Larry Hanks: Reviews

NO HIDING PLACE

Larry Hanks and Deborah Robins

Zippety Whippet Records unnumbered

 

The Boll Weevil / Angelina Baker / Dear Okie / Weave Room Blues / Clara Nolan's Ball / Queen of the Rails / Cotton Mill Girls / There's No Hiding Place Down Here / Gum Tree Canoe / Mississippi River Blues / Green Corn / Nevada Jane / I'm A Long Time Traveling Here Below / Old Black Choo Choo / Let Them Wear Their Watches fine / Orphan Train / Miss the Mississippi and You / Green Door / The Old Woman and the Pig

 

The older I get, the less impressed I am by thousand-notes-a-minute flashy instrumentals and demonstrations of multi-octave vocal abilities. After all, traditional music originated with people who had no choice but to entertain themselves and each other under isolated conditions, with no radio, TV, phonograph or computer. Even talented musicians did not have the leisure to practice an instrument enough to match the mastery of a professional. But the non-professionals could still make powerful music, as demonstrated by this fine recording by Berkeley musicians Larry Hanks and Deborah Robins. This is Home Music at its best — soulful singing accompanied by nothing more complicated than a couple of guitars or a Jew's harp.

 

Larry (bass) and Deborah (alto) have voices that blend beautifully, and they play to this strength by singing together on most of the songs on this album, using traditional harmony. There are no instrumentals, and that's fine by me.

 

We are presented with an interesting choice of songs, mainly about loss, labor and hard times. Some are familiar, and some (such as the beautifully heart-breaking "Nevada Jane") are new to me. It's good that someone has joined the New North Carolina Ramblers in preserving Cotton Mill songs — three of them are here (four if you count "Boll Weevil"), all well performed.

 

In addition to the songs mentioned above, some of my favorites are "Angelina Baker," "Dear Okie," "Queen of the Rails," "Green Corn," and "The Old Woman and the Pig." The concise notes give the origin of each song — I always give extra marks to artists who bother to tell us where their inspirations came from.

 

I strongly recommend that you get this record, pop open a cold one, and pay close attention. Even the sad songs will lift your spirit.

 

To order:

www.larryhanks.com

 

            Lyle Lofgren

            1/3/2011