Customer Reviews

Ruby's Torch

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"These are gorgeous, string-rich arrangements, and Griffith's performance is compelling. Never the most polished chanteuse, she radiates earnestness, the once-chirrupy voice given a mellow timbre by the years." Paul Taylor

This CD for Nancy Griffith is the most eclectic grouping of wonderfully written and sung 'torch' songs( A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love)Wikipedia. She borrows from others and adds her own. The marvelous 'Blue Moon" orchestra provides the sound that shows these songs are beautifully written and the production restrained, with piano, acoustic guitar and, of course, strings which together makes this album 'one for the ages'. She laments lost love, night cabarets and waiting for 'the one to come along'.

Three of these songs are by Tom Waits, the cover song:

'Ruby's Arms'- this is such a rich song of longing

'Grapefruit Moon'- "one star shining,more than I can hide"-a song of inspiration.

'Please Call me Baby'- a song of break-ups and make-ups.

'Late Night Grande Hotel'-"All my life I've left my troubles by the door
'Cos leaving is all I've ever known before'- song of leaving and loving.

'In The Wee Small Hours'- Frnak Sinatra's song and sung with grace and style "When your lonely heart has learned its lesson. You'd be hers if only she would call."

"Drops From The Faucet'- A song of leaving=And... as I'm waitin' I wonder why and where...And what went wrong..But this song don't tell no lies..It was just a quick good-bye, yeah.

Jimmy Webb and Irish singer Donal Longh each have a song, and the best, the very best song,'In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning' is sung with the just the right tone and rhythm and sound. Frank Sinatra would be pleased. 'Late Night At Grande Hotel', Nanci's own song, sums up the feeling of wanting and need and good-bye.

Paul Taylor in his review gave me a laugh, but how true his remarks are; "Grown men will turn to blancmange at first hearing of Griffith's lushly-orchestrated version of the break-up ballad, Ruby's Arms. "

Highly, highly recommended. prisrob 11/24/06

Nanci is a magical musical chamaleon. Each album is unique and personal. The latest, Ruby's Torch, gives us original interpretations of other's songs, including three Tom Waits songs and new performances of her own. Whenever Nanci performs someone else's music, it is no perfunctory cover. It means something personal and that special magic comes through. Her own magnificent Brave Companion of the Road shines most brightly as she captures the loneliness of life on the road. And then there is the jewel "Late Night Grand Hotel" which begins with the lines "Working on a Morning Flight to Anywhere but Here" Nanci captures the essence of desperation, loneliness, with the longing to escape to something better. This is a more personal and sparse version of the gem, which works perfectly. She includes a tribute to her mom "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," which was her mother's favorite song. The loneliness and longing of the song is captured so well by Nanci. The personal meaning to Nanci adds the poignancy of her delivery. I have had the album for one day and and it has not left my CD player. There is no one like Nanci when it comes to songs of loneliness and longing. Her personal and original interpretations give you inspiration and help you through the most difficlut times.

Nanci Grifftih's 'Ruby's Torch' seems a miconceived project. Nanci is not a natural torch singer, nor do most of these songs conform to conventional understandings of 'torch songs'. Her version of one of the outstanding songs of this genre, 'Wee Small Hours', is successful, but scarcely departs from the version recorded on 'Clock Without Hands'. Something similar could be said about 'Drops From the Faucet', and 'Brave Companion': indeed, the subdued and intimate version of the latter on 'Storms' is more compelling. The three Tom Waits songs are pleasant listening, but the originals convey much more authenticity of feeling.

I have all Nanci's albums and, while conceding that some have flaws, feel that all represent considerable achievement. The new album, despite being blessed with Nanci's distinctive sweet, evocative voice, is a disappointment

You HAVE to buy this CD. The arrangements are so rich and beautiful and Nanci's voice has taken on a deeper timber. It gives the songs even more feeling. The first two tracks, In My Dreams and If These Walls Could Speak are two of the most devastatingly beautiful songs I have ever heard, from Nanci Griffith or anyone else. Truly a phenomenal album.

I have to confess, this isn't quite what I was expecting when I heard Nanci Griffith was making an album of torch songs. That did seem like a pretty good fit for her, and I'm not sure exactly what I did expect, but not this. Which is perhaps why it took me a few listens before I found myself enjoying it. But first impressions can be wrong, and it's definitely grown on me.

For a heavily orchestrated set, there are still moments of more characteristic spareness. This is especially noticeable in the beautiful opening track, "When I Dream." It features waves of soaring strings, but also moments of just Nanci and her guitar between them, and the mix works remarkably well. To varying degrees, that happens again and again throughout the album. There are a number of other standout songs along the way, particularly the three from Tom Waits: "Ruby's Arms," "Grapefruit Moon," and "Please Call Me, Baby." (Waits might seem like an unlikely source for torch songs, but here as always, his songs are far more versatile than his own recordings would have you think.)

