First of all, let me say that I adore this week's theme, as I've always been a harmony voyeur - there's just something about two voices saying so much more than one could, lyrically and sonically. To that end, I fear I am running out of time, as I was out of town for the beginning of the week and too busy to post - hope you all won't mind if I do a bit of a clean sweep here to share some of my other favorites...
Jules Shear and Susan Cowsill: Restaurant Scene
[purchase]
Jules Shear is best known as the author of Cyndi Lauper's "All Through The Night" and the Bangles "If She Knew What She Wants", but I'm particularly enamored with his recording, Between Us, definitely in my Top Ten - his gift for lyric writing is beyond description ("some people are changed by great romances but it's the wounds that make us who we are" and "so try to make it like the dream you had, the peaceable kingdom where no one's betrayed" and so many brilliant turns of phrase too numerous to name) and this CD is composed entirely of duets with such notables as Carole King, Ron Sexsmith, Paula Cole, Freedy Johnston and others. My understanding is that it was written after his break-up with Aimee Mann and each song is more tragic than the next - her side of the story can be heard on I'm with Stupid Now (guess perspective is everything)...
Amy Rigby and Todd Snider: Til the Wheels Fall Off
[purchase]
I loved what Anne said in her Nick Cave/P.J. Harvey post ("when two artists you love do a duet together you feel like the universe is lining up") - that's exactly how I felt when Amy Rigby had Todd Snider join her on a song a few CDs back. I am a fan of both, as their sometimes cynicism belies a true faith that trouble is only temporary - this tune mines the road-trip-as-relationship metaphor ("I guess the path of least resistance wasn't on the map")...
Robert Earl Keen and Margo Timmins: Then Came Lo Mein
[purchase]
When a Texas songwriter teams up with the female lead singer of The Cowboy Junkies, anything is possible - through the use of puns ("I was steamed, I was fried") and interweaving voices, they manage to put a poignantly humorous spin on a nervous breakdown in a Chinese restaurant...
Nanci Griffith and Adam Duritz: Going Back to Georgia
[purchase]
Queen of country-folk meets lead singer of angst-ridden rock band - what could have been a recipe for disaster succeeds beyond wildest expectations. This song is on my funeral tape ("I've been blinded by the sun, washed in the rain, scattered in America, I'm scatterin' again, but if you're goin' south, darlin', I guess I'm travelin' with you") - yep, Georgia's always on my mind....
