Marge Calhoun
Twisted Tales of Passion and Pain
Wisewoman Music – margecal@margecalhoun.com
also available on CD Baby
This very intriguing disc is powered by the elastic voice of Marge Calhoun. She at times has the power to soar and take off and carry you to far distant places, at other times she plunges you down deep into yourself, and at other times she carries you into the heart of her heart. Her singing always has that ring of an honest tale. Marge wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 14 well crafted tales that have the tone of a life lived with pain, but it is a pain that is accepted as being a natural part of living. On one of the 2 songs she didn’t write, Love Song, written in 1969 by Lesley Duncan, she has a very Marianne Faithful type of sound, that is as haunting as that old memory of a love gone that won’t fade from the inner recesses of the mind. The other song she didn’t write is the instrumental that ends the disc, her daughter Kendra Calhoun (she also plays the keyboards on this cut) wrote Day Break. On this disc which was very ably produced by Gary Crockett and Jonathan Yudkin there is a wonderful clarity of sound, it is well paced with no jarring changes but there are many changes of feel and mood to always keep it interesting. The cast of backing musicians is exemplary and there is some fine work that comes to the forefront. The tenor sax work of Ron Holloway is absolute standout and his horn is one of the dominant instruments steering the disc. Jonathan Yudkin’s work on mandolin, violin, whawa viola, and flying bats violin highlights the mood changes created by Marge’s voice. An outstanding cut that highlights this disc is Longest Night of The Year. This disc is the proof that there is some very outstanding music being produced by the smaller independent labels.
Producers – Gary Crockett and Jonathan Yudkin
Songs, times and writers
1 Thinking Of Pasteur – 3:17 – Marge Calhoun/ Tom Paxton
2 Bad Reputation – 3:24 - Marge Calhoun/Jonathan Yudkin
3 His Lucky Night – 4:36 - Marge Calhoun
4 Stranger Than Fiction – 4:10 - Marge Calhoun/Michael Fath
5 Model In The Mag – 4:01 - Marge Calhoun
6 The Edge – 4:49 - Marge Calhoun
7 What Chu’ Talkin’ ‘Bout – 4:23 - Marge Calhoun
8 Picked Up The Change – 4:40 - Marge Calhoun/Jonathan Yudkin
9 Dance With Me Again – 3:37 - Marge Calhoun/Jonathan Yudkin
10 I’m Disturbed – 3:53 – Marge Calhoun/Jonathan Yudkin
11 Longest Night Of The Year – 5:00 - Marge Calhoun/Tom Russell
12 Nothing I Can Do – 4:29 - Marge Calhoun
13 Love Song – 3:39 – Lesley Duncan
14 Daybreak – 1:25 – Kendra Calhoun
Musicians –
Marge Calhoun – lead and backing vocal
Gary Crockett – drums, percussion, claves, backing vocal
Rico Petrucelli – bass
Paul Bell - guitars, slide guitar, flamenco guitar, dreamy electric guitar
Ron Holloway – tenor sax
Mel Watts – drums and percussion
Byron House – stand-up bass, electric bass, acoustic bass
Pat Severs – electric guitar, steel guitar
Jonathan Yudkin – mandolin, violin, whawa viola, and flying bats violin,
acoustic guitar, backing vocal
Dusty Rose – backing vocals
Wade Matthews – bass
Michael Fath – electric and acoustic guitar
Bob Spates – violin
Larry Cheney – electric guitars
Jim Hoke – alto sax, autoharp, penny whistle
Tommy Lepson – big bee keyboards, organ, wall of sound guitar, backing vocal, Buddhist Prayer
Ceaser Benegas - congas