Tuesday 31 March 2015

Richie Furay - Hand in Hand, album review



Earnestly

Richie Fury – Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band – has released his latest solo album to celebrate his many years in the countryrock business, as well as 48 years of marriage to wife Nancy who appears with him on the album’s front cover in their wedding photo. Opening track We Were the Dreamers sets out that rejoicing stall with all the musical requisites perfectly in place [sweet harmonies, Country-inflected tune and rock guitars] and a punchy lyric about being at the forefront of the genre in those early days and doing it all for fun. I’ll happily accept that premise, and the next track Hand in Hand, written about Nancy, is a further generic gem to consolidate the musical promise.

It is an earnest album overall, reflecting at times his Christian commitments as a preacher, and also some twee patriotism in the track Don’t Tread on Me, a sentiment I accept as honest but find cloying in its clichés.

There is a bright version of his former hit Kind Woman – written for wife Nancy when playing with Buffalo Springfield but actually released with second band Poco [*] – and it features guest vocals from both Neil Young and Kenny Loggins. The album closes on Love at First Sight featuring Richie’s daughter Jesse Furay Lynch, a reprise of the song which is also the seventh track. You cannot knock the simple honesties in Furay’s love of family, country and other factors that make him feel so happy and content, though some may find it all a little too quaint. 


[*] please see Comments for clarification on this, with apologies for the error

2 comments:

  1. One tiny correction: "Kind Woman" appeared on the Springfield's last original LP, "Last Time Around," pre Poco. And the version that's on Richie's new CD first appeared on his then-most-recent, "The Heartbeat of Love."

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    1. Thank you Don for reading, and for making this important correction. Lazy of me to rely on research that was wrong, or I got wrong [did Richie perhaps not perform 'Kind Woman' live until with Poco?]. Whatever, you are right on both points and I need to be more careful: views on the music are always mine, but I do try to research beyond my limited knowledge on many occasions and clearly wasn't attentive and/or exhaustive enough this time!

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