Hickory Wind | Tom Rush @ Chocolate Church

October 20, 2005

Tom Rush @ Chocolate Church

Posted by Sean Moores at October 20, 2005 8:36 AM

Tom Rush
Oct. 7, 2005
Chocolate Church, Bath, Maine

Since I grew up in a house with a father who listened to '60s folkies, I assumed that a lot of people my age were raised on Tom Rush records. It was only when I got out on my own that I realized he wasn't necessarily a name in other households.

I've done my best to spread the word to my peers, but it was nice to get back home and see Rush perform in front of an appreciative crowd that included Dad, Mom and my wife, who became a fan upon seeing Rush for the first time a couple of years ago. The crowd did seem to be predominately over 40, though.

With apologies to the HickoryWind readers who are familiar with Rush (and for whom this will be review), I'm going to tell you why I think you should check him out, too.

Rush started out on the Boston club circuit in the early '60s and earned a reputation as a guitar picker of note and a fine singer with a rich, deep baritone. He also became known as a great interpreter of others' songs and arranger of traditional tunes. It helped that he had an ear for great material.

Two of the tunes he played at the Chocolate Church, "Urge for Going" and "The Circle Game," were written by Joni Mitchell and gave many fans their first exposure to a largely unknown Mitchell when he recorded the songs for his 1968 album, "The Circle Game." That album, which also included songs by James Taylor ("Something in the Way She Moves") and Jackson Browne ("Shadow Dream Song"), gained notice for all three artists and ushered in the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s. In Bath, he also did a soulful cover of "Drift Away," which has been a big hit for Dobie Gray and Uncle Kracker.

In many ways, Mitchell, Taylor and Browne surpassed Rush in sales and acclaim. That's not uncommon in the music business, but shouldn't be used as the only yardstick of success.

At the Chocolate Church, Rush backed up his reputation as an outstanding performer of traditional acoustic blues on tunes such as the train song "Panama Limited" (a combination of a couple different Bukka White songs) and the timely "Galveston Flood," a traditional song about the deadly 1900 flood in Galveston, Texas. Rush played "Galveston" seated, laying his acoustic guitar in his lap and using a butter knife as a slide. The train sounds Rush made with his guitar on "Panama Limited" fascinated me as a child, and I find them no less fascinating as an adult who can play the guitar a little.

Because Rush is such an excellent interpretive performer, it's easy to overlook his talent as a writer. His "No Regrets," which he also performed in Bath, has been covered by dozens of artists, including Emmylou Harris and Waylon Jennings. It's also being used by U2 on its "Vertigo" tour, with Bono weaving lines from the song into "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own."

Rush has made a couple of other notable contributions. One is his Club 47 concerts. Established in the early '80s and named for the Cambridge coffeehouse where he got his start, the shows bring together established and new talent in celebrations of song. Not only have they given early exposure to artists such as Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith and Alison Krauss, but they also created a successful template for package tours that followed, such as Lollapalooza and Lilith Fair.

Rush also started his own label, Night Light, in the early '80s. This helped him increase his royalties dramatically and paved the way for Ani Difranco's success story with Righteous Babe.

Even though he's been a trendsetter, Rush has primarily been a crowd-pleaser in his 40-plus years as a performer. He has an engaging personality on the stage, and breaks up the serious songs with funny stories and tunes, such as "Making the Best of a Bad Situation" and the John Prine-Fred Koller-penned "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" on this particular night.

It's not a comedy show, though, a point driven home by the first song of the encore, "Child's Song." It's a poignant tune about a young man leaving home, and if you can hear it without getting at least a little tear in your eye then you're a lot tougher than me.

Rush knows better than leaving a packed house on a sad note, so he closed with Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" On its feet, the crowd answered enthusiastically.

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If you're interested in checking out Rush's recorded work, I'd recommend starting with "The Very Best of Tom Rush: No Regrets," which is on Columbia/Legacy. It's available in most good record stores for around 12 bucks or on Rush's Web site for $15. It covers Rush's career from the early '60s to 1999, the year it was released. Included are "Panama Limited," "Galveston Flood," "Urge For Going," "No Regrets" and "Child's Song."

Comments

Hey Sean, I understand that Son Volt will be playing at the 9:30 club on Friday. Will we be getting an exclusive report from you on that one as well? I also see where the show will be webcast live on NPR.org.

Posted by: James at October 20, 2005 11:13 AM

I actually will be at the show Friday, so you can expect a review at my regularly scheduled time on Thursday.

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