Review: The Man from God Knows Where (Tom Russell)

Subject: the man from god knows where
From: GUEST,dickie
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 10:01 AM

yesterday, i was introduced to the most amazing folk music cd that i think i've ever heard: "the man from god knows where" by tom russell.

this is a series of interwoven songs that tell the stories of tom russell's ancestors from ireland and norway, of their immigration to the united states, and of the succeeding generations.

tom russell sings many of the songs, but there are also other singers taking various parts including dave van ronk, iris dement, dolores keane, sondre bratland and kari bremnes.

this is truly an outstanding cd.

dickie

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 10:41 AM

I've got a good friend that raves about this CD. It looks like I need to borrow it sometime.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: kendall
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 11:15 AM

Tom Russell is an outstanding performer.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: paddymac
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 11:18 AM

I saw Phil Coulter do the title song as a recitation at a concert in San Francisco last year. Dynamite. I'll have to look for the Russell CD. It sounds great.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Midchuck
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 11:36 AM

Guest dickie is guilty of understatement. Anyone who says anything good about this CD is guilty of understatement. Anyone who says anything bad about it is a hopeless idiot.

In my humble opinion.

Peter.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 12:18 PM

There was a very good article about Tom Russell in the Fall '99 issue of Sing Out! Magazine (but maybe I'm not impartial because I wrote the article).

Tom will be at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival on August 4-5 (the festival continues on the 6th).

Tom (with guitarist Andrew Hardin) is on the Friday evening concert with Popcorn Behavior, Guy Van Duser & Billy Novick, Herdman/Hills/Mangsen and Eric Bibb.

He does another concert on Saturday and then does a songwriters' workshop with Jesse Winchester, Steve Gillette and Anne Hills.

Mike Regenstreif

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Conán
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 02:48 PM

Don't mix this up with the poem of the same name recounting the betrayal and execution of Russell the United Irishman. I think there is something in the Archives on this. Conán

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Midchuck
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 03:13 PM

I believe they're supposed be mixed up. The one was an ancestor of the other. That's where the whole idea started.

Peter.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: GUEST,Frank of Toledo
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 04:24 PM

Read the fine article in the Fall 99 Sing Out by Mike, and it explains it it all about Tom Russell and his ancestors. The Toledo Folk Music Club of Toledo Oregon had Tom Russell and Andrew Hardin in concert here last June 99 and he did the first half of the show on the Man From God Knows Where. It's a masterpiece, and it is hard for me to understand why it took so long for the "Folk" community to embrace such a wonder work of such honesty and magnitude. But the Folk Process works in strange ways, and I'm very pleased to see him being talked about here on the Mudcat. Don"t miss him and his guitarist Andrew Hardin.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Clifton53
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 05:08 PM

It is indeed a masterpiece, and his other tunes are excellent as well. I've never heard so many songs that I can 'see' come from one man.

There have been a few other threads on Tom Russell in the past. Type his name in the search box and read all about it.

Clifton53

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 05:27 PM

Midchuck, I guess I'm an idiot, then. There are undeniably some good songs on the CD, but the whole thing seems too labored, artificial, and full of angst for my taste.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: GUEST,Dave Oesterreich's shrink
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 05:40 PM

Hey Dave,

Maybe you don't have good taste in singers and songs, but your ability to guess at your mental prowess seems pretty good.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: keltcgrasshoppper
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 06:23 PM

I'm going to have to check this one out..It sounds like a keeper...KGH

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Conán
Date: 12 Jun 00 - 08:37 PM

The poem I referred to is not in need of any artificial enhancement. It is complete in itself and has been part of the recitation tradition in Ireland since I was a small child. It is quite long and anyone who can recite it faultlessly from beginning to end is very highly thought of. Russell is buried in Downpatrick where his last resting place bears the simple inscription "The Grave of Russell". No further explanation is needed and none asked for. I would consider any effort to tamper with it an act of disrespect to his memory. Conán

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Robo
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 03:02 PM

Just back from a trip to the Auld Sod, which included a stop-in to see "the backroom down at Whelan's," so I'm a little late in joining this conversation. Would simply add that no music or musician alive will strike everyone's ear the same way, so don't take it personal, Dave. But I must say I have met few who have heard Russell's portfolio who aren't impressed. And Conan, the original poem from which Russell draws his newest CD title, where can one get a copy? Russell's tour dates have him all over the place -- including NJ, where I expect Clifton will attend and give us a full report -- everywhere but here in Denver where the wife and meself would surely love to see him. And Hardin -- man, that boy man can play (witness "The Angel of Lyon"). 'Nuff said: But it.

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 03:50 PM

Conán, I think singer-songwriter Tom Russell would agree with you about the poem. He makes no attempt to enhance or alter it. His album is kind of a musical family tree, and it explains the link he has to the poem. Click here and here for previous discussions, and for the poem itself.

I heard Tom Russell's "Man From God Knows Where" concert in Denver a year ago. Has he been doing anything new since then?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: Amergin
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 01:02 PM

I just picked up this cd a week ago...and was just floored...the music and the words...wow....

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: belfast
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 04:01 PM

I can only agree with those who talk about the excellence of the poem "The Man From God Knows Where". Though there are a few words in it that might be incomprehensible to those unacquainted with the speech of the north east of Ireland. However I've recently been reading the journals of Wolfe Tone, a friend and comrade of Russell's, and one gets the impression that the line "He took no drink neither cold nor hot" is a bit implausible. The couple of weeks that Tone and Russell spent together in Belfast seems to have been a long binge, with endless political discussions fuelled by large quantities of wine.

Oh yes, the modern day Russell is good. Hope this understatement doesn't offend

Subject: RE: the man from god knows where
From: gwonya
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 06:45 PM

One of the best covers and album titles I've ever seen. As for the music - well, it looks like I'll have to dig it up and give it another try (much of my favorite music did'nt grab me on very first listen). Come on over Dave and we can beat ourselves silly over this oversight.