Peggy Seeger is a respected folk singer throughout the world, and quite rightly, too. She has been around a long time, or at least it seems so. I remember hearing her back in the folk revival days of the late ’60s and early ’70s. So it is only natural that over the years she has gained a lot of experience and collected some fine songs along the way. Indeed in the sleeve notes to this album she says, “I love music and I love new songs, yet I still find myself returning to the old ones.” Many are songs handed down by singers who tended to them and put their own stamp on them, thus ensuring that the folk process goes on.
So on this album that’s about what you get: a mixture of traditional songs, many with slightly different tunes than you might normally associate with the song. Added to this are a couple of songs written by Peggy. These are the opening track “Sing About Hard Times” and the closing track from which the album takes its title, “Love Call Me Home.” The other songs here are a cross section of American and English traditional and popular standards that many will identify with, such as “Poor Ellen Smith,” “Careless Love,” “Love is Teasing,” “Rynerdine,” “Loving Hannah,” “Logan County Jail,” “Hangman,” and “Who Killed Cock Robin?”
I must say my favourite songs on the album were the two new songs written or updated by Peggy. The first is the opening track “Sing About These Hard Times.” It’s a great song, and Peggy has chosen to bring this old chestnut up to date with a theme of how things are now. The other is the title track, a beautiful song dedicated to the memory of a friend who died of cancer.
As I have said, Peggy has been around for a few years now, but she still sings superbly with a voice that has hardly aged one bit. She still has that magical quality that carries the songs, what I call a true folk singer’s voice.
The accompaniment is tastefully done, with Peggy playing five-string banjo, autoharp, guitar, dulcimer or piano. Also on this album she has her sons Neil and Calum MacColl on psaltery, high-strung guitar and backing vocals. Her daughter Kitty also adds backing vocals on a couple of tracks. Other guest musicians include Adam Yarme on mandolin, Vollie McKenzie on guitar, Rayna Gellert on fiddle, and Graham Henderson on accordion, with Irene Pyper-Scott, Rosemary Lackey, and Rafe McKenna on backing vocals.
This is a fine album from one of America’s revivalist folk singers. She has seen fit to record the songs as handed down, sometimes with the original tune or arrangements that have altered slightly in the folk process. I thought this was a good idea, maintaining the American tradition, and I think you will appreciate it also.
(Appleseed, 2005)
