeeze on me and the blog gets shoved down the priority list. Lately I've been in a Kate Wolf mood. I was reviewing her stuff on my Ipod and realized I only had one single Kate Wolf song amongst all my thousands. It happened to be Here in California, my favorite of hers, but it was really inexcusable that there wasn't more. I've been living off my local library's collection of her music for years. They have a number of her recordings including at least 2 of here wonderful Rhino compilations. I've looked into buying some of the compilations but was put off by the price. They're out of print and prices are sky rocketing. Then something serendipitous happened, Father's Day came along! Lucky for me 2 of my kids gave me Itunes gift cards so I hurried over to the Itunes store the next day and down loaded Gold in California: A Retrospective of Recordings and Looking Back at You, loaded them onto my Ipod and have been listening to them since. As I've mentioned in the past, I prefer to buy hard copies so I can play them at work, but the price for these 2 recordings was too tempting to not go the Itunes route. The first album consists of 20 of her most famous songs and cost $12.99. The second is just the opposite in content, being made up largely of obscure songs and covers. It has 10 tracks and cost $6.99. Not a bad way to beef up my Kate Wolf library that was all but non-existent!
I first became acquainted with Kate's work when I checked out from the library Nancy Griffith's masterful collection title Other Voices Other Rooms. It includes a cover of one of Kate's coolest songs, Across the Great Divide. Thanks to hearing it first there, I have a slight preference for Nancy's version. I also like that she eliminates the proposition "in" from the line: "It's gone away (in) yesterday". Nancy's take on it seems a little more direct and to the point, but both versions are great. Another album that pointed me to Kate's work came by way of Kathy Mattea. She contributed Give Yourself To Love on the tribute album: Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf. That's another great album that I need to get a copy of. Again, I've been living off the library. Lucinda Williams gives a haunting rendition of Here in California that may be the most riveting track on the album.
Kate is another one of youmy low voiced female folk singers. I love her melancholy delivery and the way she bends the pitch to make some of her lyrics even more haunting. But what really makes Kate world class is her song writing. She takes you on a trip every time. It's a total sensory experience. She really has an amazing talent for describing her world. I've never been to Norther California, but after listening to her I feel an affinity for the place, at least the off the beaten path parts where her music takes you. It's a dusty, nostalgic journey. One moment you're in "the golden rolling hills of California" the next thing you know she's telling you "There's no gold. I thought I'd warn ya and the hills turn brown in the summertime". Pretty cool stuff!
Sadly, Kate left us in December of 1986 at the age of 44, a victim of leukemia.
Of the 2 albums I just bought, Gold in California: A Retrospective of Recordings is far superior to
Looking Back at You. The first showcases Kate's singing and song writing at its best. The latter is a nice peek at early Kate performing live but since it's mainly covers half of her magic is missing. It's still a great addition if you're a die-hard fan, but probably not an album for the casual fan.
Ratings:
Gold in California: A Retrospective of Recordings 5 stars
Looking Back at You 3 stars
Here's Kate singing one of her best tunes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udRFQOsrjpU
The multi talented girl on harmonica and mandolin is Nina Gerber. She regularly tours with Karla Bonoff these days. Catch them if they come your way!
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