Customer Reviews

Password

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An album of rare beauty in both content and execution, Password reveals the enduring quality of American folk and blues themes when interpreted by an artist who's dedicated his life to playing them. Geoff Muldaur weaves the depth of this old music through the troubled realities of today with the authority of a master storyteller, a Native Elder, passing history to the next generation. 'Kitchen Door Blues'--A gentle acoustic delta-style tune, sad yet humorous, is textured lovingly with bottleneck guitar by David Lindley. 'Drop Down Mama'--Classic Sleepy John Estes rendered by Geoff & friends with tastefully predominant fiddle by Richard Greene. 'At The Christmas Ball'--Delightful old holiday song featuring the voice of Clare Muldaur, who sounds eerily similar to Maria Muldaur. 'Wait 'Til I Put On My Robe'--Gospel in the old style as Geoff's vocals blend with the harmonies of the McGarrigle sisters to deliver the message with honesty and humility. 'Some Of These Days'--An melancholy old Charlie Patton song done tenderly and fleshed out with a very nice electric guitar solo by Billy Watts. 'Mary Of The Wild Moors'--An Irish ballad of love, family, and loss, simple and finely crafted, with lovely fiddling. 'Trouble Soon Be Over'--Geoff remakes this 'Blind Willie Johnson' composition into very listenable contemporary gospel, somewhat reminiscent of Ry Cooder's work in the same genre. 'Light Rain'--One of Geoff Muldaur's peers, Eric Von Schmidt, wrote this number and it's masterfully played here with all the delicate shading that the lyrics imply. 'Prairie Lullaby'--Written in the early 1930s by Billy Hill, and previously recorded by Geoff on his, and Maria's, 1967 'Pottery Pie' album, to be perfectly redone here 33 years later with the added bonus of Geoff's wonderful cowboy yodel ending. 'K.C. Moan'--Always extraordinary, John Sebastian's harmonica playing mixes here with jug, fiddle, lap guitar, guitar, banjo, and vocal harmonies to enrich this slow burning jug band lament. 'Beautiful Isle Of Somewhere'--This timeless longing for something more showcases the subtle strength of Geoff's uncommon voice among the accompaniment of violin, clarinet, bassoon, and french horn. 'Got To Find Blind Lemon Part Two'--Geoff, alone with his guitar, continues his search for Blind Lemon Jefferson, so poignantly begun on the previous album 'The Secret Handshake', in order that he might honor Blind Lemon's one request, to "see that my grave is kept clean". A sweet haunting Muldaur original befitting the end of this fine album which pays tribute to, and honors, all that came before.

I first heard Geoff Muldaur in the late 60's with the Jim Kweskin jug band. I sort of lost track of him for a long time. I started noticing the critical acclaim for Secret Handshake, got it and fell in love with it. I was very happy to find there is a sequel to it.

The record has a similar mix of gospel, blues and country. He does K. C. Moan from the old jug band days. He has John Sebastian on harmonica and Fritz Richmond on jug. Richard Greene plays fiddle on a few cuts and David Lindly helps make "Kitchen Door Blues" rock.

I think the most telling thing about Geoff Muldaur to me was when I was listening to him in my living room and my friend, Muriel Anderson, was visiting. She has been national fingerpicking champion and featured performer at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention. She has an awesome ear and I often have this or that playing when she is over. When she heard Geoff Maldaur she dashed to the stereo and picked up the CD saying "who is this?" She said: "this is pleasant" - she has never reacted that way to any music I have played before or since.

Geoff is in a plane by himself, more that just a fabulous musician but a musical treasurehouse.

I have loved Geoff Muldaur's playing since I was a teenager. Never got to see him play anywhere, but had (and still have) the Kweskin albums, and Geoff's Sleepy Man Blues album. I learned my first open-tuned guitar pieces from Geoff. Then there was nothing from him for years. Secret Handshake came along, and now Password.

Geoff's voice has gotten sweeter, with the same passion of years ago. I love every tune on this CD. The duet with daughter Clare, the yodeling in Prairie Lullabye, the uplifting Kitchen Door Blues, the beautiful When I Put On My Robe with the McGarrigles, the hypnotic Light Rain - each song has something very special going on. Richard Greene on fiddle, John Sebastian on harp, Dave Alvin on high-strung, Fritz Richmond on bass, and Geoff on guitar - does it get any better than this?? Not hardly!

This CD is absolutely beautiful. Most of all I love Kitchen Door Blues. It easily makes my favorites list. It's one of those songs you don't listen all the time so it doesn't lose its magic; like Simon & Garfunkel's version of Silent Night. This is definitely a CD worth having.

Since my youth I have had an ear for roots music, whether I was conscious of that fact or not. The origin of that interest first centered on the blues, then early rock and roll and later, with the folk revival of the early 1960's, folk music. I have often wondered about the source of this interest. I am, and have always been a city boy, and an Eastern city boy at that. Nevertheless, over time I have come to appreciate many more forms of roots music than in my youth. The subject of the following review is an example.

Geoff Muldaur took almost two decades off from the hurly-burly of traveling the old folk circuit. When I saw him at a coffeehouse upon his return to the scene I asked him what the folk revival of the 1960's was all about. He said it was about being able to play three chords to get the girls to hang around you. Fair enough. I KNOW I took my dates at the time to coffeehouses for somewhat the same reason. I guess it always comes down to that. Kudos to Freud.

Seriously though, Geoff Muldaur was and is about lots more than three chords. He has developed a style that reflects the maturation of his voice and of his interests. And beside that he has always, even in the crazy days of the 1960's, taken a serious attitude to the way that he interprets a song. And furthermore has a very deep knowledge of all sorts of music. Every time I think I know most of the artists in the blues genre he, at a concert, will throw out one more name that I have 'missed'. Example, "At The Christmas Ball" is an old Bessie Smith novelty tune. Geoff gives it his own twist. He likewise does that on "Drop Down Mama" the old Sleepy John Estes version of the tune (I think) and on fellow old time folkie Eric Von Schmidt's "Light Rain". Enough said. Listen.