The Village (Snap To It): JAY Records, Cherry Red Celebrate "Folk City" with New Concept Album

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The name of Gerdes Folk City has long been synonymous with the halcyon era of the Greenwich Village music scene. Bob Dylan made his New York debut on its tiny stage and later debuted "Blowin' in the Wind" there. Peter, Paul, and Mary played their first official gig together at Gerdes. Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Doc Watson were the among the dozens of major artists who made Gerdes a home in the club's early days. Its later years saw a wide variety of artists including Elvis Costello, The Replacements, Suzanne Vega, and Adam Sandler, but the foundation of the Gerdes legend will always be the folk era. Though the club closed in 1987, its owner Robbie Woliver (who purchased it in 1980 with Marilyn Lash and Joseph Hillesum) has kept it alive with books and multimedia projects.

The latest celebration of Gerdes' legacy takes the form of a concept album for a new musical. Folk City: The Greenwich Village Musical has arrived on 2 CDs from JAY Records via Cherry Red, and it's particularly timely given the recent release of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. It's also a studio cast album with a difference. Whereas the stage version (which premiered off-Broadway in 2016 and was staged in 2018 at Oregon's Stumptown Stages) was a jukebox musical featuring the songs of Dylan, Pete Seeger, The Doors, and others, the audio version features a completely new score with contributions from Americana singer-songwriter Tracy Nelson ("I Belong Here") and The Smithereens' Pat DiNizio ("It's a Shot," which he also sings). Much of the score was penned by Ronnie D'Addario; Nick Lohri and Gary Allen English are among the other songwriters represented. Robbie Woliver, who wrote the book of the musical with Bernadette Contreras, also serves as lyricist. He co-produced the album with his wife, Marilyn Lash. Cast members include Abby Dormer as Shelley Moore, Judah Frank as Tony D'Angelo, George Anthony Papas as Ernie Davis, Emily Blount as Jazz, R.O. Shapiro as Brian McNamara, Paula Brion as Karen Fairchild, and Morgan Mallory as Dean Graham.

The story spans the 1960s through the 1980s and is a fictionalized account of the musical and cultural evolution of the Greenwich Village scene, with the songs reflecting not just folk but a wide variety of musical styles and genres. All told, Folk City boasts 30 songs from 14 contributors, maintaining the eclectic jukebox musical spirit but with original material - mostly in a pastiche vein. "Love at Third Sight," led by Judah Frank, recalls The Four Seasons. "My Baby's the Groove" and "Far Enough" are among the blues-based tunes here. (Blues played a big part in Gerdes Folk City history; Bob Dylan supported John Lee Hooker in his first appearance at the club.) A late '60s harmony-pop vibe is conjured on "California (State I'm In)" and the baroque-flecked "Out of Sync," sung by Morgan Mallory and Abby Dormer, respectively. The ironically rollicking, anti-war anthem "Let's Hear It for Me" calls to mind Country Joe and his ilk, while "Stars, Baby" offers a shot of keyboard- and guitar-driven psychedelia. Elsewhere, Folk City channels Ronnie Spector (the soulful "Good Goodbye") and The Doors ("Dear Friends"). The most theatrical songs include "Rising Fahrenheit" (sung by Frank) and the gospel-infused "I Belong Here" (led by Paula Brion, and presumably the musical's big eleven o'clock number).

Folk City makes for an enjoyable, engrossing, and well-performed song cycle. It's somewhat less successful as a cast recording, as it's difficult to discern characters or plot from the lyrics. This is likely because Woliver and co. have composed these new songs to stand in for the classics that originally occupied a spot in the book; they don't appear to drive the story forward in the manner of most musicals. Rather than a book musical, the album conjures a revue. (The well-recorded audio, tracked in a dozen different cities, has been mixed by JAY founder John Yap as part of the label's DigiMix series.)

Still, there's plenty of context to make this a worthwhile listen. The 2-CD digipak contains a 16-page booklet, and the interior digipak panels offer further text. In addition, a whopping 84-page liner note booklet can be accessed here. It's clear that this release is a labor of love for Woliver, Lash, and their team as they seek to make the legend of Gerdes Folk City accessible to a new generation. The songs add up to an alternate-reality top 40, and listeners will enjoy spotting the many inspirations. Will Folk City: The Musical inspire further stagings of the show? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind - but this meticulously-produced and altogether ambitious concept album should go a long way. The concept album is available now from Cherry Red and JAY Records. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Folk City: The Greenwich Village Musical (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red)

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