As is often the case, we are also treated to a couple of reworkings of her own songs, and "Brave Companion of the Road" has never sounded better. I'm less impressed with the updating of "Late Night Grande Hotel," if only because the original was already so brilliant - and torch-y enough in its own right. Still, it's a natural fit for this set. So is "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," which fits much better here than it did on the Clock Without Hands album. (I haven't listened to that one in so long that I can't tell if this is the same recording or not. I'm guessing it's probably not, since she has changed labels since then. To be fair, I seem to recall reading that she only included it on that set because it was her mother's favorite song and she was ill at the time.) Finally, "Drops from the Faucet" might be the best closing track on any of her albums, and it's not quite like anything else she's ever done.

It's not perfect. "Bluer than Blue" is a bit too pop for my tastes, and its contemporary style doesn't quite fit with the overall sound of the album in my opinion. But overall, it's a great set, traditional and original all at once, from a songstress who can usually be counted on for that.

Again, Nanci Griffith's unique voice shines on her latest outing. Actually, she could probably sing the Alphabet Song and make it complex, sensitive, and powerful. She truly is an unique and classic artist in a catagory all by herself.

Nanci is not a torch singer--this was an unfortunate decision to make this album. It is not what the genre tag suggests--alternative country, texas music--it is another feeble attempt at pop. This listener longs for Nanci's early days.

While I remain a fan of Nanci's earlier work, I must admit I do like "Ruby's Torch." The more I play it, the more I like it. It's a vast improvement over her previous outing.

Excellent music. Once again Nanci Griffith comes up with a first rate work .

Prime Cuts: Late Night Grande Hotel, When I Dream, Ruby's Arms

With the en masse of high profile acts (ranging from Barry Manilow to Rod Stewart to Michael Bolton) going back to the vaults to resurrect the standards of yore, what makes Griffith's latest attempt of covers essential? Unlike her peers, Griffith makes no attempt to circumscribe her Texan drawl and she brings to many of these old chestnuts a folk-like ambience that comes across as intimately tepid. Further, her choice of material centers around the theme of unrequited love. With her world weary vocals laced with a callously girlish delicacy, she offers a lucid perspecuity to the complexities of heartache that is dolorously alluring. Moreover, instead of just tackling other people's work, Griffith has unabashedly re-visited two entries from her own catalog, namely "Late Night Grande Hotel" and "Brave Companion of the Road." Backed by her Blue Moon Orchestra and recalling her 1999 "Dust Bowl Symphony," this is a string-laden ballad-hued album. However, unlike her 1999 predecessor, the backings do not overwhelm. Rather, the gentle strings and sesnitive piano complement her, making her vocals the cynosure of this project.

Of the covers, most breathtaking is Griffith's take of Sandy Mason's "When I Dream." An ode of longing for true love, Griffith strips this gorgeous ballad from the artifical sheen of professionalism from Crystal Gayle's original rendition, making the desire for love even more engaging and real. Similarly, Griffith's read of Charles Goodrum's "Bluer Than Blue," far surpasses Michael Johnson's somehow monolithic read by giving it a relatively more animated delivery. While on Tom Waits' "Ruby's Arms," Griffith tells the lugubrious tale of a lover leaving not as a bystander, but she sings as if it were from a page in her diary. As a tribute to her mother, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," a sober ballad of loneliness often associated with Frank Sinatra, gets the full-on sepia toned lush that conjures up an old fashioned charm so befitting of the song's tenor.

When hearing her two originals side by side with these classics, Griffith's compositions do not sound malapropos. The title track of her 1991 CD "Late Night Grande Hotel," a track written by Griffith in the loneliness of touring, still sends out pangs of ache when she sings "I feel like Garbo in this late night grande hotel/Cause living alone is all I've ever done well." While she does not deviate too much from her original read of "Brave Companion of the Road," this time, the added strings bring out a warm affinity for those battling life alone. However, why she would reprise Jimmy Webb's "If These Walls Could Speak" of which she had had already recorded earlier is behooving.

Over the years, Griffith has had gone through multi-permutations: from folk to country to pop to now torch, but she has never been averse to leave her own mark. Unlike lesser artists, Griffith does not just go through the motions and tackle these paeans with a karoke professionalism. Rather, she infuses each note with heartfelt emotions and her ingrained ardor garned from her years of singing songs that deal with the heart. And unlike others who are bashful about including their own compositions with these evergreeens, Griffith's showcases her own craftsmanship vis-à-vis her own enduring classics that stand toe to toe with these masterpieces. In short, when Griffith burns the torch, these songs light up with fervor and affability.