Steve Martin has the right idea. He’s not using his celebrity to pursue a ballroom dancing career, design a Kmart clothing line, or promote unfortunate YouTube videos. He’s making banjo albums.
Ok, so maybe that’s not the traditional thing to do with money and influence, but there are worse things a 66-year-old comedian could do than play some bluegrass.
Martin’s first album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, was released in 2009 to generally positive, if somewhat bemused, reviews. Martin has played banjo since he was a teenager and is clearly an accomplished picker. In 2009 he debuted at the Grande Ole Opry and jammed with Paul Simon on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Basically he’s a big deal.
Rare Bird Alert, a collaboration with Steep Canyon Rangers, is further proof of this. The thirteen-track album mixes Martin’s now familiar picking with well-blended vocals, wailing fiddles and even some prominent slap bass (in “Jubilation Day”).
The album is uneven, though. Tracks like “Women Like To Slow Dance” and “Best Love” are standard and teeter on the brink of being corny. “Go Away, Stop, Turn Around, Come Back” and “More Bad Weather on the Way,” on the other hand, are catchy and generally more heartening. Both have interesting melodic lines and undergo meaningful development during the bridge.
The first song on the album, the title track, is entirely instrumental and reflects Martin’s sense of humor. Multiple caesurae bring the otherwise driving tempo to a grinding halt at various points. Later, an abrupt transition leads to the last section of the song in which the musicians play faster and faster. Martin seems to be poking fun at Bluegrass’s hallmark up-tempo picking.
Two other instrumental tracks on the album are “Northern Island” and “To Great Remember (for Nancy).” The former is a typical Martin track with a quick tempo and repetitive line that drives to a sudden ending.
The latter though has a more special quality. It is not particularly slow or mournful (though the fiddle does have a lyrical melody line), but Martin’s quiet and understated features make it beautiful. “To Great Remember” is not a particularly memorable track during a first run-through of the album. It is something to reconsider and revisit later.
The last two songs on the album, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs” and “King Tut” are both live tracks with significant audience enthusiasm. Martin toured with Steep Canyon Rangers at various points during 2010, and both songs were staples of their concerts.
The best and most obvious examples of Martin’s humor on the album, the two songs blend everything from ancient history to e-mail references.
“King Tut” contains lyrics such as, “Born in Arizona/ Moved to Babylonia” and “He gave his life for tourism.” Martin sings, or rather speaks, the lead vocals, and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform backups, alternately repeating the lyrics “King Tut” and “Funky Tut.”
In “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs,” Martin gives a comedic speech, announcing that, “Atheists really have nothing . . . Until now.” The song is a call and response, and the group repeatedly returns to the line, “The ‘he’ is always lowercase.” The funniest lines receive cheers and clapping from the audience.
Rare Bird Alert is a surprising mix, given its highs and lows, but overall Martin’s humor and Steep Canyon Rangers’ musicianship make the album a success.
The Crow’s unique character carried it, and Rare Bird Alert has much of the same buoyancy. Hopefully Steve Martin will continue making bluegrass albums as an alternative to becoming Charlie Sheen.
