It's hard to believe that
Morning Glory Ramblers
is the first full-length recording by
Norman
and
Nancy Blake
in eight years. Certainly they've been active, from playing on all 47
Down From the Mountain
dates, performing on the
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Cold Mountain
soundtracks
,
June Carter Cash
's final album,
Wildwood Flower
, and various other projects. This album, recorded on the soundstage of the
Western Jubilee Warehouse
in Colorado Springs, is a dynamite setting for the material found here. There are 17 songs in this collection, seven of them
traditional
melodies, still others so old they've seldom been heard over the last century, a
Hank Williams
' tune, and a couple by friends of
Nancy
's that are so saturated in the deep
country
, they could have been written decades before. The set opens with
"Sunny Side of Life,"
one of two songs closely associated with
the Carter Family
. The strident, two-part harmony and dual guitars are the perfect opener for an album that is arresting for its immediacy and its strident honoring of tradition. That said, these songs aren't nostalgic; they are part of a living, breathing tradition that informs as it delights. The other
Carter
-linked number,
"When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland,"
written by
George Evans
in 1913, is the strongest thing here; its lyric rambles and shimmers, floating through the woven guitars.
's voices are so closely aligned, without artifice or affect, that emotion just drips form the verses. One of the album's centerpieces is
"I Loved You Better Than You Knew,"
by
Johnny Carroll
(not the
rockabilly
legend; this was written in 1918). Its melodic architecture evokes both
Celtic balladry
and the mountain music of Southern Appalachia. Also in the middle of the record is
"The Wayworn Traveler,"
John Matthias
from 1836, an American
gospel
tune that is well-known as
"Palms of Victory."
Of the modern songs,
Laurie Lewis
'
bluegrass
number,
"Dry Bones,"
is the standout. The album closes with an obscurity by
called
"Men With Broken Hearts."
Its verse is narrated by
, however, adding an entirely new meaning to the lyric. This record drips with integrity, with genius, and with soul.
may consider this only the latest chapter in their vocational legacy, but it stands out, far away from other recordings that attempt to do the same thing. The reason is simple:
perform these tunes as unfinished legacies, as bricks in a road that has come from the winding hills of time and into the modern era, but continue to who knows when and where, and as such, are still revealing their meanings to both layers and listeners. This is a must-have for those interested in the
poetry
at the heart of American
roots music
. ~ Thom Jurek