Various Artists
(429)
Subtitled "A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village," The Village pays tribute to the early sixties folk revival, the era of Dylan, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil and Eric Anderson. The songs tend to be familiar-five Dylan compositions, traditionals like "Wayfaring Stranger" and "He Was A Friend Of Mine," and populist favorites like "Both Sides Now" and "Guantanamera." Many of the artists are one or two musical generations removed from the originals; a handful are young enough to be children of that generation. Sad to say, it's a disappointment.
Lucinda Williams barely enunciates her way through "Positively 4th Street," a song she covered to better ends earlier in her career. Rickie Lee Jones tries to turn "Subterranean Homesick Blues" into some sort of boho-funk thing; John Oates drains "He Was A Friend Of Mine" of any empathy by making it a jaunty faux-gospel mandolin strut (where's Daryl Hall when you need him?); Bruce Hornsby keeps threatening to turn "Darlin' Be Home Soon" into "The Way It Is." At least Los Lobos sound like they take "Guantanamera" seriously when they could have easily played it for laughs.
Some redemption comes at the end of the thirteen-track collection: Shelby Lynne ("Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") and Cowboy Junkies ("Once I Was") need only to sing softly and slowly to find meaning in their songs. Amos Lee ("Little Bit Of Rain") and Rocco DeLuca ("The Ballad Of Hollis Brown") also keep it simple and direct - DeLuca is solo with a Resonator guitar. But there's little here that sheds new light on the originals, much less the era, aside from Rachael Yamagata, who actually wrings some life out of the oft-covered "Both Sides Now," slowly building it into something at once orchestral and atmospheric. If The Village were vinyl - as would appropriate for the source material - side two would be the keeper.
Standout Tracks: "Both Sides Now," "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" STEVE KLINGE
