Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work

Subject: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 12:53 AM

One of the best compilations of traditional American music that I have heard in years is Death Songs for the Living by Jay Farrar and Anders Parker, jointly know as Gob Iron. Parker is the leader of a Texas alt-country group and a multi-instrumentalist, who teamed up with Farrar while the latter was recording a project for his band Son Volt.

Those not familiar with Jay Farrar are missing out on one of the best song writers around. If you don't know him or his band Son Volt, you may have heard of the former band he co-founded with Jeff Tweedy, Uncle Tupelo. Uncle Tupelo was a sort of bridge that sought to link rock and roll, country, and traditional music. It's no coincidence that their first album No Depression took its name and much of its inspiration from a Carter Family song from the thirties. This album was such an integral force in starting a new movement in popular music that No Depression became synonymous with what we now call Americana music. That first LP contained songs by Tweedy and Farrar, but also songs from the source material that the two were tapping. The best album UT ever made was probably March 16-20 1992, an acoustic mix of traditional songs and trad-sounding original material, and on that album the seeds of Gob Iron can be detected sprouting.

Death Songs for the Living begins with a very raw and rhythmic rendition of Rev JM Gates' Little Black Train. Farrar's voice, which owes more to Lee Harve Presnell than his avowed hero Gram Parsons, drones his warning across the punchy combination of drum, guitar, and mandolin. The Stephen Foster tune follows, and this version is a warm and reassuring but purely personal interpretation of the song as near prayer. The traditional song Hills of Mexico follows, and is sung by Parker in his softer, gentler baritone, which accents the undercurrent of danger in the lyrics.

Josh White's Psilicosis Blues is sung by Farrar to a different melody, composed by George Washington Phillips for "Paul and Silas in Jail". Farrar adds a lyric of his own regarding the victims lack of insurance, a bit which is contemporary yet somehow fitting in the context of the song. Wayside Tavern is Parker's interpretation of the Carter Stanley tune, and in his hands this tale of a man's murder while in his lover's arms is quite eerie and touching. A Farrar original is next, Nicotine Blues which offers cigarettes in the role often ascribed to whiskey or cocaine as one of the folksinger's scourges.

AJ Buchanan's lovely Death is Only a Dream is done next by Parker, and his voice lends an earnestness to what might seem saccharine sentiment if performed with less soul. East Virginia Blues features Farrar again, and he manages to make AP Carter's work not only heart-rending but rather ominous and obsessive. Alberta Rae Price's Little Girl and Dreadful Snake is probably Parker's weakest work on the album, and misses the heart-tugging authenticity that Earl Monroe was able to bring to it. The album concludes with Farrar'sBuzz and Grind, a catchy rocker that doesn't quite jibe with the rest of the material.

The songs are all separated by short instrumental vignettes which have a lightness that sets off the darker topics of the album's other pieces.

In all, this is a very substantial work in the folk-traditional idiom, and done by artists young and hip enough to carry this music into a younger generation of listeners. And if this music is to survive, that is essential.

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 01:08 AM

I like what I am hearing: click for youtube and, REALLY like this one of Jay Farrar what a sweet voice!

Thanks for the heads-up, LeeJ!

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 01:26 AM

There are some nice audio and video files on their website: Gob Iron dot net

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 01:43 PM

Thanks for the links, Kat!

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: GUEST,cStu
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 03:48 PM

gobiron.net seems to be just one page with a link to Jay Farrar's website. I don't see any gob iron audio - am I missing somethin?

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 04:26 PM

You're welcome, LeeJ!

cStu, sorry, I should have said, no matter what page you click on the addy is gob iron dot net. If you follow my link, then click on Jay's name at the bottom where it says "please visit," then click on "audio/video" at the bottom, you'll get there.:-)

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: GUEST,cStu
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 05:20 PM

Thanks, Kat.

Yes I got that far but there isn't any Gob Iron on there. After a bit of googling the only thing I've come up with so far is the clips on the album's Amazon page (real player needed)

Subject: RE: Gob Iron-The Folk Process at Work
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 02:09 AM

I have to admit that, as a sometime rocknroll guy, this stuff from Farrar and Company also has it's appeal. The guy's stage presence has the impact of a half-wit country boy channeling esoteric lyrics from some ethereal realm, and is correspondingly fascinating.