Charlie Parr – Rooming House
This is Mr. Parr’s 20th album & it comes as a conceptual narrative. A folk opera though it only features 7 descriptive tracks. The story is rather intense since it explores the hardships of ordinary people with economic insecurity, finding strength in harsh conditions. Parr’s haunting Delta-blues guitar & gritty voice adds to the authenticity of his enticing songs. The self-produced set of original songs about Upper Midwesterners on Rooming House (Dropped Oct. 16/Smithsonian Folkways Recordings/35:03) was recorded in a manner that allows it to sound as if it were a field recording. Spare, tight, & basically essential.
“Duluth 1964” isn’t a dance tune but a listening tune. As many of the songs that follow come as vignettes about a shared rooming house environment & the varied personalities who pass through it. There are references to communal kitchens, drafty hallways, shared meals & shared generosities. It’s a struggle that continues today in several ways but a blemish on society since these society-ills have existed for decades (just look at the pictures of photographer Jacob Riis). The songs are all well-sung & played with a certain amount of desperation that gets squeezed through carefully played guitar notes.
“Rooming House” is a descriptive tune but it’s “Mother Sara” & “Duluth 2026” that have the most accessible melodies. Upbeat yet sad in the same realm. None of these songs are actually ripe with entertainment but made as a wake-up call. Many folk songs of the past have been radical & had served a harsh truth of injustices. Instead, Mr. Parr (Mule & National resonator guitars/12-string guitar) paints an assertive picture of how it is in a place that’s inescapable. The themes are heavy since they focus on people who are, for the most part, invisible to society.
Along with Charlie’s dark wild strain of poignancy provided by his guitar rooted in Piedmont blues with Depression-era roots influenced playing in its tone & approach, he’s accompanied by drummer Dave King. It’s an ambitious set. But at the same time, there’s a signature sound to Charlie that’s wholly his own. Maybe it’s his scruffy appearance, his weathered sound or simply that he’s closer to the earth than most. Sees what others don’t, is not afraid to choose a tough subject to address.
Without words 5 minutes in, the long finale of “Lilliput Park,” with its delicate percussion, incisive guitar & the warm strains of Jacqueline Ultan’s sublime cello certainly puts a hefty cohesion to the music. There are songs that tend to go through the ears into the head & never reach the heart. Charlie’s words never fail to reach the heart.
Highlights – “Duluth 1964,” “Rooming House,” “Mother Sara,” “Duluth 2026” & “Lilliput Park.”
Color image courtesy of Bandcamp. Sepia image courtesy of Shelly Mossman. CD @ Bandcamp & https://www.charlieparr.com/ & https://folkways.si.edu/charlie-parr/rooming-house + https://alleyesmedia.com/clients/charlieparr/