Saying that
Charlie Haden's Rambling Boy is a personal album is an understatement. In essence, this album is a tribute to his mother and father whose own vocal group -- made up of
Haden and his siblings -- performed on radio programs in both Shenandoah, IA and Springfield, MO, where they hosted the live variety show Korn's-A-Krackin (sic), which was modeled on the Grand Ole Opry.
Haden began his musical career at the age of two, singing live on the radio; he was fortunate enough to have
Mother Maybelle Carter play in his living room, and to have met the rest of
the Carters,
Porter Wagoner,
Chet Atkins, and numerous others on their way through town to play the show.
This 19-song set features all the members of his immediate family -- daughters
Petra,
Rachel, and
Tanya, as well as son
Josh. The players and vocalists are numerous but they include guitarist
Pat Metheny,
Rosanne Cash,
Vince Gill,
Bruce Hornsby,
Stuart Duncan,
Jerry Douglas, the Whites,
Sam Bush,
Ricky Skaggs,
Elvis Costello, and
Russ Barenberg, among others. Despite the wide range of players here, this album can only be called Americana in the strictest sense of the term as its selections are new readings of mostly traditional folk and country songs. There are numerous connections interwoven here too: highlights include
Cash's moving and plaintive reading of "Wildwood Flower," a song that has roots in her own family -- via
Mother Maybelle -- and
Haden's, as well, as his mother had it in her repertoire.
Metheny's and
John Leventhal's guitars are devastatingly beautiful here. Another stellar moment is
Josh's reading of his own song "Spiritual."
Johnny Cash previously recorded it, as did
Charlie and
Metheny on the Grammy-winning
Beyond the Missouri Sky.
Josh's voice has none of the earth-shaking, end-of-the-world authority of
Cash's, but it doesn't need to. In his voice the song is a prayer that exposes the most vulnerable of emotions: loneliness, fear, and remorse. When underscored by
Douglas' dobro,
Duncan's fiddle, and
Barenberg's poignant guitar, it is a devastatingly powerful -- if gentle -- tune.
Petra's version of "The Fields of Athenry," with the dual guitars of
Metheny and
Barenberg, and
Hornsby's piano, is a real showstopper as well, but for different reasons. The song unfolds in a plaintive vocal as a story from time immemorial. Yet the instrumental accompaniment (which also includes a smoking dobro solo by
Douglas) transforms it into something that extends far into the future. The
Louvin Brothers' "Seven Year Blues" is sung in innovative three-part harmony by the
Haden girls (triplets), and
Rachel's read of "Tramp on the Street" could have been written for her by Grady and Hazel M. Cole; it possesses all the weariness and conviction of a Clinch Mountain church song.
Jack Black (he's married to
Tanya) does a humorous yet very effective take on the traditional "Old Joe Clark" yet it is utterly convincing.
Metheny's instrumental "Is This America (Katrina 2005)," reminds us why he's such an iconic musician -- it's not for his flash, which he possesses in abundance, but his subtlety and melodic elegance.
Costello, with his jazzy phrasing, does a very modern take on
Hank Williams' "You Win Again," bringing it into the present.
Haden sings "Oh Shenandoah," in his reedy, wispy, 71-year-old voice and bass as
Metheny,
Duncan,
Douglas, and
Barenberg accompany him; he nearly whispers this beautifully idiosyncratic set to a close, leaving the intertwined circles of bloodlines and musical heritage unbroken. ~ Thom Jurek