First in the interest of full disclosure let me say that Steve Suffet asked me to write a review of his new CD "NOW THE WHEEL HAS TURNED". I agreed to do so only if I could express my honest opinion even if it wasn't what he wanted. Steve said I should go ahead, so that is what I'm doing.

Steve puts on a great live performance with lots of energy and excitement, but it's not captured well in the recording studio. I think Steve knows it, and that's why he waited so long to record a CD. But I'm glad he finally went ahead and made one, because what comes across on this CD are some things that you might not see when he performs live. For example, Steve is a really talented song writer. His songs sound just like real folk songs, and not like songs made up by most people called folk muscians these days, like Ani DiFranco and Jewel. His songs sound more like something that came from a hobo camp or a truck stop or a canal barge. Listen to "Okie Moon" and "Down the Gowanus" and you will see what I mean.

The only problem is Steve doesn't sing is own songs in person very often. Most of the time what he sings are songs by Woody Guthrie or Lead Belly, or old country and western songs, or railroad songs, or old Irish songs and stuff like that. Steve had the good sense of putting his own songs right up front. The first 10 songs out of 18 are his.

Another thing I'm glad Steve did was keep this CD very simple. I know he did digital mixing because it says so (DDD) on the CD, but the CD sounds like him and all his back up musicians got together in a big room and recorded live. I don't mean this in a bad way, but there is something warm and fuzzy about this CD. That's something you don't hear very much today when even folk CD's have an electronic crispness to them. Maybe the right word to use isn't warm and fuzzy but charm. Steve's CD has charm. It's charming.

Yet there are things that are disappointing. There is only one song in 3/4 time. It's called "Emily" and it's about a woman's adultereous fantasies. It's really a magnificent story with an ambiguous ending. Does she or doesn't she? Not that it matters. I would have liked to hear more songs in waltz time like this one.

Then there are some songs that just don't work very well. Steve's version of "Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" will blow you away, but his "Babe Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" has rhythmic problems that not even the great two part vocal on the chorus can cover up. I wondered why he didn't choose a better take, but then I figured this must have been the best take he had.

However, the biggest problem is something else. It's that this CD on the whole isn't really sure of itself. Is it a CD of political music, with songs like "Let's Organize"? Or is it a CD of personal songs like "Emily"? Or is it a CD of railroad, trucker, hillbilly, and sailor songs? I wish Steve would have made up his mind. But mixed up as it is, musically this CD is something else. Think of it, as some other people have said, as a return to an old time night of singing with a bunch of friends. That's what Steve is good at, and it's evident here.