by GeoX #2

Gordon Bok "Return to the Land" 1990





















GeoX said...
As requested: Return to the Land, from 1990. It's hard for me to be objective about this album, since I heard it constantly when it first came out and I was young and impressionable. I don't think it's Bok's best work--it mostly consists of covers (and the less said about the original "Pearly" the better), and I think some of them are a bit overly precious. That said, I love them anyway, and several of the songs here rank among his finest recordings by any standard. "Get Her into Shore" is a doomy maritime song that he easily could have written himself; "Bare-Legged Kate" is a stark, tragic Australian ballad; and "These Dry Stone Walls" is nicely meditative. In any case, I hope you all enjoy the album.

01. This Old Mandolin
02. Return to the Land
03. Get Her into Shore
04. These Dry Stone Walls
05. Fiddler of Dooney
06. Lament for Limerick
07. Bare-Legged Kate
08. The Wreck of the Green Cove
09. A Little Road and a Stone to Roll
10. The Arbutus
11. The Swag and the Shiner
12. Song of the Wheelhouse Door
13. I Held a Lady
14. O Mar
15. Sally
16. Culebra
17. Pearly (Little Red)