What's In A Folk Song?
By Mike Hemmil
If Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney or say, Elvis Costello released it, this album would be heralded as one of their best in many years. The press would be falling over themselves to get a few words from The Boss or Sir Paul on how he came up with such a beautiful album. Accolades would abound and all would be right with the world again.
Can you imagine the road-weary voice of Springsteen singing about the virtues of his hard working blue-collar father, or McCartney reinventing his hymnal persona, only this time instead of singing Let It Be, he's now exclaiming hallelujah and singing about shining brighter to lighten someones dark days? Or Costello, in his sharpest pungent slurs begging forgiveness in a musical open letter? That could happen IF...any one of those guys had it in them to do such things. In truth, this little gem of an album, Folk Songs For The Curious Few, is from the imagination of talented indie artist Michael Mazzarella.
Mazzarella IS the quintessential indie musician. Unfortunately, this also means the banners of recognition don't fly as high as for those having the major music biz's long arm of dollars and promotion in their bag 'o tricks. Michael's fan base has its limitations, and even though we now live in a consumer's "global village," picking up fans is often a one-at-a-time process.
In no uncertain terms, Michael made it quite clear that he's "so tired with talking about The Rooks" and officially stated the band that helped put power pop back on the indie map in the mid-'90s is officially "over." So explains why Mazzarella's last two releases have been solo affairs. Folk Songs for the Curious Few is a study of where he's/we've been, who he/we are and what he's/we've become. According to the composer, not every song is autobiographical. "I looked into the lives of those around me for a direction, lyrically...and musically, as the tone of the melodies had to suit the persons and circumstances being written about." And what about the songs that are autobiographical? "What about them?" Mazzarella asks. "It's not the first time I've written a song about me. It's an easy subject to approach. I'm an expert on the subject."
Open Letter Of Sorry lays bare Mazzarella's guilt with the admission he's a sinner looking for redemption in his wake of iniquity. "Who doesn't need to say I'm sorry?" his culpable voice rising as if the spotlight's been suddenly turned directly at him. "I wrote that for everyone I know. For the ones I'm out of touch with and for those I'm involved with perennially. Yes, I'm sorry for many things. It's time I let people know. Maybe it's a cop-out on my part to have an all-encompassing apology issued via song, but it's the best way I can do it, at this time."
Is the person who wrote the words "hold on I'm ready to cry" at the end of My Father's Clothes breaking down because he realizes he never grew to be a man of his father's pedigree or, because he's merely proud of who his dad is? "Probably both," Mazzarella admits "but I never aspired to do anything involving physical labor and all that. He's a stone mason and an artist in his own right. But I knew I would be a writer of some sort, eventually." And does dear old dad have any thoughts on such an eloquent tribute in song? "I don't know. He digs it, yeah. He's probably always known, anyway. We never speak about it. People have this issue of always having to be told 'I love you.' People know when they're loved. If you're secure within yourself actions speak louder than words. We know, deep down when we are loved." And why did Mazzarella feel it time to write about his father? "It just happened that I wrote a song about him. It happens to be where I am now, in my own life...a natural thing to do, I guess. It wasn't planned. None of my song subjects are ever pre-determined. You write them as they feel, at that time. That's all."
In An Ocean (Song For W.) could well have been, if we didn't know better, written about a girl named Wendy rather than its true subtitled target, George W. Bush. Why the veiled lyric? "You know why?" Mazzarella sits on his thoughts for a moment. "Because I had enough and felt the urge to vent, but that being said...in a few months the lyric won't matter. In ten years, the words won't hit that it were written for this specific administration. I don't like the idea of writing something lyrically that won't matter to a kid a decade from now. Dylan's Masters Of War still resonates because the overall theme will always apply. One side of my brain needed to ghost or, mask it - subtitle it Song For W. The other side of my brain thought I should just call it In An Ocean and everyone would just assume it's about a girl or something...I don't know. I don't want lyrics to become dated simply because they're affixed to a specific time frame. Who's going to care that it's about George W. Bush in 2020? Nonetheless, I tried my best to not be overtly political. Another cop-out, perhaps."
Shine A Little and Hallelujah For The Hallelujah Of Us are both stately in their slow, gospel-like choruses complete with references to shining brighter, mountains, dark days, struggles and hallelujahs - all ending with the positive and uplifting declaration "We are alive." Where did those churchly songs come from? "Sitting at the piano, feeling for changes, finding a melody...what can I say? You need some words and you look around. Look at yourself, at other people. We all need to be shined on once in a while. We all have a mountain to climb. We all, at some point feel alone. (Laughing) Now I'm getting nervous that I wrote songs with a list of ordinary cliches! You're exposing me, Mike!"
