Essentials: The Top 10 Nanci Griffith Albums

Over the course of her career Nanci Griffith recorded 18 studio albums and 2 live albums. There were a couple of disappointments in amongst those but nowhere near enough to make this a straightforward task. Having initially narrowed my choices down to 13 albums, three had to be cast adrift and this was difficult.

Griffith’s penultimate album ‘The Loving Kind’ was released in 2009 on Rounder Records receiving mixed reviews at the time. It was the most country album of her career. We’re talking traditional honky-tonk sounds here rather than the more familiar folk-country of her early career. It was also quite a political album with a social justice thread running through it. Lyrically it wasn’t her most poetic album, but a very interesting listen nevertheless.

‘Storms’ released in 1989 was Griffith’s third album for MCA and her seventh overall. The first two having failed to make a significant commercial breakthrough Grifith steered a more pop-orientated path but still with a folk foundation. Although the new sound, produced by Glyn Johns, didn’t always work, unlike many albums that received the 80s pop treatment ‘Storms’ is still very listenable today, due in large part to the excellent quality of the songwriting.

It was with some sadness that my final cut had to be Nanci Griffith’s debut album from 1978 ‘There’s a Light Beyond These Woods’. It’s a lovely record with Griffith at her most folksy sounding. The songs are good and the production is sparse, giving the album a fresh organic feel. However, ultimately, she was to go on and improve and develop herself as an artist in the records that immediately followed.

Thus I arrived at my final 10 with just the small matter of putting them in order facing me.

Number 10: “Flyer” (1994)

Nominated for a Grammy (it only lost out to Johnny Cash’s ‘American Recordings’), “Flyer” was a return to self-penned songs after the critically acclaimed covers album “Other Voices Other Rooms”. Produced by Peter Collins and Peter Buck, the record also featured an array of other celebrated musicians including Emmylou Harris, Mark Knopfler, Adam Duritz (Counting Crows), The Chieftains and The Indigo Girls. The songs, all bar one of which was at least part written by Griffith, are more personal than previously, frequently autobiographical and compellingly honest. They are also excellent, and with Griffith’s voice at its strongest and most confident, that’s a great set of ingredients for a fine album.

Number 9: “Hearts in Mind” (2004)

Another record that can split opinions. Musically it was a return to her traditional folk-country sound, with some great songs and coming as it did one year into the Iraq War, it is also resplendent with a general, rather than specific, anti-war sentiment. It sounds much more like her ’80s and early ’90s output (a good thing!) than her later attempts at breaking into the pop market. It has been argued that the album was a retrograde step and that in returning to her familiar old sound she had run out of ideas. This is easily repudiated. Griffith sounds comfortable and at ease working within her natural format and the songs are strong and mainly self-written. It’s a confident performance throughout with Griffith again sounding fresh and reinvigorated.

Number 8: “One Fair Summer Evening” (1988)

Nanci Griffith’s seventh album was her first live one. Recorded in the intimate surroundings of Anderson Fair, a folk club in Houston, Texas, the album featured stripped down versions of songs from previous albums and a couple of new ones. Essentially Griffith was a folksinger, and this album captures her in her most natural environment. There is a clean, natural feel to each song as Griffith’s voice caresses each lyric and brings every word to life in a heartfelt way. A beautiful album full of warmth and emotion.

Number 7: “Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)” (1998)

Nanci Griffith was a very accomplished songwriter but like her friend and influence Emmylou Harris, she was also a great interpreter of the songs of others. This album was effectively a sequel to “Other Voices, Other Rooms”  her Grammy winning covers album of 1993. The clear difference between the two was that whilst that album consisted of Griffith’s own interpretations of other’s songs, this was a collaborative effort with a an array of talent appearing on the album, including Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Guy Clark, John Prine, Richard Thompson, Lyle Lovett, Rodney Crowell, Gillian Welch, Tom Rush, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Odetta and the Crickets. Its best moments are truly glorious, but it is quite long, over an hour, and there are arguably one or two tracks that had they been left off might well have made it an even better album.

