A thinking man's music
Written: Apr 18 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great, thoughtful music
Cons: nothing!
The Bottom Line: This is not pop music and you won't hear it on the radio. But, it's one hell of a good CD, so listen to it anyway! :)
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| alhena's Full Review: Here Comes The Groom - John Wesley Harding |
I remember the first time I saw the video for "Devil in Me", the single from this CD. The music was catchy but it was the humor that got me. "Horns from hell" it said in big letters as the horn section played. Now to me, that was funny.
Anyway, I managed to remember the name and find a copy of the cassette, which I then played almost continually until it finally wore out and got it on CD. For the record, this is the first album I've ever actually purchased on cassette and CD.
So, who is John Wesley Harding, anyway?
John Wesley Harding is a fairly underground artist who plays what he calls, "gangsta folk" -- meaning he is to folk music what gangsta rap is to rap music. If you've never heard of him, you're not alone -- although he has something like 8 or 9 albums already.
He was born Wesley Stace and changed his name to John Wesley Harding based on the Bob Dylan song. He was working on his PhD in Political Science but decided to follow music instead. Thank goodness!
Enough about him, let's get to the music.
I think the thing I like the most about the songs on this CD (and all of Wes' CDs) is that the songs are, for the most part, about something. The lyrics make you think more than, oh, "who let the dogs out?"
Here comes the Groom has 15 tracks, the first of which is the title track. He and his backup band, The Good Liars, play an impressive number of instruments on this CD -- everything from drums, guitars, organs, and pianos to glockenspiel, violin, maracas, Fiddle, and Wah-wah peddle... Each song strikes the right balance and avoids being overproduced.
The songs:
First off, you're not going to hear any of this music on the radio. It just defies conventional classifications -- it's not really pop, or folk, or country, or anything. But it's still good!
Wes wrote all of the songs on the CD, although three of them were co-written. The fifteen songs really run the gamut from rocking to real folky with nothing but a guitar and voice. Some are catchy and some are moody, but they all make you think at least to some degree...
The first few songs, Here Comes the Groom, Cathy's New Clown, and Spaced Cowgirl are catchy tracks, about a pretentious groom, Cathy and her latest no-good boyfriend and a girl who is losing control.
Track 4: Scared of Guns is an anti-gun song. He makes a reference in this song to that protest back in the 60s where the protesters put flowers down the barrels of the guns that the police were pointing at them. It's a pretty straightforward song, "Don't point that thing at me, you know I'm scared of guns." This is one of the louder songs on the CD..
Track 5: You're No Good: A song chastising a guy for being a real slimeball to a girl. "how can you be so greedy and hopeless, she gives you everything but you still want more?... She's an angel and you're a joke" (Wes, do you have some issues here?) This is another one of his catchier tunes.
Track 6: When the Sun Comes Out: a slower tune with lots of organs.. I have no idea what Wes was thinking when he wrote this one. :)
Track 7: The Devil in Me: The devil made me do it! It's not my fault! Whereas this has the potential to be a light topic, the first line in the song is about shooting Kennedy.
Tracks 8, 9 and 10, An Audience With You, Dark Dark Heart and Same Thing Twice are all faster and louder.. very catchy. The last one almost sounds countryish -- it has banjos!
Track 11: Affairs of the Heart: A slow moody song about a romance gone sour. I love this song, the lyrics are just perfectly timed.. "Just me, these six steel strings and you off in Spain, plainly the rain mainly falls down my drain.. Please pick me up and then pull me apart -- that's why I try, hard not to start, these affairs of the heart..." Like I said. I like this one.
Track 12: Nothing I'd Rather Do: Lots of horns and guitars on this track...
Track 13: Things Snowball: Lyric wise, one of the stranger songs on the CD.. It tells someone advice.. It's Wes and Peter Case both singing and playing guitar. very slow and moody. And weird.
Track 14: The Red Rose and the Briar: This is a really long song with Wes playing the guitar and talking about this adventure when he and Rose were driving and the car broke down and then Rose went off..It's kind of an incoherent story but it's enjoyable to listen to.
Track 15: Bastard Son: "Bob Dylan was my father, Joan Baez was my mother, and I'm their Bastard Son." For the last track, Wes returns to a more rocking sound with lots of drums and guitars and keyboards.. and tells his life story. sortof. :)
I believe that tracks 13, 14 and 15 (and possibly 12) were not included in the original LP release and were considered "extra songs" on my cassette copy.
In the liner notes Wes thanks all the people who worked on the CD and then tells the story of how they came up with the name of the CD -- all of the working titles that it had and all that. He ends the liner notes with, "With love, and my best wishes to your families, Wes"
I've always like my musicians to be down to earth and Wes genuinely seems to be. I've actually emailed him a couple of times (he emails back!) and I met him at one of his shows and he's really super in person too. His website, in case you want to investigate more of his music, is wesweb.net. I am only missing one of his CDs (soon to be rectified I hope) and all of his music is good. Whichever one of his CD's I'm listening to at the time is my favorite -- although this one has a special place in my heart since it was my first Wes CD.
Bottom line: I completely recommend this CD to anyone who thinks.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
alhena
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Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 2 members
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