Folk Songs For The Curious Few is anything but trite or ordinary. The songs contain a sweetness, an honesty, deliver a bite and display how much Mazzarella has matured as a songwriter. The songs are released with vocal approaches not heard in Mazzarella's previous work. From the opening Simon & Garfunkel-esque Recollections Of A Young Girl Gone to the chilling look at who we've become as a society commentary The Ballad Of Who Are We and throughout, this CD is a winner all the way.
I thought Michael's first solo excursion Grey Over An Autumn Winter was an under- the-radar masterpiece within its own chapter. This is something else. What's in a folk song? Give this a listen and you'll find out.
THE GARY PIG GOLD REPORT, Vol. 6
A FEW FOLK SONGS
http://www.medleyville.us/2008/09/the_gary_pig_gold_report_vol_6.html
"There's a song about a bygone relationship fallen through the cracks of life. There's a tale for a vagabond lover on the run. A gospel-esque offering about someone's father -- a blue-collar every-man's hero. One decries a presidential administration and a blues is an open letter asking forgiveness. A couple have churchly overtones replete with an eminent chorus here, a 'hallelujah' exclamation there. These are new folk songs written for anyone willing to listen."
So states the press release heralding Folk Songs for the Curious Few, the latest home-conjured release from Michael Mazzarella.
Immediately recognizable by keen students of '90s indie pop as the voice, heart, soul and much-more-than-jangle behind those rightfully regarded Rooks, Mazzarella since 1999 has embarked upon a one-man, Bob Dylan-like Bootleg Series of archival and/or "vault" releases before going officially solo with 2006's Grey Over an Autumn Winter.
Said album "was supposed to represent a mood within a season," Mazzarella reports, the idea based "on [Frank] Sinatra's Capitol concept works, where songs were unified by a theme to paint in sound an isolated motif. Every song minus one was created specifically for that album.
"Even if songs are not connected thematically, there should still be some intrinsic thread that binds them. That's what an album is -- to me."
Consequently, this autumn finds the man mining similar aspirations, though Folk Songs' genesis pointedly steers far from Sinatra levels of loftiness. Simply stated, and oh so thankfully so, it was just "time to do a new album," Mazzarella realized. "What to write? Needed a direction again. Wrote a song. Wrote another. They had something. Felt and sounded like folk songs to me."
Then a partial pause to ask himself, "What do folk songs sound and feel like?" So he duly "searched around. Watched the news. Studied friends. Looked in the mirror. Went to visit my father. Read the papers. Listened to Music From Big Pink. Played the piano. Wrote 10 songs -- maybe more. Needed a title. Re-approached the folk songs idea. Thought, 'Who do I think I am to write folk songs?' Figured, what the heck? Threw it out there. It is what it is."
It is perhaps Mazzarella's most eloquently regal, yet still somehow understated undertaking to date. Ten songs "delivered using simple guitars, piano, organ and sparse drumming recorded on a throwback eight-track recorder," to quote that press release again, gently tipping towards, yes, the Big Pink Band and "White Album" Beatles as well in its delicate keyboard and background vocal arrangements especially.
The opening "Reflections of a Young Girl Gone" brings to ear the gently tense Bookends-era Simon and Garfunkel, and "The Ballad of Who We Are" and especially "Open Letter of Sorry" often channel lost John Lennon Dakota demos meeting Dylan's Mr. Jones.
But lest matters ever get a tad too reverently retro, along come "In An Ocean" and "October on Bleecker," which while luring melodies toward Mazzarella's baroque-pop contemporaries Shane Faubert and Richard X. Heyman end up wholly, unmistakably, and ultimately uniquely Mazzarella.
"It's always raining somewhere, but when it rains in New York City, it's poetry and enterprise," Mazzarella recalls in creating the latter title. "I'm from New England, so I don't mind to walk in rain. Once, I did so from the West Village to my place on the Upper West. Got a song out of it. I think I caught a cold, but it was worth it."
To these ears however, the true undeniable gem in this entire collection is "Shine a Little," which somehow re-creates the deepest, most richly evocative soundscapes of The Rooks at their prime and peak, but by utilizing only Mazzarella's six strings, keys and the always-supportive vocals of Gail George.
