Most songwriters aren t fit to carry this guy s pencil case - I first heard Pete Nelson on Big Times in a Small Town: The Vineyard Tapes, one of Christine Lavins wonderful workshop recordings. His song from that disc, Summer of Love, left me in tears the first half-dozen times I heard it. It can still do so many years and many listenings later. That disc is still available, and I recommend it without hesitation. The incredible reception that song got from the other singers and songwriters at the conference must have inspired him, because shortly thereafter he entered the studio and produced Restless Boys Club (1996). It is now nearly a dozen years later, and Restless Boys Club and his second effort, Days Like Horses (2000) remain in print and are still selling. How can this be, when so many other singer/songwriters have come and gone in that span?Nelson s songs pierce to the heart. Norman is equally as striking as Summer of Love and far more daring. Its breathless delivery and overlapping phrasing is a perfect presentation of Norman s happy but confused state of mind, and the cheerful presentation is at first completely antithetical to the startling denouement. But repeated listening and the discovered subtleties of Norman s story eventually bring the listener around to agreeing that it s the right presentation for his story.An equally serious story is told in Mirrored Ball , a wonderful little tale of his boyhood where he learned some immediate truths from his grandmother, plus a few more that he wouldn t understand for years.At least once a year I pull out one of these discs and listen. Brilliant stories told in rhyme, with a gentle and understated presentation. Simply told, simply performed, and simply won t let you go. Every few years I rummage around the internet in hopes of finding him on tour our back in the studio. Sadly, his career as novelist and documentary/memoir writer (That Others May Live, Left for Dead: A Young Man s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis, others) seems to keep him too busy for music. His books are good, but not that creme de la creme that is his songwriting.Recommended, to say the least.
Best CD I bought last year - Amazing variety and depth from one artist. From the bluesy feel of Remember Me and Newly Single to the lullaby to his niece Maggie, Nelson amazes me with his wit and sincerity. Nelson s songs/stories touch all aspects of life: family (Mirrored Ball), love and the loss of love (Two Hearts, One Horse Town), as well as the pains of middle age (Let s Get Some Beers, Old). Do not attempt to do anything else while listening to this album, you will do neither task well.The only disappointment someone might have with the album is with his best-known song, Summer of Love. It is still a powerful, beautiful song that can bring tears to your eyes, but the studio recording lacks the intimacy of the version on Christine Lavin s compilation Big Times in a Small Town. However, this is nitpicking on an album that deserves far more airplay than it is getting.