Dancer With Bruised Knees

Dancer With Bruised Knees

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
The songs on Kate and Anna McGarrigle's second album suffer only when compared to the impossible bounty achieved with their self-titled debut two years earlier. The performances, however, are every bit as charming, and the arrangements extend a wise, winsome balancing act between their angelic harmonies and the vulnerable, unvarnished feel of their solos, while the best songs achieve a similar poise in matching art song ambition to folk earthiness. Even early in their career, the McGarrigles were already wise beyond their years (not to mention their more conventional singer/songwriter peers), sustaining a wistfulness that has continued throughout their work. Dancer also finds them expanding their repertoire of French-language originals. --Sam Sutherland

Tracks:

Dancer With Bruised Knees
Southern Boys
No Biscuit Blues
First Born
Blanche Comme La Neige
Perrine Etait Servante
Be My Baby
Walking Song
Naufragee Du Tendre (Shipwrecked)
Hommage A Grungie
Kitty Come Home
Come A Long Way

Amazon.com essential recording

The songs on Kate and Anna McGarrigle's second album suffer only when compared to the impossible bounty achieved with their self-titled debut two years earlier. The performances, however, are every bit as charming, and the arrangements extend a wise, winsome balancing act between their angelic harmonies and the vulnerable, unvarnished feel of their solos, while the best songs achieve a similar poise in matching art song ambition to folk earthiness. Even early in their career, the McGarrigles were already wise beyond their years (not to mention their more conventional singer/songwriter peers), sustaining a wistfulness that has continued throughout their work. Dancer also finds them expanding their repertoire of French-language originals. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

one of my all time favorite albums.......2003-09-08

I love this album so much that when I went to live in France and didn't bring any music, I was forced to go out and purchase a copy in France for about four times the price I paid at home. Today I own yet another copy on CD, and when I listen to it, it sounds as fresh and authentic as it did the very first time I heard it almost thirty years ago. Amazing talent--also true of their "French Record" and self-titled album. And of course, with time they've also provided for our future, by giving us Rufus Wainwright, whose music is as astonishing in its own unique way as was the McGarrigles. BUY THIS ALBUM--I've never played it for anyone who didn't LOVE it--I can't imagine a regret!!

Won't disappoint if you enjoyed the first.......2002-05-16

I've loved Kate and Anna's work for decades, but I'm afraid to say there are diminishing returns on the later work. However, this one (their second I believe) is classy. Exquisite lyrics, melodies and phrasing. To my ears a nicer production than the first one.

That sweet humming intro at the start of Dancer with Bruised Knees is an all-time favourite, and the scathing lyrics and superlative arrangement of Southern Boys can stand alongside anything else you'll ever hear in folk music.

Classic Kate & Anna.......2001-07-12

If you are at all familiar with the McGarrigles, you will instantly love this CD (assuming you can find it). Typically wry and witty, also very musically sophisticated. Anna's songs are real musical gems with kicky lyrics (Dancer With Bruised Knees, Be My Baby, Kitty Come Home, Shipwrecked). Kate's songs seem a little more dated, because her lyrics are generally more important than the music, but her lyrics are as always a little off-center and funny. I'm not sure I agree with the reviewer who liked First Born because it was such a wonderful homage to parenthood; well, maybe if the mother didn't care much for the child. That said, Kate's song Come A Long Way is my favorite on the album, although Anna's Kitty Come Home, a way over-the-top quasi-religious, beautiful song, comes in a close second.

The traditional French folk songs arranged by Kate and Anna are really wonderful, and make me jealous that I don't have such wonderful folk music in my heritage. I heard a snippet of Anna's French song Naufragee Du Tendre (Shipwrecked) from Kate & Anna's French album, and it was a different arrangement. This version is very "Edith Piaf".

If you like unusual music, good vocals, interesting arrangements, and can find this CD, go for it.

You'll Love This Disc.......2000-08-16

In theory I shouldn't like this album. Although I try to listen to anything I can get my hands on, the majority of my listening time is taken up by punk and post-punk music. Thus, this quiet domestic album recorded by two Canadian sisters who sometimes sing in English and sometimes sing in French should turn me off.

The complete opposite is true, however. I love this record and find it both sophisticated and simple. The songs are beautiful, the lyrics resonant but not pretentious (Dancer With Bruised Knees is a good example--what a fantastic title! ). Dancer came out in 1977, a rather strange offering amidst the tepid pop that dominated the airwaves and the cutting edge New Wave/Punk that dominated the underground. Dancer, with its down-home production and all-around musical bliss, was instantly praised by critics from Rolling Stone to the Village Voice.

There's much to admire here. The title track is wonderfully metaphoric. Walking Song stands on its own as a simple (but nevertheless heartfelt) poem about relationships. No Buscuit Blues is simply flat-out fun. Shipwrecked and Be My Baby are both quite hooky. My favorite, though, is First Born, an homage to mothers singing about the singular pleasures of parenting that special first-born baby boy. Yep, when a song like this can get a confirmed bachelor like me humming, well, that's praise in itself. (I typically detest banal songs about the joys of parenthood--though I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that I don't have any children :-) But First Born's harmonies and heartfelt lyrics win me over every time.

I strongly recommend this fine album.

I am friends with your 2nd Cousin Abby in MN.......2000-01-05

You guys are the bomb! My friend Abby McGarrigle is related to you guys! SHe likes knowing you guys are successful and are happy! She has the Cd The McGarrigle hour and it is like her best friend! She sends her congrats and hello's to you! Friend Of Abby's

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