83 f
didn’t write. Corina has longevity the way all traditional songs do. Each generation and each singer remembers the most memorable parts and makes up some- thing new to fill in the gaps. After a few generations, it’s all pretty memorable… I guess that’s what you might call ‘Musical Darwinism!’” he mused.
“I
“A gig gone wrong way back at the dawn of time, a gig that taught me never to play in bars that had a mechanical bull,” was the inspiration for If I Never Get Back, in which Rush pays tribute to the long list of New Jersey’s oddly named towns, many of them of Native American origin, while the sweet, gently rolling Going Down To Nashville portrays a roving troubadour who is both optimistic – “looking for a rea- son, hoping for a rhyme” – and nostalgic for what he’s left behind. There’s a power- ful sense of melancholy as Tom sings, “I’ve come to say hello and I’ve come to say goodbye.” “It’s the one age-appropriate song on the album,” Tom points out. “The rest are written from the perspective of a 35-year-old, or younger. And though I can relate to the protagonist, it is made up. I never had a Nashville girlfriend and I have no sense that ‘my end is nigh,’ though you never know, do you?”
A moment later How Can She Dance
Like That? kicks off as his band throws down a solid groove augmented by
can’t recall where I first heard it,” Tom replied. “But it’s the only other song on the album, besides the open- ing track, Elder Green, that I
he title (and final) track, Voices, reveals the perfect blend of gentleness and gravel in Tom’s voice. He sounds weathered and weary but not beaten as he invites you to listen closely to the voices “from way beyond the stars…” “They sing a song of wonder that’s too much for the mind,” Tom intones, as he walks that pre- carious tightrope of beauty.
T Tom Rush 1962
grungy guitar, raspy tenor sax and a pair of oohing angels. Rush has always seemed at home both as a solo performer and with a group. Either way, the music seems to happen naturally. “I’m quite happy these days working just with Matt Nakoa on key- boards and harmony vocal, or, when Matt’s doing his own thing, which is hap- pening more and more, going out solo,” Tom explained. “I’ve loved working with bands, but bands unfortunately want to get paid on a regular basis, and I had to work twice as much to make sure all the mouths were fed. I no longer want to spend my life on the road; one or two long weekends a month are plenty!”
“Fergie, the engineer, took me aside and solemnly told me, ‘Tom, Autotune don’t work on your voice.’ It’s because I’m narrating half the time, singing the other half. Fergie did a lot of engineering for Johnny Cash. ‘Autotune,’ he told me, did- n’t work for Johnny either, so I took it as a compliment. As for the song, I’m not sure where it came from but the basic idea is that there’s an awful lot going on around us, right under our noses, that we miss because we’re too busy to pay attention to the important things.”
This is a must-have album. Rush really got the perfect blend of emotions on this one – from pure yearning to pure silliness. “I’m very pleased with the way this project came together,” he said. “I think it’s my best work, so far. I’ve gotten complaints from people who say they can’t stop listen- ing to it. We will be adding a Surgeon General’s Warning to the packaging: ‘If Your Whatever Lasts More Than 5 Hours … Don’t Come Whining To Me.’”
Hear a track from Voices on this issue’s
fRoots 70 compilation.
tomrush.com
F
Photo: Jim Eng
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
