Audio Cassette review:
Loudon Wainwright III - Career Moves

Loudon Wainwright III - Career Moves

Band: Loudon Wainwright III Title: Career Moves Rating: Release Date: 07 September, 1993 Media: Audio Cassette Tracks: 1: Road Ode 2: I'm Alright 3: Five Years Old 4: Your Mother and I 5: Westchester County 6: He Said, She Said 7: Christmas Rap 8: Suddenly It's Christmas 9: Thanksgiving 10: Fine Celtic Name 11: T.S.M.N.W.A. 12: Some Balding Guys 13: Swimming Song 14: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder 15: Happy Birthday Elvis 16: Fabulous Songs 17: Unhappy Anniversary 18: I'd Rather Be Lonely 19: Just Say No 20: April Fool's Day Morn 21: Man Who Couldn't Cry 22: Acid Song 23: Tip That Waitress 24: Career Moves

Editoral Review Country clubs are too easy a target for anger, so on this live album, Wainwright pokes fun at the absurd customs of "Westchester County" where he grew up. Folk music is supposed to be the sound of people describing their own lives and communities, but how many of the countless folk singers from the suburbs sing about private schools and country club dances? Loudon Wainwright III does. He's a very funny guy, and the album's 19 songs (not to mention the between-song patter) wring new laughs out of such well worn subjects as Christmas, swimming pools, Elvis Presley, and sex. Wainwright isn't much of a singer, and he's less of a guitarist, but he's a clever wordsmith with a real knack for pushing the inherent absurdity of common situations out into the open. Career Moves is divided between unaccompanied songs and those performed with fiddler/mandolinist David Mansfield and banjoist Chaim Tannenbaum. Six of the songs have never been released on an album; the other 13 are drawn from all phases of a 25-year career. All in all, the album makes a good introduction to Wainwright for newcomers and a fine summary for old fans. --Geoffrey Himes .. You can see a complete list of all Loudon Wainwright III discography, or go back to the Loudon Wainwright III tabs