Search - Rosalie Sorrels :: No Closing Chord: Songs of Malvina Reynolds

Yes, "What Have They Done To The Rain?''

Alfred Johnson | boston, ma | 11/25/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My first association of the name Rosalie Sorrels with folk music came, many years ago now, from hearing the recently departed folk singer/storyteller/ songwriter and unrepentant Wobblie (IWW) Utah Phillips mention his long time friendship with her going back before he became known as a folksinger. I also recall that combination of Sorrels and Phillips as he performed his classic "Starlight On The Rails" and she his also "If I Could Be The Rain" on a PBS documentary honoring the Café Lena' s in Saratoga, New York, a place that I am also very familiar with for many personal and musical reasons. Of note here: it should be remembered that Rosalie saved, literally, many of the compositions that Utah left helter-skelter around the country in his "bumming" days.



In the same spirit, if not for the same reasons, Rosalie here "rescues" the old time protest song writer and insightful social commentator Malvina Reynolds. Of course having been immersed in the folk revival of the 1960's I was perfectly aware of Ms. Reynolds's work although, if pressed, I could not name a song that I associated with her name. That, alas, is the fate of many songwriters who have written indelible songs that far outlast their names and fames. In this regard, for example, I did not realize until I listened here that the classic protest song against nuclear proliferation and in favor of nuclear disarmament from the 1960's (and later) "What Have They Done To The Rain? is Malvina's composition. But enough of that: you want to know what is good here, right?



Well, obviously the above-mentioned song is fit for inclusion. "The Judge Said" a righteously (and justly) indignant outcry against trivializing sexual abuse by the courts is another. "Rosie Jane" about the trials and tribulations of the pro-abortion movement early on (just before the now tenuous victory in Roe v. Wade in 1973) and what that issue looked and felt like down "on the street". Needless to say any song like "The Money Crop" that pays homage to one of my heroes of the 17th English Revolution the Digger (also known as True Levelers) theorist and leader Gerrrard Winstanley is going to get my attention (as I am sure it would as well for the late Professor Christopher Hill who did much to "rediscover" the work and actions of this important revolutionary).



Moving on, the heartfelt rendition of "This World", with Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar, is a little bouquet by Rosalie to Malvina. Nice work Rosalie, and nice work Bonnie. Needless to say whether Rosalie is covering Malvina, as in this compilation, or paying tribute to her influence by pushing her own work forward she does a masterful and creative job (like bringing in children as chorus on a couple of the songs at the beginning and end of the CD) that has been the hallmark of her work since the early days.

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