鈥淔latland Lullaby,鈥� Joe Ely (Rack 鈥榚m/Thirty Tigers)
Don鈥檛 assume Joe Ely鈥檚 new children鈥檚 album will have limited appeal. It鈥檚 for anyone who has ever been a kid.
鈥淔latland Lullaby鈥� was a long time in the works. Some of the material dates from the 1970s, and Ely began recording it at his home studio in Austin, Texas, in 1984 as a gift to his infant daughter, Marie. (That鈥檚 her baby photo on the cover.)
Ely sometimes spent years working on a verse, and the decades of incubation show: The album is a relaxed but polished, varied and charming delight that evokes 鈥淵ellow Submarine,鈥� 鈥淎bbey Road,鈥� Saturday morning cartoons and trips to the circus. There鈥檚 less twang than elsewhere in Ely鈥檚 catalog, and instead a dreamy, slightly surreal ambience, with synthesizers playing an effective role in creating fairy tale soundscapes.
The moon, sun and stars are recurring characters. A blue jay pulls a plow, a ghost gets spooked, and straw turns to gold. 鈥淥ver the Water鈥� gently shimmers and sways as Ely sings about dreamers and lost children, while 鈥淭he Gypsy Lady鈥� is a bouncy, effervescent fiddle tune that addresses big questions.
Woody Guthrie鈥檚 鈥淩iding in My Car鈥� becomes a Bakersfield-style duet with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Ely honors nature and a beautiful, overlooked melody on the traditional tune 鈥淲oody Knows Nothin.'" The other cover is an enchanting version of 鈥淟ove and Happiness for You,鈥� graced by lovely harmony vocals from Kimmie Rhodes Gracey, who wrote the song with Emmylou Harris.
A poignant wish for sweet dreams closes the album, which 鈥� like childhood 鈥� ends too soon.
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Steven Wine, The Associated Press