"Tried to write music with a lot of white and yellow in it," Mazzarella says."No earth tones. No heaviness." Yet there's plenty of selfless heart-on-sleeve for us curious few to guiltlessly wallow within nevertheless -- poetry and enterprise, indeed.
"I know a lot of people," Mazzarella says. "Some are lost, many are fine and others can't get out of their own way. We're all moving along, but to where? There's too much 'I need, I want, I have, I bought, I read, I saw, I hate.'
"Stop! We're lucky to be here. Move along, and be happy you're around to still move along. Make lemonade."
Folk Songs for the Curious Few is available now at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mazzarella4
Michael Mazzarella's MySpace page is http://www.myspace.com/michaelmazzarella.
-- Musician/writer Gary Pig Gold is the co-founder of the To M'Lou Music label.
Folk Songs - Pig NOTES
Gary Gold was kind enough to provide us with Michael's song by song comments, portions of which were left unused in Gary's excellent review for Folk Songs For The Curious Few. Read on!
From The Top Of His Head: Michael Mazzarella's Thoughts On Folk Songs For The Curious Few
Courtesy Of Gary Pig Gold
Always thinking about what to write, what to write? It all should make a collective sense. Every one. Even if songs are not connected thematically, there should still be some intrinsic thread that binds them. That's what an album is - to me. What's wrong with me? People don't listen to music that way anymore. It's one song at a time now. My brain can't wrap itself around this way of doing it. Grey Over An Autumn Winter had a purpose. Was supposed to represent a mood within a season. Based the idea on Sinatra's Capitol concept works where songs were unified by a theme to paint in sound an isolated motif. Every song minus one was created specifically for that album.
A year later. Time to do a new album. What to write? Needed a direction again. Wrote a song. Wrote another. They had something. Felt and sounded like folk songs to me. What do folk songs sound and feel like? Like these I suppose. The seeds were blooming into something. Needed a song. Searched around. Watched the news. Studied friends. Looked in the mirror. Went to visit my father. Read the papers. Listened to Music From Big Pink. Played the piano. Wrote ten songs - maybe more.
Every song was created specifically for this album. Needed a title. Re-approached the folk songs thing. Thought who do I think I am to write folk songs? Figured what the heck? Threw it out there. It is what it is.
Recollections Of A Young Girl Gone
About someone I knew a long time ago. Days passed, months died, years fell. Here I am. Writing about a girl, a woman now, whom I haven't seen nor heard from since the "Summer of Sam". I hope she made it.
October On Bleecker
It's always raining somewhere but when it rains in New York City it's poetry and enterprise. Guys on the streets trying to sell umbrellas. I never buy one. I lose it before I use it more than once. I'm from New England so I don't mind to walk in rain. Once, I did so from the West Village to my place on the Upper West. Got a song out of it. I think I caught a cold but it was worth it. Yeah, poetry and enterprise.
The Ballad Of Who Are We
Everyone gets caught up, hung up and fed up. It's not worth it. A lot of time goes dying as people wait for things to get better, bigger and faster. I don't. I won't even have one of those mobile telephones that every eight years old and going have belt-fastened, hand-glued or at the ready for what, COMMUNICATION? I talk to people - like to be with them when I can. Sometimes it's nice when nobody can get to you, find you at any second. Then comes their surprise. What happened? Where has the summer gone? Time flies. Seems like yesterday. Did I miss something? Yeah well, you know how that goes. This is who WE are now.
Open Letter Of Sorry
I cannot walk on water. The guy who did that isn't me. I am a sinner by design. I know this now. When I was younger I didn't care. Figured the bad with the good would add to a more interesting bio. Now I care. I'm sorry and thought people should know that, at the least. Nobody's writing my story anyhow. It's for anyone who's ever crossed my path.
My Father's Clothes
This is not legend. It's not anonymous music expressing the life of a character in a fictitious community. This is my father. If it sounds like another guy, well that's good also. It means there are at least two men out there worthy to be in a foxhole with. I thought if I'm going to create an album with "folk songs" in the title, he should be a part of it. I couldn't have written this song ten years ago. I was too involved with me. Blinded by my own reflection. Perhaps the clothes are starting to fit.
Ramble, Ramble On
People change. Love expires. Someone becomes liberated and the other is left holding onto nothing. I wrote this for a friend. His lover took off, found another. I've been walking with him the entire distance. He lives far from me but we speak a lot. I made a place for them in my song. At least they will always be conjoined somewhere. I played the part of my friend in the lyric. In the tradition of old folk songs, somebody always stands in the darkness.
