Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine: Robin Greenstein: Images of Women Vol. 1.

Windy 218

Before hearing this recording, I had only known Robin Greenstein as a singer-songwriter. It turns out that she once studied with the great Hedy West and, as she reveals on this set, she is, herself, a very impressive interpreter of traditional folk songs. With the exception of West's "Cotton Mill Girls," all of the songs here are traditional, all are performed in traditionally-oriented styles, and all are primarily about women. The women in many of these songs are tragic figures. There's the regretful wife who wishes she were a single girl again, the suicidal lover of the cheating railroad boy, the pair of suicidal lovers in "Katie Dear"--a variant of "Silver Dagger"--the battered, murdered woman in "The Wind and Rain," and the young mother who deserts her baby and husband, the house carpenter, to run away with a seaman, only to drown when his ship sinks. There's also the rich man's wife who deserts her husband and baby to run off with Blackjack Davy and the wife of the farmer who was too much trouble for the Devil himself.

Among my favorite tracks are a bluesy version of "I Know You Rider" that's reminiscent of Hot Tuna's arrangement and a lovely version of the lonesome lament, "Dink's Song (Fare Thee Well)."

Greenstein complements her comfortable-sounding vocals with some fine guitar and banjo playing. She also sparingly uses a synthesizer for added texture and receives some tasteful support from Barry Weisenfeld on bass, Richard Sleigh on harmonica and fiddler Charlie Rury. As she implies in the album title, she's planning to release a second volume of traditional songs in the future. I'm eagerly awaiting it.