Greg Brown
Over and Under
Trailer Records 20

by Al Kunz

High school teacher Bob Feldman was so moved by a 1983 performance at a Minneapolis coffeehouse by Iowa singer/songwriter Greg Brown that he promoted a subsequent show in a larger venue. A relative unknown at the time, Brown was so pleased with the success of this initial venture that he asked Feldman for help getting two self-released albums back into print.

Eighteen years later Feldman is at the helm of Red House Records, one of the country's premier indie labels. From a beginning of two out-of-print Greg Brown albums, he has expanded the Red House roster until it reads like a Who's Who of contemporary singer-poets (John Gorka, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Kaplansky, and others).

In these same eighteen years, Brown has released several new albums (two nominated for Grammys), had his songs covered by everyone from Dar Williams to Carlos Santana, and become a regular performer on Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillor's long-running National Public Radio show about the fictional Lake Wobegon, MN).

Brown's longtime dream has been to make a "casual back-porch" record in his native Iowa with musical cohorts from the days before his critical and commercial success. With fellow Iowan and long-time sidekick Bo Ramsey (current Lucinda Williams' guitarist and co-producer of her latest album, Essence), Brown headed for the outskirts of Iowa City, IA. With Feldman's blessing, they met with David Zollo, head of roots-indie label Trailer Records and recorded Over and Under.

Besides Brown (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Ramsey (electric guitar), musicians on the project were Zollo (electric piano), Steve Hayes (drums), Dave Moore (harmonica and accordion), Al Murphy (fiddle, mandolin) and Bob Black (banjo and five string lap guitar). Over a couple of days in early 2000, Brown and his friends cut loose, successfully capturing in the fourteen tracks on this disc the casual, back-porch feel he hoped to achieve.

As a child, Greg Brown lived throughout Southeastern Iowa, moving whenever his father (a Pentecostal preacher) was reassigned. "River Will Take You" is the story of a fatal fishing trip in this area. Brown's gruff vocals conjure the image of the meandering, innocent-looking current. But lurking just beneath the surface is a cautionary tale about the multiplying effects of bad decisions and the youthful illusion of immortality.

That river will take you to Keokuk just as well
As it'll take you past Eldon straight down to hell
Them boys'd been drinkin', two was real fat
They went out at midnight, goin' after cat

Two could swim sort of, two not at all
They was all plastered, havin' a ball
Well they left from the east side down a' carbide shack
They just went fishin' and never come back

Back on his childhood stompin' grounds surrounded by old cronies, Brown takes a critical look at his home turf. A common thread running through these songs is change -- how places change, how people change -- and how some things never seem to change. The decline of rural communities due to the demise of the family farm is the topic of "Summer Evening." A mid-western farmer walks his fields, comforted to be hanging on, but viewing life with the optimism of a survivor. He's hopeful about the future but accepts that the end of this way of life may be inevitable.

Say this deal's about over, and I guess that's true
Town used to have twelve stores, now we got two
Big boys movin' in, small farmers movin' on.
The way may be goin', but the life ain't gone

On a summer evenin' when the corn's head-high
And there's more lightnin' bugs than stars in the sky
Ah, you get the feelin' things may be alright
On a summer evenin' before the dark of night

Several tunes address growing old (or at least up). "Almost Out of Gas" is a tongue-in-cheek rave-up; downer lyrics coupled with buoyant music. "How come the young fellas keep whippin' my ass? / I'm almost out of gas, almost out of gas / If I was a Catholic, I'd take the last mass / I'm almost out of gas, almost out of gas."

Brown turns introspective while passing the torch to the town's young bucks in "Your Town Now." From his middle-aged perspective, he hints at what things are important, trying to impart the lessons he's learned, believing his wisdom may help the younger crowd avoid these same blunders. He points out the problems created by his generation, hoping those that follow will be able to find a solution.

Where are the young bands gonna play?
Where're the old beatniks gonna stay
And not before some corporation bow
And it's your town now, it's your town now

So be careful everyone
Cops can get careless with their guns
And then they slip off somehow
And it's your town now, it's your town now

Two songs deal with the regrets of aging and the road not taken. In "Shit Out of Luck," a group of old bulls lament the passing of their youth. "They groan as she passes, their time's gone by / They wasted their lives in anger and sighs / They groan as she passes, and make a few cracks / Once it is gone, it don't come back." A melancholy drunk realizes his error years too late as he attempts to re-connect with a long-forgotten lover in "857-5413."

Well, you got four kids now, ain't that something'
Sorry, it must be this phone
I'm too drunk to read my bible
Too sober to be here alone

Yeah, well, I'm sorry to bother you
It's been good to talk to you, too
Yeah, I know, I won't call again, I promise
But I never really got over you

Growing old isn't always bad. Sometimes you get a second chance. One of these opportunities is presented when old friend "Betty Ann" becomes available again. "Well, I love you as I've often said / With your hair so black and your eyes so red / And your old boyfriend, well, Christ, he's dead / Betty Ann, Betty Ann, marry me while you can." Also, as in "Dear Wrinkled Face," you can be happy with the decisions you've made, glad to have grown old with the person you chose years ago.

Dear wrinkled face
Oh, lover friend
Best enemy
I love your hands

That whole fine mind
Every place
I find myself
Dear wrinkled face

According to his biography, "as Bruce Springsteen is to New Jersey and William Faulkner is to Mississippi, Greg Brown is to Iowa." Hyperbole? Absolutely not. What Springsteen and Faulkner have in common is a strong sense of place, the ability to capture in their words those things that are uniquely New Jersey (or Mississippi). Brown has this same gift. Frequently compared to Springsteen's Nebraska, Brown's Over and Under combines poetic lyrics with serious insights comparable to the work of Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Fred Eaglesmith. This is an important album, one that belongs in the collection of every serious Americana fan.

*Over and Under can be purchased at www.trailer-records.com or www.amazon.com To find out more about Greg Brown (including complete lyrics for Over and Under and most previous releases), visit www.gregbrown.org And don't forget Red House Records, the label Greg started, at www.redhouserecords.com

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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