Description:
Amazon.co.uk Review
There are two types of topical songwriters. You have your all-the-news-that's-fit-to-sing variety, with Phil Ochs representing its quintessence; for them, "topical" means "protest"--serious business, indeed. And then there's the laugh-to-keep-from-crying stripe spearheaded by Tom Lehrer. Social Studies finds Loudon Wainwright III throwing his lot in with the latter camp. Largely composed on demand for National Public Radio (the US equivalent of Radio 4), Social Studies finds the acerbic wordsmith taking aim at the likes of rough-and-tumble skater Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson, imprisoned &qu
Amazon.co.uk Review
There are two types of topical songwriters. You have your all-the-news-that's-fit-to-sing variety, with Phil Ochs representing its quintessence; for them, "topical" means "protest"--serious business, indeed. And then there's the laugh-to-keep-from-crying stripe spearheaded by Tom Lehrer. Social Studies finds Loudon Wainwright III throwing his lot in with the latter camp. Largely composed on demand for National Public Radio (the US equivalent of Radio 4), Social Studies finds the acerbic wordsmith taking aim at the likes of rough-and-tumble skater Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson, imprisoned "Panamanian strongman" Manuel Noriega, and President Bill Clinton. With more a smirk than a scowl, Wainwright deftly skewers such 1990s icons as septuagenarian US Senator Jesse Helms ("If Jesse don't like it, it's probably not art / Jesse knows what's good, old Jesse is smart") with just enough bite to leave teeth marks. --Steven Stolder
Social and political commentary has always been a componentof Loudon Wainwright's songwriting. The 15 songs that make up SOCIAL STUDIES were written during the course of the decade prior and first aired in shorter solo versions on National Public Radio. For the most part, Wainwright wrote these songs to order--he was given a topic and asked to frame a reaction to it in his biting and sarcastic lyrics.
From JesseHelms to O.J. Simpson to Tanya Harding, Wainwright takes itall on with rapier-sharp wit. The album was produced by JoeBoy and is supported by topflight players, including longtime collaborator Chaim Tannenbaum and masterful bass player Greg Cohen (who in the same year played on Randy Newman's BADLOVE and Elvis Costello's PAINTED FROM MEMORY). There are also appearances by the Roches, John Scofield, Peter Ecklund,and Lenny Pickett. This album functions as a nice contrasting companion piece to his previous LITTLE SHIP, on which he ruminates on his own life.
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Manufacturer: Hannibal
Release date: 1 April 2002
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0031257144223 UPC: 031257144223
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