Customer Reviews

Time Stands Still

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first album by Chris Smither. I came across `Time Stands Still' by accident, I listened to the samples and I was rather partial to his whisky-soaked low tenor, one which seems to have been fashioned by the vagaries of time and circumstances - a bit like my favourite pair of shoes (not the height of fashion, well worn, but soft and extremely comfortable). Instrumental accompaniment is spare and very 'rootsy' - David Goodrich (various electric/acoustic guitars, and occasional piano), Zak Trojano (drums/percussion) and Chris (acoustic guitar and foot tapping). On a couple of tracks, there are some overdubbed light harmony vocals from Chris.


The songs have wonderful lyrics - and Chris's writing often employs a colourful and witty turn of phrase (see Dr. Debra Jan Bibel's earlier review for a few examples). 8 songs are written by Chris and 3 are by other songwriters - a few comments about my favourites :

SURPRISE, SURPRISE (Chris Smither) - A fairly up-tempo topical song, in which Chris makes some wry (and slightly sarcastic) observations about the impact of the banking system meltdown - but why worry?, life's too short.

OLD MAN DOWN (Chris Smither) - A slow blues with a lot of fluent and delicate acoustic guitar picking (including a one minute intro). Listen out too for the percussion, which includes a bass drum thump on the backbeat. Also, in the background, there's some eerie electric guitar (referred to as 'ambient guitar' in the liner notes) weaving in and out. On this track, Chris's voice reminded me a little of Jeffrey Foucault.

IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY (Bob Dylan) - Rhythmically, a lot different to the mid-paced shuffle of the original - here, it's performed as a slow tempo folk-blues. Chris sings a little higher up the scale to give the song an achingly poignant rendition; beautiful acoustic and electric guitar playing.

MINER'S BLUES (Frank Hutchison arr. Chris Smither) - Up-tempo blues with terrific syncopated rhythms. Great playing (acoustic guitar and piano), and it's another track featuring super drumming and percussion.

MADAME GENEVA'S (Mark Knopfler) - A contemporary English folk song with a rather gloomy 19th. century theme; fascinating lyrics, sung with only acoustic guitar/foot tapping as accompaniment. Chris's rendition is quite close to the original.

With almost any album that I buy, there are usually 2 or 3 songs that don't 'grab me' quite as much as the others, the ones here are 'Someone Like Me' and 'I Don't Know' - but, along with all of the other songs on this album, they both feature outstanding lyrics (the latter in particular - sung in the form of a dialogue between an inquisitive child and his/her father).


I think 'Time Stands Still' is a solid album of good music - well written songs (with some exceptional lyrics) and strong performances all round. It won't be my last album by Chris Smither.

Even though this album is not Chris Smither's strongest, there is much to enchant and delight. His songwriting skills certainly are as sharp as ever, and his first five tracks especially, whose poetic lyrics are included in the enclosed booklet, all have some phrases that persist and dwell within: I ain't evil, I'm just bad; My shadow often kicks me from behind; The trickle down will float you up; The wisest answer's one you learned a long ago: I don't know [there is a Zen school dedicated to that one]; See if you can answer your own call. Smither's soft, wistful voice and foot-tapping complement his catchy simple melodies. It is a pleasure to listen to this old guy. His cover of Bob Dylan's It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It takes a Train to Cry is a captivating rendition, a solid example of contemporary folk music; and the cover of Mark Knofler's Madame Geneva's demonstrates the keen influence of traditional British folk styles on Knofler's composition. Smithers has musical support by guitarist David Goodrich and drummer Zak Trojano, but their accompaniment is subdued and add color to the performance. Chris Smither fans will certainly enjoy this lastest opus of wit and simplicity.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Smither broke into Boston's coffeehouse circuit amid the folk revival of the 1960s. Raised on folk and blues classics, he developed a unique finger-picking style and waxed his first albums for the same Poppy label on which Lightnin' Hopkins, Eric Von Schmidt and Doc Watson also recorded. He's performed steadily for over forty years, but his recording career was marked by lengthy stretches of substance abuse that sidelined his studio work for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He warmed back up to full-time recording with 1991's live release, Another Way to Find You, and recommenced studio work with 1993's superb Happier Blue.

