Well May the World Go

Larry Long

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 27, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B00004TJ9Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #231,537 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
One of the most ambitious activist recordings to emerge in some time, Well May the World Go succeeds politically, emotionally, and artistically. Wrapping a pastiche of musical styles and social messages in a warmly acoustic, atmospheric sound, veteran folk troubadour Larry Long threads together sacred Native American chant, Asian bamboo tones, classical violin, Persian dumbek drumming, Zairian guitar, and a plentiful range of American roots music, including jazz, R&B, even a field recording of Pete Seeger. Songs about workers' rights in Texas, the Ku Klux Klan, Brazilian romance, Somalian civil war, glasnost, and Anishinabeg land claims segue, one to the next, on a dreamlike musical stream. What might have resulted in a hodgepodge of politics and world-beat samples is a fascinatingly coherent portrait of the human struggle. The only risk lies in forgetting the politics and losing yourself in all the fertile, imaginative music. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What an exciting Album to Listen Too, August 11, 2000

By	janis blanton (bartlesville, ok USA) - See all my reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed this cd and have been listening to it non-stop for the past 3 days. As a person who generally listens to rock, pop, and celtic music I was amazed at this CD. It is the best original work that I have ever heard. I first listened to the CD and liked the tunes, I later read the stories (contained in the CD pamphlet) and relistened to the cd. The music and stories alone are interesting, but the best part is how Larry Long interweaves the two.

He has a gentle, smoothing way to bring up real issues of racism, poverty, work, war, love of music, and love. An incredible talent.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars About worker's rights, wars, the KKK & other happy subjects., December 15, 2004

By	Stephen Cabral (New England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Activist folkie singer/songwriter. Very good stuff that crosses many musical boundaries, Sort of a cross of Pete Seeger with Peter Gabriel. Much of it is about worker's rights, wars, the KKK and many other cheerful subjects. Nice 34 page booklet tells the story behind each song.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Boring, August 3, 2005

By	Music Fan (NYC) - See all my reviews

While Larry Long's heart is in the right place, and his songs show compassion and tolerance, I'm afraid that the CD is not very interesting. Unlike other folk singers who can meld the political and the lyrical or whose passion carries the music, this sort of drifts by and I have had no desire to re-play the CD.