After the FSGW Getaway, I toured the Virginia Outback for four days. I got six CD's from Sandy and Caroline Paton to keep me company, and one of those was Rick Fielding's This One's the Dreamer. I played it four times, so I think I can honestly say that I really like it. When I was at his concert in Washington in March, I got the feeling that Rick betrayed his vast knowledge of traditional and folk music by leaning a bit too heavy on the singer-songwriter stuff. I think he's got a good mix on this album, even including a couple of songs that have their roots in Child Ballads.
Rick's version of "The Wind and Rain" sounds a bit like I imagine Gordon Lightfoot would do it, but I guess it's natural for a kid who grew up in Canada in the 60's to have a bit of influence from El Gordo, eh? Besides, it's a good, suitably spooky rendition of the song, whether it sounds like Lightfoot or not. I like Rick's unusual arrangement of "Salty Dog" - it's refreshingly different from the version everybody else sings.
Rick wrote a gospel song for the CD, and he did a good job of it. He calls it "Sing with the Angels":

I'm gonna sing with the angels
When my time comes around
This earth is just rehearsal
For when I'm heaven bound
I'll be well prepared to take my place
with harmony and rhyme
And sing with the angels when it's time.

I have a soft spot in my heart for those inspiring anthems that pluck at your heart strings. Rick's got two of those on his album. One is Rick Speyer's "There Comes a Time":

There is light at the end of the tunnel,
There is always hope in the face of despair
There is freedom at the end of the struggle,
Hold on to your dream if you find it out there
There is peace in the song of the wild wood,
Love is best when it blooms on its own
there's a road that beckons us to follow,
Always a trail that leads us back home.

The last song on the album is another anthem, "When We Gather Once More," by Rick Fielding and Holmes Hooke, which has a nice chorus and a terrific last verse:

Be well, be safe, be kind, be strong
For the times will test us sore
And to gladden our hearts,
Our bodies, our souls
Oh, be here when we gather once more.
Oh, be here when we gather once more.

Now if I find a resting place
Before I'm back this way
Or if the road be just too long
And my feet have turned to clay
If from tonight you do recall
Just one line from this song
Then even if our roads do end,
This song will travel on.

Good work, Rick.
-Joe Offer-

P.S. "Catspaw's Rag" is just right, a suitable tribute to our remarkable friend.
Both of Rick's CD's are available at Folk-Legacy Records (click).