His latest album, his fourteenth overall, is a textbook of his art. Smither sticks to acoustic guitar, with David Goodrich playing atmospheric electric, and Zak Trojano adding sparse percussion. The mix of instruments provides a fuller experience than a solo guitar, yet leaves the spotlight on Smither's emotive playing. His voice has the raspy edge of Tom Waits but without the guttural bowery bottom end. He growls the half-sung/half-spoken original "I Told You So" like Mark Knopfler, who's own "Madame Geneva's" closes the album with the sound of traditional English folk. Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" is reworked from the boozy, shambling backing of the 1965 original and sung in a haggard voice set to contemplative guitar.

Smither's picking is everywhere, and in his hands, the guitar is an uncommonly flexible instrument. His strings provide an insistently rolling engine beneath "Don't Call Me Stranger," create pinpoint flecks of melody atop the metronomic shuffle of "Time Stands Still," and stage an intricately picked opening to "Miner's Blues." Goodrich is no slouch either, adding superb electric and slide playing throughout; his dollar bill guitar on "Surprise, Surprise" is particularly memorable. Smither delivers lyrics with a sly offhandedness that undersells the beauty of his words and dovetails perfectly with his guitar playing. At turns he's a tempter, an aging philosopher, and a wry social observer.

A bluesman at heart, Smither can also be quite funny, as with the tangled riddles of "I Don't Know." He's self deprecating for "Someone Like Me" and sarcastic on "I Told You So," but mostly he's pensive, philosophical, exhausted and blue. Smither's a master of down-tempo crawls, mid-tempo grit and percolating shuffles, and though his guitar is played mostly for accompaniment its qualities shine as though spotlighted throughout. You could strip the vocals from this album and still have a compelling record; but his wizened, abraded voice is the perfect topping on a sweet cake. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

The name Chris Smither, or rather the musical artist formerly known as Chris Smithers as I now stand corrected from previous reviews (the details of which do not need to be delved into here), is a familiar one to readers of my reviews in this space. I have, usually, heartily thrown many kudos Brother Smither's way starting from his first `wild boy' days of "Love You Like A Man" as the new sheriff on the block in folkdom and on through his various incarnations and mood swings. Throughout I have always admired his sense of time and his way with a lyric. But something is out of joint with the times here. With the exception of his cover of Bob Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" I think he mailed this one in. More than that my companion who LOVES everything that Chris has previously done is of the same opinion. That is not good for she knows the Chris catalogue backward and forward.

Reasons? Well, for starters with the exception of his ode to his late father, "Old Man Down", the lyrics seem like more of the same melancholy, morose, although poignant words that we have gotten used to over the past several albums. Even his novelty song "Surprise, Surprise" seemed trite on a second hearing. Nothing jumps out like that old ode to "Lola" from a couple of albums back. Or the indignity, in verse, of his auto getting stolen from that same album. Time has stood still. Moreover his singing and playing is off. The punch of a song like Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues " or "Killin' The Blues" that is kind of a benchmark for that foot-driven beat that is Chris's trademark (along with the old blue guitar) is just not there. Has Chris turned into that old geezer that he, and I, have dreaded all our lives?

To end on a positive note though. Chris, over the last few albums, has done covers of Bob Dylan songs (stemming, I think, from, a workshop that he presented several years ago at the Boston Folk Festival). He has previously covered "Desolation Row (short version)" and "Visions Of Johanna" to great effect. Here he does even better on the above-mentioned "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes At Train To Cry" because his raspy voice fits the slower, and, I think, more appropriate tempo that the song deserves. Dylan played it too fast to catch the pathos of the imaginary. For those who have heard the Dylan Bootleg Volume Three version which is even faster that point is really driven home here. Kudos on that one, Chris.