Shine A Little
Another circumstance where I put myself in the place of a friend. Had the feeling he needed a little light and love for guidance. So I was him for a while and wrote the song. Tried to write music with a lot of white and yellow in it. No earth tones. No heaviness. Just something he said to me one day put my mind onto this direction. I can't give off light but I gave him a song.
For LaDonna The Blue
There are many LaDonna's out there. All you have to do is look around. And the guy in LaDonna's life usually has to do a lot of somersaults and back bending to keep her high. So he goes and walks her tightrope. Shines her shoes. Cowers for her fun, knowing that whatever it is they share exists with the caveat of an expiration date. Composed the music at the piano without a subject in mind. Looked around. Found LaDonna. Song over.
In An Ocean (Song For W.)
Writing specific political lyrics is not my thing. It dates and frames them and ties them to something which may be meaningless to the next generation. Not a good practice for a songwriter. Without being too lyrically especial, I broke my own self-imposed rule and there you go. Without the sub-title you'd probably never know. It got to the point where I had to react emotionally without dogmatic inclination. I suppose I was back writing about LaDonna again - with a middle initial this time.
Hallelujah For The Hallelujah Of Us
I know a lot of people. Some are lost, many are fine and others can't get out of their own way. We're all moving along but to where? There's too much I need, I want, I have, I bought, I read, I saw, I hate. Stop! We're lucky to be here is the nutshell premise to this song I guess. Move along and be happy you're around to still move along. Make lemonade. I have friends who are ailing. I am not in their shoes and thought it time to write about. WE are still around. Another song I would not have written ten years ago. I'm not that guy anymore. Hallelujah.
http://www.garypiggold.com
REVIEWS: CDS
MICHAEL MAZZARELLA
FOLK SONGS FOR THE CURIOUS FEW
ANGELICA (2008)
http://amplifiermagazine.com/reviews/cds/michael_mazzarella_cd_1.php
As the erstwhile leader of the New York-based power pop ensemble, The Rooks, Michael Mazzarella has a powerful pedigree to fall back on. Nevertheless, his limited solo output - a mere three albums in ten years - has found him in down-turned singer/songwriter mode, a role that suits his melodic sensibilities just fine, thank you. His latest effort, the ambiguously titled Folk Songs for the Curious Few, is another impressive effort, an unassuming set of instantly engaging songs that find easy access to the cerebellum from first listen on. Opening track "Recollections of Young Girl Gone" suggests that the promise of some folk finesse will indeed be fulfilled, given its uncanny similarity to Simon and Garfunkle and harmonies helped by fellow pop practitioner Richard X Heyman. Nevertheless, its follow-up, "October On Bleeker," dashes any notion of precious intent, its effusive outpour affirming Mazzarella's upbeat instincts.
Still, Folk Songs for the Curious Few isn't by any means a rock 'n' roll extravaganza. Mazzarella’s likely shelved those ambitions for the Rooks' next record. "The Ballad of Who We Are," "My Father's Clothes" and "Ramble, Ramble On" (the latter with Heyman back in tow) veer towards more cerebral concerns, while "Open Letter of Sorry" finds Mazzarella's pinched vocals recall the joyless John Lennon during his primal scream phase. The hushed harmonies of "Shine A Little" come complete with a pleasant refrain although by the time "For LaDonna the Blue" and "In An Ocean (Song for W.)" make their entry towards the end of the set, Mazzarella appears to be giving free reign to his inner Brian Wilson. All it takes is the final hallelujah of "Hallelujah for the Hallelujah of Us" to abate the curiosity of that curious few and provide ultimate assurance Mazzarella's turned in yet another stellar set.
-- Lee Zimmerman [September 4, 2008]
FOLK SONGS FOR THE CURIOUS FEW
The new album from Michael Mazzarella
NOW AVAILABLE AT CD BABY
There's a song about a bygone relationship fallen through the cracks of life. There's a tale for a vagabond lover on the run. A gospel-esque offering about someones father - a blue-collar every-man's hero. One decries a presidential administration and a blues is an open letter asking forgiveness. A couple have churchly overtones replete with an eminent chorus here, a "hallelujah" exclamation there. These are new folk songs written for anyone willing to listen. Folk Songs For The Curious Few.
Recollections Of A Young Girl Gone
October On Bleecker
The Ballad Of Who Are We
Open Letter Of Sorry
My Father's Clothes
Ramble, Ramble On
Shine A Little
For LaDonna The Blue
In An Ocean (Song For W.)
Hallelujah For The Hallelujah Of Us
ON SALE NOW AT CD BABY!
