L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / GZO | Posted: Sunday, August 27, 2006 7:00 pm
When the banjo kicks in opening “Old Dan Tucker,” it’s clear that “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” isn’t an ordinary Bruce Springsteen record. But it’s a great one.
“Old Dan Tucker,” of course, is a folk music standard. So are the other 12 songs. That’s right, this is a Springsteen record with not one song written by Springsteen. Instead, he makes the songs chosen from the songbook of folk legend Pete Seeger his own and, by extension, reclaims those classics for a new generation.
“We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” is another Springsteen record that doesn’t feature the E Street Band. Instead, he’s joined by E Streeters Patti Scialfa on backing vocals and violinist Soozie Tyrell and a host of New York musicians who play everything from accordion and banjo to tuba.
Recorded in a farmhouse on his New Jersey estate and cut without rehearsal, “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” is filled with the energy, joy and spontaneity of music being created for the first time. The songs aren’t new. But the arrangements are and the playing is fresh, dynamic and vibrant.
So “O Mary, Don’t You Weep” swings out, delivering its gospel with punchy horns, lots of gang vocals and plenty of soul and “Jacob’s Ladder,” another spiritual, has a New Orleans feel.
In constrast, “John Henry,” the man versus machine railroad song, has a classic Springsteen rock ‘n’ roll vocal and a driving beat. And “Shenandoah,” arguably the best-known song on the disc, is gorgeous and lush with violin, restoring the romance to the standard.
“Erie Canal” opens with just Springsteen’s vocals against a mournful banjo before bringing in the drums and horn and the ache he finds in the song harkens back to his New Jersey working class songs, even though the song was written 100 years ago.
But that’s far from the oldest tune on the record. That honor belongs to “Froggy Went A-Courtin’,” which dates to 1549 Scotland.
The songs on “We Shall Overcome” are classics. But they maintain a contemporary resonance, whether it is the 1915 Irish ballad “Mrs. McGrath,” the Dust Bowl pickin’ and squeezebox rooted “My Oklahoma Home,” a hushed, uplifting take on the civil rights holiness hymn “Eyes on the Prize” or the protest song that gives the package its title. Such is the nature of the best folk music, transcending its time to deliver a feeling, emotion or story.
As of midweek, Seeger hadn’t said anything about the record. I’m guessing he’ll be pleased with “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.” After all, this are great songs interpreted by a great American artist played by a fine band. This is folk music that’s fully alive.