If you like Smither you will love this album. He comes out of New Orleans and you can feel that...like the mud of the Mississippi...weighing heavy on every song...his parents were professors at Tulane...so you glimpse the refelction of a rare, reflected intellectual perspective in there too...this is deeply felt material...a funereal tune about burying his dad...a bright calypso song about trying to explain the world to his three year old daughter...all good...he's at his peak here...the guitar technique is, as always, superlative...maybe a bit less exhuberant that in earlier stuff but absolutely perfect...the vocals feel like they're hard wired directly to your soul...less vocal range...more god damn burn...if you folow he does...you know he covers Dylan better than anyone...if you like that...there is a treat for you here...try it out...really...it's pure Smither.

This, Chris Smither's 11th studio album, was produced in just 3 days. You can't really tell cause I think its as good as any of his other recent ones. Back by producer David Goodrich on various instruments (and "junk" on one track) and drummer Zak Trojano (whose full name never appears anywhere in the liner notes or on the jacket; at least I couldn't find it) Smither plays both his acoustic guitar and his feet! (Yep, its right there in the credits on every track.).

The lead off track, "Don't Call Me a Stranger", is the standout in my opinion and makes you want to hit the replay button, even before you get to Track 2, just so you can hear those great guitar chords. The lyrics - penned by Smither, as were seven other songs on the disc - come from the point of a seducer telling his "seducee" not to worry. They're gonna have "some fun". Turning a 180 degrees, is Track 4, "I' Don't Know" with Smither telling his young child that he doesn't have the answers to many of life's questions. "Surprise, Surprise" is another of those recent songs that are timely with the bank failures ("Surprise, surprise, the money's all gone!". The three covers are fine too and Smither would make Dylan proud on his take on "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry".

Granted Smither doesn't have the smoothest of voices, but it grows on you. And besides, you ears will carry you beyond that to his superb guitar artistry. These are more Americana songs than blues, but Smither can play both. Nice job!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Another great album by the master of blues and folk guitar. I saw him live
in Northampton, Massachusetts and he was better in person than on his cds,
a rare occurence. Highly recommended!

Wonderful and wise and beautiful. As good in recording as live. A must own for fans of Chris Smither. Surprise Surprise is a masterpiece, topical and absurdist and a perfect contemporary summation of our values. Worth the cost of the whole album, but the rest of the album is wonderful and worthy enough to listen to often.

Lately, Chris Smither has been showing signs that time is much on his mind, to wit, he seems to see less of it for himself on this one-way train ride all of us are on. This effort revisits some favorite motifs of his: trains, hesitant love, mean-hearted cons and letdowns, gypsies, blues, and death. There is a moroseness here which checks out okay, because that's how most of us have been feeling lately anyway and he does not let that tongue out of his cheek for long.

Fans of Chris may find the orchestration here overly lush. His producer, David Goodrich, shows up on every track, playing guitars and piano, and a musician called only "Zak" provides percussion.

"Old Man Down" sounds so weary and sad, I wanted to grab the first train to MA, where the New Orleans-born musician lives now, and give him a little "Hey buddy, hang in there" talk. The title track is a lovely lyric that could be about a former love interest -- or about the moment in a performer's career when he's got the brass ring in hand and everything is perfect; it works fine as a simple and beautiful love song.

"It Takes a Lot to Laugh . . ." is a capable instrumental rendering of an old Dylan song. The other two covers are of Frank Hutchinson's "Miner's Blues" and Mark Knopfler's morbid "Madame Geneva's", a song about drinking to "keep the demons at bay", a technique the reformed teetotaler musician knows never works for long. "Someone Like Me" aches with a loneliness that pierces the heart.

Although this compilation is a bit depressed and gloomy -- perfectly suited for our times, in fact -- Chris Smither's sparkling wit and sure hand with lyrics have only gotten better with age; there really isn't anyone out there who writes as well as he does while performing so expressively. We kinda hope that he does NOT lay the "Old Man Down" any time too soon, for his spare, solo, live performances are pure treasures. This sure-fire loser still wants to hear more.

I absolutely love Chris Smither's music and own all of his CDs. Time Stands Still continues his fine legacy of music that combines great blues guitar with psychologically and philosophically insightful lyrics.