Anyone who asks who Louise Goffin is may have been living under a rock for at least forty years [if not longer]. Forget where she came from [okay… famously gifted parents: Gerry Goffin and Carole King], because Louise Goffin has been her own person for over four decades: a fine musician – songwriter and lyricist – and an equally fine vocalist; an artist of the first order. As a songwriter, she has a superb grasp not only of how to craft a narrative, but she also digs deep into her emotions from where she springs lyrics to songs of sublime craftsmanship. She is also a vocalist of considerable warmth and agility, able to stretch her “pipes” from the sultry contralto to the lustrous soprano realms.
All of that makes her sensibilities and musicianship simply perfect for the making of [music] on the whimsically-entitled album Two Different Movies which also features an exquisite self-portrait of Miss Goffin done in line drawing by the great Joni Mitchell. Several of the songs on this repertoire have been written with other musicians and/or lyricists. But also significantly two of these songs have been crafted by Miss Goffin alone. “Oh My God” is the epitomé of Miss Goffin’s artistry. Its beauty of emotion and of tone has not only been eloquently captured in Miss Goffin’s achingly beautiful vocals, but also in the poetic orchestrations by Van Dyke Parks and a ravishing performance by the instrumentalists together with a large ensemble of strings, brass, reeds and woodwinds.
The instrumentalists are also in particularly good form on every other song from folksy rhythms of “Simple Life” and the undulating rhythms of “Rattle and The Roll” to the profoundly beautiful chart “The Heart is the Last Frontier”, through to Miss Goffin’s wistful song, “It Started a Long Time Ago” before bringing the album to a graceful close on “Safe Place to Land”. Throughout, as the album promises, Miss Goffin’s music “unreels” her two movies – one, a story of all the travails and doubts of a bittersweet of and the other in which she sings of a life that seems to come into bloom.
Everywhere Miss Goffin reveals the full stylistic breadth of her musicianship, together with an impressive grasp of the poetry of feeling. She also surrounds herself with a group of sympathetic and imaginative accompanists who join her in weaving this magical with colour balance and timing, while we rediscover a completely original and sublimely-gifted musical voice for the ages; one who is every bit as magical as the illustrious parents who bore her.
Track list – 1: Simple Life; 2: Rattle and the Roll; 3: Heart Attack; 4: Oh My God; 5: Made to Be Good; 6: The Heart Is the Last Frontier; 7: Every Love Song; 8: Two Different Movies; 9: It Started a Long Time Ago; 10: Safe Place to Land
Personnel – Louise Goffin: vocals and guitars, synths and harmonica [3], Wurlitzer and vibraphone [4], backing vocals [4, 8], piano [5, 6, 10] and ukulele [9]; Dillon O’Brian: piano [1], drums [2], shorty guitar [3, 5], Hammond C3 [4, 6, 7, 9, 10], piano [8]; Benmont Tench: Mellotron [1, 6]; Billy Harvey: acoustic guitar [2, 5], shorty guitar [2] and vocals [2, 5], backing vocals [3, 7]; Fernando Perdomo: guitar [1, 3] and sitar [6]; Doug Pettibone: guitar [1], electric guitar [3, 6]; Val McCallum: electric guitar [2, 5]; Greg Leisz: guitar [solo on 3], lap steel guitar [7 – 10, solo on 7]; Timothy Young: electric guitar [3]; Mark Goldenberg: guitar [4, 7] and electric guitar [9]; Dean Parks: acoustic guitar [8, 10]; David Catlin-Birch: bass [1, 3, 6, 8, 10] and acoustic guitar [10]; Sean Hurley: bass [2, 4, 6, 8]; Dave Way: bass [4]; Jeremy Stacey: drums [1, 6, 8, 10]; Charley Drayton: drums [4, 7]; Pete Thomas: drums [5]; Butch Norton: drums [9]; Wally Ingram: percussion [1, 3, 6, 7]; Patrick Warren: strings and celeste [4]; Lee Curreri: horns [4]; Dave Way: piccolo flute [4]; Emmett Spooner: backing vocal [1, 6]; Mindy Jones: backing vocals [6]; Justin Kimball: backing vocals [6]; Jodi Marr: backing vocals [9]; Van Dyke Parks: orchestral arrangement [4]; John Rosenberg: conductor [4]; Violins – Peter Kent: concertmaster; Julie Rogers, Cameron Patrick, Evette Holzworth, Joel Derouin, Kevin Connoly, Amy Hershberger, Ben Hudson, Lisa Dondlinger, John Wittenberg; Violas – Andrew Duckles, Darren McCann, Briana Bandy, Matt Nabours; Celli – Giovanna Clayton, Rudi Stein, Alicia Bauer; Dave Stone: contrabass; Amy Shulman: harp; Patty Cloud: 1st flute; Terri Christian: 2nd flute; Chris Bleth: oboe and clarinet; Geoff Nudell: clarinet; John Mitchell: bass clarinet; Joe Meyer: French horn [brass]
Released – 2020
Label – Majority of One Records [MJ1 – M2B3773-20]
Runtime – 39:00