Number 6: “Poet in My Window” (1982)

Griffith’s second album had the same folksy vibe as her debut but was an altogether much more assured and accomplished set. Other than Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s ‘Tonight I’m Gonna Go Down Town’, the album consisted of Griffith originals. With Griffith’s voice and her guitar well to the fore it’s very much a singer-songwriter album and defined her core style for many years to come. There are some excellent songs contained within the album, ‘Heart of a Miner’ and ‘Working in Corners’ being possibly the pick. It can be seen not just as an excellent album in its own right, but also as one that acted as a springboard to a run of outstanding albums over the following six years that would establish Griffith as a major and enduring talent.

Number 5: “Once in a Very Blue Moon” (1984)

On her third album Griffith, guided by the production skills of Jim Rooney, adopted a much more country sound with top players such as Béla Fleck (banjo), Mark O’Connor (fiddle), Lloyd Green (pedal steel) and Roy Huskey Jr. (upright bass). This provides for a quicker pace than the more folk-orientated first two records and Griffith matches it with a punchier singing style. Griffith wrote eight of the album’s twelve songs, the others being provided by Eric Taylor, Bill Staines, Richard Dobson and Pat Alger. It represented a seamless move from folk to country, although Griffith continued to have one foot firmly in the folk camp throughout her career.

Number 4: “Lone Star State of Mind“(1987)

This was Griffith’s first album for MCA and her fifth overall. MCA wanted to market Griffith as a country artist bringing in renowned country producer Tony Brown for the album. Despite that, it still had an overriding folk feel to it, which not only was it all the better for, but also underlined that Griffith was not prepared to be manipulated and marketed into something that she wasn’t. With differing interests pulling the album in different directions it might have been a disaster, but the mainstream production actually complements Griffith’s style and presents it in a new light. The strength of the album is in the songwriting and by shifting Griffith in a more country based direction, Brown gives her a new platform to work in different ways. Somehow it all works beautifully.

Number 3: “Other Voices, Other Rooms” (1993)

As previously noted as well being a terrific songwriter in her own right, Nanci Griffith was also a wonderful interpreter of the lyrics of others. Nowhere is this more ably demonstrated than on this her tenth studio album on which she pays homage to some of the great songwriters that had influenced her own career. Dylan, Prine and Van Zandt would be expected to be represented, but so too are lesser known writers which adds interest and variety to the collection. It is a measure of Griffith’s standing amongst other artists that Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Guy Clark and Iris DeMent all add guest vocals and indeed one Robert Zimmerman even shows up to play a bit of harmonica on his own composition. It would be churlish to pick out individual tracks as this needs to be viewed as what it is, a fabulous collection.

Number 2: “Little Love Affairs” (1987)

Nanci Griffith’s second album for MCA was another attempt to market her to a more country-pop audience. However, Griffith keeps a strong folk element to it and as with its predecessor “Lone Star State of Mind” the tussle between the two approaches actually produces a very unique and interesting outcome. What marks it up from that album is the strength and consistency of the songs. Whilst mostly consisting of her own solely or co-written songs, Griffith also covers John Stewart, Robert Earl Keen and Harlan Howard. When the album is pushed in a more country direction Griffith keeps it authentic with a more traditional style than that which MCA were probably aiming for. This is the sound of Griffith absorbing the sounds, ideas and opportunities of a major production, but very much on her own terms. Magnificent.

Number 1: “Last of the True Believers” (1986)

Griffith’s fourth album was her last to come out on an independent label, in this case Philo, and represents the peak of her folk years before MCA steered her in a more overtly country direction. The songs are amongst the strongest selection that Griffith put out at any time in her career. Jim Rooney’s expert production presents them all in a wonderfully crisp and fresh folk style. Griffith’s country leanings are most definitely evident here, but this is very much an American folk album which absorbs and assimilates traditional styles and amalgamates them into something quite beautiful. Griffith’s sweet and true vocal delivery is the topping on a very rich cake.