Mary Lou Lord - Baby Blue

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 4 / 4 / 2004

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Mary Lou Lord has always been on the fringe of turning out a great album. With every release she gets that little bit closer and now, it would seem that she has finally made what we knew she could all along, an album where every track shines. But at times it appeared that Lord was her own worst enemy. Her releases have been few and far between and she did, at one point, claim that this new album was “not very good”. It appears that the comment might have had more to do with the fact that Lord was diagnosed with a condition called spasmodic dysphonia which affects the vocal cords. Never believing that she was the greatest singer on earth anyway obviously didn’t help when she had to learn to sing all over again. Luckily Lord stuck with it and although it’s obvious her vocals on some of these songs are not up there with her best now we know the reason why it will hopefully stop any unnecessary criticism and if we take a track like ‘43’ the almost whispering vocals add to the song rather than detract from it. The song is almost an update of Big Star’s ‘Thirteen’, which Lord covered on her ‘Live City Sounds’ album of a few years back, and is a stunning acoustic track easily on a par with the song which might have been an inspiration for it. Lord has certainly come a long way since the early days when her name was linked to that of a pre- Nirvana Kurt Cobain and her alleged dislike of Courtney Love was linked to a track on Lord’s self titled 8 track album on Kill Rock Stars (and did we ever find out if ‘His Indie World’ from the same release was about Cobain?). These days it’s Nick Saloman, the Lord Of Psychedelia (also known as The Bevis Frond) who is the main player on Lord’s albums. Saloman wrote 11 of the 14 songs on this album, two of them co-writes with Lord, the aforementioned ‘43’ and ‘Turn Me Round’. Lord composed one song, ‘Long Way From Tupelo’, which is one of the highlights on the album, the kind of folk/rock song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Lucinda Williams album but with Lord’s breathy vocals replacing those of the more world weary Williams. With harmonica adding to the gorgeous guitar runs by Saloman it is such an outstanding and accomplished song it surely must give Lord the confidence to write more original material for any forthcoming releases. There are two covers on the album; ‘Baby Blue’ which actually improves on the original Pete Ham song by Badfinger and a cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Fearless’. Saloman’s guitar lines are outstanding on ‘Baby Blue’ and with Lord’s gentle vocals the song is turned into some sort of new power pop hybrid. The more one listens to this album the more it becomes obvious that the partnership of Lord and Saloman is a marriage made in heaven. Leaving behind his Bevis Frond psychedelic leanings Saloman has found the perfect partner to sing his songs. Or, indeed, to reinterpret the songs of others. Floyd’s ‘Fearless’ has, again, some inspired guitar playing by Saloman while Lord’s breathy vocals, either multi tracked or backed up by Debbie Saloman, are well suited to the song. If the gentle sound Lord produces on this song was intentional or if it is the result of her condition matters not, the vocals are stunning. It would not have the same effect if the vocals were stronger. There’s a Byrdsian sound to the opening track, ‘The Wind Blew All Around Me’, one of Saloman’s all time strongest compositions and he’s written a few! The harmonies on this song are also among the best on the album and yet again Mr. Saloman shines with his guitar playing. Saloman, of course, is no stranger to the recorded works of Lord. He composed 4 songs on her previous release ‘Got No Shadow’ (which is now relegated to the second best Mary Lou Lord album) and co-composed a further 3 on the same album with Lord. But he didn’t produce that album and that might possibly be the key to why this album is so good. Although Lord had help from some special friends on that album ( Roger McGuinn, Shawn Colvin, Jon Brion and Elliot Smith) and Saloman’s playing was all over the album this collection hangs together much better. It can jump from the acoustic ‘43’ to the heartbreaking ballad ‘Because He’s Leaving’ (Saloman’s guitar on this song just has to be heard) to the hard hitting ‘Someone Always Talks’ back to the piano led ballad ‘Turn Me Round’ and onto the rockier ‘Stars Burn Out’ with ease. Lord has dedicated the album to the memory and music of Elliot Smith and one gets the feeling that this song might well be a tribute to the sadly departed Smith. Without a doubt this is Lord’s best album to date and if she sticks with the services of Saloman there is no reason why the next album should not be as good. Outstanding.

Track Listing:-

1 The Wind Blew All Around Me
2 Long Way From Tupelo
3 43
4 Baby Blue
5 Cold Kilburn Rain
6 Farming It Out
7 The Inhibition Twist
8 Because He's Leaving
9 Someone Always Talks
10 Turn Me Round
11 Stars Burn Out
12 Ron
13 Fearless
14 Old Tin Tray

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