Bluegrass singer/guitarist
Tony Rice has been recording songs written by
Gordon Lightfoot throughout his career, and this 17-track compilation gathers them together, adding a previously unreleased version of "Whispers of the North" that was cut for
Rice's Me and My Guitar album. Included are tracks
Rice recorded as part of
J.D. Crowe & the New South,
the Tony Rice Unit,
the Rice Brothers, in a duo with
Norman Blake, and as a solo artist. That means that on the various tracks he's joined by a newgrass who's who that includes
Jerry Douglas,
Ricky Skaggs,
Sam Bush,
Vassar Clements, and
Bela Fleck, among others. The selections include "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "Early Morning Rain," but for the most part
Rice eschewed
Lightfoot's better known compositions, and the collection serves to illustrate the overall quality of the songwriter's catalog.
Rice did not just use the songs as platforms for picking sessions, either. His singing clearly influenced by
Lightfoot's, he brought a strong interpretive ability to the lyrics. Of course, the picking is pretty hot, too. ~ William Ruhlmann