Sleepless

Kate Rusby | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 17, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Compass Records
• ASIN: B00000JWCN
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cobbler's Daughter

2. I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love This Night

3. The Fairest of All Yarrow

4. The Unquiet Grave

5. Sho Heen

6. Sweet Bride

7. All God's Angels

8. The Wild Goose

9. The Duke and the Tinker

10. Our Town

11. The Sleepless Sailor

12. Cow Song [*]

13. Botany Bay [*]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Anyone expecting a stylistic leap the second time out for this bright talent will be disappointed with Sleepless. The mystery, however, is how anyone could listen to Kate Rusby's stunning debut, Hourglass, and wish that she'd abandon a sound that fits her like a custom-cut bodice. The Yorkshire, England-based classicist is clearly committed to the traditional folk music of her homeland, and she inhabits the music with preternatural confidence. First and foremost, she has a rare knack for making arcane phraseology seem vibrant. Witness the first album's "He took up his sword and he went to fight / Fa la lanky down dilly." Or, from this sophomore effort: "She's hit him on the head / The young man fell like lead / Quite dead / Upon the floor he lay." She dances over the words as if tipsy on some magical potion. Like its predecessor, Sleepless is marked by warm and supple playing. Among the smart originals and adapted traditionals is one contemporary selection--Iris DeMent's "Our Town." Appropriate, for as DeMent resuscitates old-time American hill music with unselfconscious élan, so does Rusby make the timeworn music of the British Isles come alive. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than "Hourglass", December 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sleepless (Audio CD)

Kate Rusby is a new voice to me, but her music is familiar. I have to admit I was swayed by reviews on this site that said her first cd was better than this one. I disagree. Though the first is totally above average--"A Rose in April" and "I am Stretched on Your Grave" total standouts--I feel the material on this cd is stronger. "Sho Heen" is haunting, "The Sleepless Sailor" a sing-along favorite, "Cowsong" begins soft and gets your toe tapping, makes you want to "fall down in the green grass," like the lyrics. But make no mistake, this is a very mellow cd, for those cold winter nights, by firelight and candlelight. Or a lazy Sunday morning, sunlight streaming through the curtains.

P.S. If you like Kate, you'll like Connie Dover (begin with "Wishing Well").

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this album!, February 5, 2004

By 

Christopher Bonds - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleepless (Audio CD)

This is my first experience with the voice of Kate Rusby. Repeated listenings confirmed for me that there is something new to hear each time. That is the mark of a good album. Because I enjoyed this album so much, I got most of her other CDs as well as her concert DVD. I will only comment on one song, "Wild Goose," which is my favorite. In fact I loved it so much I went hunting for sources and found out (as I suspected) that it is a sea shanty (a "halyard song" to be precise), sometimes known as "Ranzo" or "Ranzo Ray." Those words appear in the chorus, as another reviewer mentioned. Of course Kate does her own thing with it, and the results give me a lump in the throat. It's a wonderful thing to know how a song can live many lives, from long-ago sailors singing as they work the sails and ropes, to my living room in 2004, and still have a powerful meaning. Thanks, Kate.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Album - Quirky & Fun, June 20, 2000

By 

S. Kirk - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleepless (Audio CD)

I freely admit to being one whose tastes run more towards the pierced-navel gazing sort of folk music, so I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this CD. I bought it because of Kate's amazing cover of Iris Dement's "Our Town" and have come to love the other tunes here as well. Kate's voice is stunning and the arrangements are simple (nothing like those of Loreena McKennitt whose music I either find lush and haunting or pretentious and over-the-top, depending on my mood) and, despite the high body count, there is humor to be found throughout. Recommended to all, even to those who believe themselves to have an aversion to traditional folk.