Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Malvina Reynolds

It's not often I listen to folk music, but this has really caught my ear.
Issued by the enigmatic and esoteric Omni Corporation, it's an extended version of her John Hammond-produced LP, "Malvina Reynolds Sings The Truth", which first appeared on Columbia in 1967, and it really is excellent. She seems to have been quite a woman.
At times her voice sounds cracked and parched, at other times she gets some real fire and sass going. She can really make that guitar ring, too, in a way that reminds me of Leadbelly at times.
And yes, the lyrics are laden with mid 60s social concern, but she writes a mean line when she wants to, as in "The Devil's Baptizin'". The added live tracks were recorded between 1965 and 1977- but they show that she could still cut it, even aged 77.
Some samples of her music are available here, though sadly it doesn't include any of the tunes she wrote for "Sesame Street".
There some sort of circular irony at work when you consider her best-known tune, "Little Boxes", now gets regular airing as a TV show theme, but at least it's the theme for a show about subverting suburbia. I think she would have appreciated that.

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