Nanci Griffith WORKING IN CORNERS (4CD/LP Box Set)

Nanci Griffith
WORKING IN CORNERS (4CD/LP Box Set)
Craft Recordings

A Musical Legend’s First Four Albums Still Stand The Test of Time.

To celebrate what would have been Nanci Griffith’s 70th Birthday Rounder Records and Craft Recordings are releasing this box set of her first four albums with a fabulous accompanying set of liner notes that include rare photos and anecdotes from her friends.
Personally I couldn’t have been more excited; as even though I class myself as a Fan; I’ve never owned her first three albums and never even seen a copy of the first, 1978’s THERE’S A LIGHT BEYOND THESE WOODS!
So, with that in mind, let’s listen to them in chronological order.
THERE’S A LIGHT BEYOND THESE WOODS begins with the beguiling I Remember Joe and sets the benchmark for what was to follow over the next 40 plus years. Nanci’s distinctive voice; albeit in a young and slightly nervous way, tells a historical story in a way no one before or since ever equalled.
Listening today there’s a simple production on offer and one that highlights the vocals and the words in a brave manner for a debut album.
Presumably advertised as a Folk Album at the time; hindsight tells us this was one of the first albums in what would become the Americana canon of work as there’s a wistful Country ‘edge’ to Dollar Matinee, Montana Backroads and the duet with Eric Taylor, Songs For Remembered Heroes that owe a debt of gratitude to the Band and their circle which must have been exciting at the time.
While the album and its contents have aged very well; only one song became a staple of Nanci’s concerts as the decades wore on; and that’s the beautiful title track There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret), which has been a Favourite since I first heard it on her Best Of CD many years later and many years ago.
I remember seeing a CD copy of POET IN MY WINDOW in the shop that changed my musical life; Goldrush Records in Perth Scotland; but as I only had enough spare cash for one full price album (alongside a couple of £2/3 compilations) I bought Guy Clark’s BETTER DAYS, and when I returned a month later it was gone!
The first thing I noticed when I played this straight after There’s a Light Beyond The Woods, was the production was a bit clearer and vocals therefore a tad ‘punchier’ as well as more of a ‘band’ feel too.
Strangely when I first skimmed down the track list I didn’t recognise a single song; yet when I’ve played it several times now; each song sounds like I’ve known it all my life.
Such was the quality of Nanci Griffith’s songwriting and song choices from friends; coupled to what would more or less become her template as the years would go by.
For me as a newcomer to this album there are gems around every corner; not least the haunting Heart of a Miner, Waltzing With The Angels and the magnificent Marilyn Monroe/Neon and Waltzes all of which I’ve added to my files for the radio show.
When told about this release two of my closest musical friends were a bit ‘sniffy’ as they are used to this type of box-set being full of demos and re-takes (Bob and Neil have spoiled them!) so finding Can’t Love Wrong, which wasn’t on the original 1982 release opening the record has been a form of justification for me reviewing it and not them! HAH!
I can’t put my finger on it, but this album sounds like Nanci finding the formula that would serve her well until her final album INTERSECTION 30 years later.
The cover for Once In a Very Blue Moon looked very familiar to me; so much so I presumed I must have once owned the LP …. but as I recognised nothing apart from the Classic title track I guess it was another CD I pored over in record shops over the years, without ever buying.
Listening in rotation has been a revelation, as while Nanci Griffith will always sound like Nanci Griffith, the production of her very personal and keenly observed songs gets better and no doubt more expensive as the years go by.
Plus, here we find a pedal-steel and fiddle flitting in and out finally giving Nanci’s Folk heart some Country swing; most notably on Fan Favourites Roseville Fair, I’m Not Driving These Wheel sand especially the finale Spin On a Red Brick Floor.
Although only 30 when she recorded this album the arrangements are tighter than previously and Nanci no longer sounds sad; but strong and wise while she sings Friend Out In the Madness, If I Where the Woman You Wanted and the gentle heartbreaker Time Alone too.
AHA!
I still have my copy of LAST OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS that I bought from Goldrush Records and it still gets irregular plays on Sunday afternoons.
The title track, which opens the album still brings me out in goosebumps as it did the first time I played it on the car stereo 10 minutes after purchase.
I’ve used that title and the sentiment it brings out several times over the years in reviews of other people’s songs and albums.
I suppose history will show that this album was a turning point in Nanci Griffith’s career; as it really is ‘all killer and no filler’ with every song at one time or another being a cornerstone of her concerts.
There’s a new found maturity to her writing on One Of These Days and Banks of the Pontchartrain where she fuses her Folk Roots with Bluegrassy Country creating what is now the cusp of what we now know as Americana.
I can only barely imagine the electric atmosphere in the studio when Love at The Five and Dime and/or Wing and the Wheel were being recorded; and both still sound as fresh as a daisy today in 2023 which is quite some feat.
Alongside these, Nanci’s rendition of Tom Russell’s St. Olav’s Gate is quite spectacular in an an understated manner, and One of These Days followed by Love’s Found a Shoulder is perfect sequencing … still leaving listeners open mouthed I’m sure.
Then in a career that’s probably never going to be equalled, never mind bettered we are introduced to both More Than a Whisper and her finest love song; Love at The Five And Dime for the very first time.
I can remember exactly where I was the first time I heard both these that day in Scotland; can you?
There are other less well known; but just as wonderful songs here that never made it onto Nanci’s BEST OF retrospective; and listening again after all these years life and age have given an added lustre to Fly By Night and Looking For The Time (Working Girl) that I’d not expected; but is there in every note.
As I said earlier; time has been very kind to all of these songs and they are all well worth investing both your time and money into, regardless of you being a ‘legacy fan’ and a completist, or as a new fan who wants to know why we so revere Nanci Griffith the way we do.

Released September 8th 2023

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