Search - John Lilly :: Last Chance to Dance

Best-kept American roots musical secret?

E. Folta | Connecticut, USA | 11/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only the vagaries of American corporate music can explain why you don't already know this CD by heart. "Last Chance to Dance" debuted at #1 in September 2003 on the Freeform American Roots chart (where the DJ's choose their favorite new roots releases) and it's easy to hear why. On it, John Lilly sets out to honor and contribute to the great tradition of American folk dance - and he does - but he can't help but veer back into the dark and lonesome territory that made 2000's "Broken Moon" such a stunning solo debut. On the new album, however, he demonstrates the full range of his talent as instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and interpreter of the American folk tradition, exploring not only his previous themes of love, heartbreak and redemption, but also traditional country themes of home, the loss of family, and growing older. It's a tribute to his talent that all this adds up to a diverse and, yes, upbeat collection of music. His spare and clean instrumental performances on guitar, mandolin and bass, are outstanding, as before, with an even greater diversity of styles; so are the lead and harmony vocals. But while the earlier album gave only a tantalizing sample of what he can do as a songwriter, LCTD really shines as a songwriting showcase. Of special note are the opening track, "Whodunnit?" which gives the appearance of a throwaway novelty number, but which in fact is an intense musical and lyrical display of jealousy and suspicion, and "Blue Boy", which is in the great tradition of the country torch song, and deserves to become a standard.Other favorite cuts are the two great yodeling songs, Jimmie Rodgers' "No Hard Times" and Lilly's own comic original "A Little Yodel Goes a Long Way" (recorded live), great examples of the American country yodeling tradition. (See also his performance of Hank Williams' "Pan American" on "Southern Ramble" by Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers.) The world-weary and fervid arrangement and performance of the traditional "Long Time Traveling" are also haunting and memorable, as is the Hazel Dickens' classic, "Coal Miner's Grave". The title song and "Good News, Bad News" are some other engaging cuts, but really, there are too many to name: listen and pick your own favorites! Appearing again on this CD are the same group of collaborators who made "Broken Moon" so memorable: the great Ginny Hawker on harmony vocals, Buddy Griffin on fiddle (who ranges from the heartbreaking to the sardonic), with the addition of Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. David O'Dell returns, this time providing some great banjo as well as doing the recording and mixing. This album should be of great interest not only to American roots music purists, who are looking for the next Gillian Welch or Iris DeMent, but also to those fans of contemporary country and folk songwriter/performers such as Robbie Fulks and Fred Eaglesmith. However, I am reminded as well of many older country and folk-based performers: not only the obvious influences of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, but also the subsequent generation of writer/performers such as John Prine and Steve Goodman, who are both whimsical and profound. In addition, fans of Richard Thompson will admire both Lilly's instrumental virtuosity and the intensity and humor with which he plumbs old genres and makes them new. Once again, a must-have!"