This next album is also not too
bad – it is downright good, in fact.
Disc 531 is…. Uprooted
Artist: Rankin
Family (aka “The Rankins” for this album)
Year of Release: 1998
What’s up with the Cover? A vaguely disturbing pastoral scene of a horse
toiling under a red sky. The painting is
by Ken Nishi and is titled “Charlie Joe MacLean.” The ghost of Charlie Joe is actually
referenced in one of the album’s songs, “Weddings, Wakes and Funerals.” I have no idea who Charlie Joe is,
though. You’ll have to ask Jimmy Rankin;
he wrote the song.
How I Came To Know It: This was just me, buying the Rankin Family albums as
they came out. What can I say? When I like an artist I get into them.
How It Stacks Up: First it was Soundgarden’s “Louder Than Love” then Rush’s “2112” and now for the third time
in recent memory I find an album has impressed me more than I expected. I have six Rankin Family CDs and I’d left
room for “Uprooted” at #5. Having
listened to it though, I have to move it up so I’ll put it 3rd and
bump “Endless Seasons” back to 5th.
It also means that “North Country” will likely get bumped when I review
it, but then again maybe it will surprise me as well. Always be willing to change your mind.
Rating: 3 stars but close to 4
“Uprooted”
is the last album for the Rankins before they broke up (although they did
reform several years later, at least briefly).
The album is a bit of a departure for them stylistically, which may
account for why it jarred me so much in 1998 when it was released.
The
record has the band dropping the ‘family’ from their title and identifying
simply as “The Rankins.” The music is also a shift. It still incorporates a goodly amount of traditional
East Coast Celtic folk, but it adds in some more contemporary folk and a bit of
pop as well. Given where Jimmy Rankin’s
solo albums would go after this record, I have to believe he was a big part of
the shift.
The
opening track, “Moving On” is a
typical Rankin Family party song, with Jimmy and his sisters taking turns on
verses. It doesn’t break any new ground,
but it is jumpy and gets the energy of the record up from the very beginning.
The real
winners on this album are Jimmy Rankin songs where he is spreading his wings as
a songwriter. “Let It Go” is a poignant song about love’s collapse. When Jimmy sings “you wanna stop the flame from burning/I just want to let it go” we’re
reminded that sometimes the saddest death of a love affair is the one born out of
resignation.
Jimmy
also writes some great stuff for his sisters on this record, including “Bells” which showcases the amazing range
of Heather Rankin. She starts this song
on a note I couldn’t reach and then climbs up an octave higher. The song starts simple, with just John Morris
on piano, and builds naturally like great songs do.
The pop
elements on the album are generally kept tastefully restrained, although there
are times when I would have toned them down further. “Maybe
You’re Right” has some strange background vocals that would be more at home
on a pop starlet’s record than a serious folk album. It is worth noting that the Rankins do all
the vocal effects without the abomination that is Autotune. Also, hearing Heather Rankin sing the line “when the shit hits the fan” on “Long Way to Go” sounds a bit
jolted. A voice so sweet just sounds
weird wrapped around sour words. Given
how sweet her voice is, though, it is a minor quibble.
There are
still plenty of excellent traditional sounding songs on the record. Most are crowded onto what we old-timers
would refer to as “Side Two” giving the latter half of the record a bit more of
what fans at the time were probably expecting.
Traditional Gaelic songs like “O
Tha Mo Dhuil Ruit (Oh How I Love Thee)” and “An Innis Aigh (The Happy Isle)” are classic Rankin Family, with the
beautiful, powerful harmonies of sisters Cookie, Raylene and Heather. The band has always been fortunate in having
so many great voices all together.
Brother John
Morris also delivers his usual writing excellence on “The Parlour Medley.” John
Morris could really wail on a violin, in that heavy stepping Cape Breton style
that is full of sway and life and makes you want to get up and kick some
floorboards.
For all
these, my favourite traditional song is “Farewell
to Lochaber.” I can’t be certain,
but I think this is a song about a soldier having to leave Scotland after the
Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion failed in 1746. A number of chiefs and retainers fled
Scotland with Bonnie Prince Charlie, never to return. Hearing this song, from the perspective of
one of the soldiers saying goodbye to his sweetheart – as it turns out, forever
– is heartbreaking.
It helps
that one of my favourite pictures (a print of which graces the wall of our
living room) is J.B. MacDonald’s “Lochaber No More.” Here’s a picture of it.
If you
look at the bottom right you’ll see one of my favourite details; a highlander
taking a cup of seawater from the shores of Lochaber – a memento of his home while
in exile. Damn, it’s heartbreaking. But I digress…
Back to “Uprooted”
which as I noted above, is a great mix of traditional and modern, upbeat and
melancholy. This album really grew on
me, and although I loved what Jimmy did on his solo work out of the gate, it
makes you realize how much magic he had with the family, even as they all
prepared to take an extended break.
Best tracks: Let It Go, Bells, Parlour Medley, Tailor’s Daughter,
Lochaber No More
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