Search - Tom Russell :: The Man from God Knows Where

Superlatively great Irish/Norwegian/American album

J. Scarff | Berkeley, CA United States | 08/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Come gather round me children, a story I will tell...So it's rise up all you ancestors, and dance upon your graves." So begins the saga. Russell,an extraordinary songwriter, has composed a folk opera loosely based on the history of his own family. His great grandmother came from Ireland during the famine to the Midwest and his great grandfather came from Norway. The songwriting is gripping and eloquent. Russell's own wonderful singing is alternated with that of Dave Van Ronk and the excellent Norwegian singers Kari Bremmes and Sondre Bratland. Irish legend Delores Keane sings what may become the definitive version of "When Irish Girls Grow Up". The always spectacular Iris Dement is at her stunning best; her version of 'Wayfarin' Stranger' with Annbjorg Lien accompanying on the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle will not only give you goosebumps every time you hear it, but haunt you for a very long time. This album is genius. It is a deeply affecting work of survival and pride in the face of hardship and partings, joy, madness, tradition and novelty. Artfully mixing traditional tunes with his own songs, Russell has created a profound musical commentary on the human condition as expressed in a uniquely American way. The final song, "Love Abides", is the appropriate climax/moral of this album, capturing the effort, heartbreak, and hope of this tale with a breath-takingly moving duet by Russell and Dement. Of the 200 or so (mainly celtic) albums I bought this year, this is best, period. Get it."

Beautiful Folk Geneaology

James D. DeWitt | Fairbanks, AK United States | 01/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We are a nation of immigrants. Some of us have come sooner, some later, but except for the American Indians, we all came from somewhere else. Tom Russell has taken that reality, his family history, from Ireland and Norway, some fine stories, and turned it into a song cycle that is the work of his career. Haunting and beautiful, he has drawn on years of songwriting, and years for friendships with musicians and folksingers, and created an album we will listen to 50 years from now.Most songs are his own, although he does a moving, fitting version of Massingill's "The Orphan Train." Not all of Russell's family tree is fit for his in-laws. Dave van Ronk's raspy version of "The Outcast," Russell's own songs about his gambling and alcohol addicted father; it rings true. There is mixed pain and pride in a lot of these songs. It's not all gloomy. Doris McKeane's singing of "When Irish Girls Grow Up" is a hoot. And some of these stories are the kind your uncle only would tell after his third drink at Thanskgiving. There's that kind of intimacy, some wonderful melodies, all with Russell's gravelly voice and the singing of his friends.I saw Tom Russell on the tour for this album, and the stories he told to introduce some of these songs have made them even more memorable. If you get the chance, see him yourself, and ask him to sing the title track. And get this album; you'll play it often. It's Russell's best work."

Russell's Masterpiece

J. Kelly | Salem, OR United States | 09/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tom Russell's autobiographical collection is brilliant. The self-penned works - and the execution of them by Iris DeMent, Dolores Keane, Sondre Bratland, Kari Bremnes and Dave Van Ronk - are wonderful. I would have to agree with another reviewer who commented on the repetitiousness of some cuts. Truly, one take of "The Outcast" would easily have sufficed.



The real treat for he however was Russell's take of David Massengill's "Rider On An Orphan Train." The song has led me on a quest to learn as much as I can about this late 19th and early 20th century experiment of "placing out" children and adults to help populate the American West.



Thanks, Tom. This is truly brilliant."