Re: Proxy Music

Who convinced Linda Thompson this was a good idea? Not the music contained inside, but the cover.

I think it shows an admirable degree of irreverence!

Ohhh my gosh, that's awesome! My hat's off to Linda.

Zoo, since you did mention it, what do you think of the music on this one?

Delvin Wrote:
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> Zoo, since you did mention it, what do you think of the music on this one?

I haven't listened, and I really wasn't planning on it. I was just dumbstruck by that cover.

Agree that the cover’s great. I doubt she needed convincing… most likely her idea. And why talk her out of it? She’s clearly in on the fun, taking the piss out of a classic cover from our era. I’m hoping she takes on the ‘tortured poets department’ cover next!

I think the idea behind the record and the title is that Linda can barely sing due to her spasmodic vocals, so she is enlisting friends and family members to sing as her proxies.

Really nice article in the Times about this album. [www.nytimes.com]

I went to the City Winery show where the guest singers were Tammy Faye Starlite, Amy Helm, Jenni Muldaur, Syd Straw, John Grant, Vicki Peterson, and Martha Wainwright. Teddy was the bandleader and provided either harmonies or a duet vocal for nearly every number, though he also took lead vocals on a couple of songs ("The Great Valerio" and the last song, "Those Damn Roches"). Basically everyone sung a song from the new album and another that Linda previously recorded (usually with Richard). Band was excellent though I'm sorry to say, except for David Mansfield (who I would know from his work in Heaven's Gate and with Bob Dylan alone) I can't remember their names.

It was a fun evening, with some especially raunchy jokes from Tammy Faye Starlite and Syd Straw that I wouldn't have the courage to tell myself, but it turned into a surprisingly moving show as well. Obviously quite a few people on that stage had parents who made their names in music, and it was startling for me to see Amy Helm for the very first time because she shares the distinct profile that her father had, a feature that for whatever reason I remember very well. When Martha Wainwright introduced "Or Nothing at All" as the song Linda wrote specifically for her, she mentioned that some people thought she sounded like her mother when she sang it and added that it was likely intentional. That remark really opened up the show for me. The album addresses the loss of Linda's voice, where she finds another way to put something out into the world and continue to leave a new imprint in it. And in a lot of ways, I think that's what she, Maria Muldaur, the late Kate McGarrigle, and the late Levon Helm have also done through their children - to be clear, they're their own people, but there's no doubt their parents had a big hand in introducing music into their lives and influencing their voice.

At the end, Linda (who had been sitting in the audience all this time, apparently in partial anonymity) joined them all onstage as Teddy took lead on "Those Damn Roches," and she was visibly moved. (She also sang background vocals with everyone else.) After the show was over, she actually went back to her table, so I decided to go up and say hello, maybe get an album signed. I let a few people cut in front of me who clearly knew her but very quickly I was packed in by a lot of people who knew her at some time - it might've taken a moment for her to recognize someone (after they explain when/why they knew her) but she was clearly overwhelmed and overjoyed. It was wonderful to see her this happy, but I suddenly felt like I had no business being there, especially when she grabbed my arm at one point as she looked at all the faces around her. I tried to make up for it by offering to help a few people take their pictures rather than have them resort to selfies, but it still felt awkward. Eventually I managed to slip away but what a great evening - at the end of the show Teddy thanked the audience for letting him to do something wonderful for his mother, and it was indeed a beautiful gift.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2024 10:01PM by belfast.

That's so awesome. I saw Syd Straw post about it on Facebook and I was envious that it was a one-off. Glad you were able to participate!