Welcome to our new feature in which AUK writers look at the best and the worst from an artist we know and love.
Stuck with the man in the mirror.
For this new feature, I installed a mirror in my office. Not so I could check my hair or gaze longingly into my own eyes but to discuss the merits or otherwise of my two choices with myself. Choosing one of my all-time favourite artists and deciding which of their albums I could live without and which was essential to my musical well-being was going to be tough. That mirror and I were going to be busy, and the arguments had only just begun.
Can’t Live Without It: “So Runs the World Away” (2010)
The first Josh Ritter album I ever listened to was “Live at the Iveagh Gardens”. I bought and downloaded a copy to listen to on a drive to Sheffield one Saturday morning. What an absolute classic. Welcome to the “Ritter Universe,” which only took an hour. Unsurprisingly, the Josh Ritter album I can’t live without is “So Runs The World Away”. Wait there… a gasp from the mirror, and he’s saying, what about “The Animal Years”, what about “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter”, what about the brilliant “Fever Breaks”? You can see what a difficult situation I had put myself in. “So Runs The World Away” features prominently in that first Ritter live album I ever listened to. No fewer than eight of its thirteen tracks feature on the album.
A free Uncut magazine CD was issued in February 2011 called “Homeward Bound: 21st Century Troubadours.” It included some incredible music from the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Josh T Pearson, and the then-little-known Nathaniel Rateliff, but the top of the bill was Josh Ritter with ‘Lantern’ from the album “So Runs the World Away.” It was always written in the stars that that introduction and the “Live at Iveagh Gardens” set would pave the way for my favourite Ritter album.
“So Runs the World Away” is produced by Sam Kassirer who does seem to bring the best out in Ritter, his production giving the songs a living breathing feel. Ritter is very good at storytelling, the art of a gripping yarn. ‘The Curse, ’ is about an Egyptian mummy. “He opens his eyes falls in love at first sight / With the girl in the doorway”. This is an incredible opening; the listener has to say “please tell us more”. It’s a story song that has you on the edge of your seat and even though when you listen again, you know what will happen, it never grows old. The pace, the phrasing and the imagery set it apart. It’s like a favourite film. I have watched films many times. I know where they are going, but they are still outstanding.
Then there is Ritter’s take on the age-old ‘Stackalee’ or ‘Stagger Lee’ tale. Over four hundred Stackalee songs are out there, and Ritter wrings new life out of them for this narrative. In this version, old Stagger kills Louis Collins and is sentenced to death by ‘Hangin’ Billy Lyons. The irony of where they are both laid to rest is perfect.
Then, finally, no album is complete without some polar exploration. The haunting melody of ‘Another New World’ is worth the entrance money alone. You can feel the ill-fated ship Annabelle Lee creaking as she tries to stay with the captain. Add ten beautifully crafted songs to those, and you have the one I can’t live without.
Can’t Live With It: “The Golden Age” (2001)
The man in the mirror is giving me that furrowed brow look, “So which one of Ritter’s albums can’t you live with?” he asks, holding his head in his hands. This is when I avoid eye contact and mumble under my breath,” Golden Age of Radio”. Silence. Is this a bad album? Of course not, but let me try to explain, and maybe I can make some sense.
Two of the main reasons are simply the incredible versions of ‘Me & Jiggs’ and ‘Harrisburg’ within that ‘Iveagh Gardens’ live set that, by going backwards to “Golden Age”, it would never live up to them. ‘Harrisburg’ live includes a fantastic piece of Ritter storytelling in the middle and brings along the Reverend Obadiah Zachariah Book of Revelations Hickman who takes us on a Chris Isaak ‘Wicked Game‘ sermon. “Golden Age of Radio” feels like Ritter is still learning his craft. Those early recordings are incredible songs, as proved once you hear the live versions. ‘Lawrence, Ks’ is a wonderful song that sounds laboured on “Golden Age”. Compare it with the live version included in the 2020 collection “I Have Built You a Mansion” collection, and there is a brightness. Ritter’s incredible personality comes through, which with “Golden Age” I felt was somehow lost.
Unfortunately “Golden Age of Radio” didn’t make the cut and goes to the back of the cupboard. Luckily for me this is all hypothetical, and anyway, the 2009 deluxe version includes Ritter playing the whole set acoustically, and it is incredible. I could still listen to that couldn’t I? The man in the mirror shakes his head and turns off the light.
