7 Sisters
Brooks Williams
Green Linnet Records, Redbird Series
1997
11 tracks
Brooks Williams manages not to be just another guy with a guitar. Many of the new crop of singer-songwriters seem unable to shed their influences and find a unique voice. Each song they record echoes this singer or that almost to the point of suppressing their own voice. While it is possible to compare his work with certain antecedents, the voice on 7 Sisters is clearly that of Brooks Williams.
This is a thoughtful, reflective writer and performer whose songs manage to be bright and interesting while still reflecting contemporary concerns for ecology and the state of the world in general. In this he falls somewhere along a continuum between John Denver and Bruce Cockburn, tending toward the Denver end with songs that make his point through finely painted images rather than direct political statements.
Musically, Williams is sometimes closer to an early Gordon Lightfoot, an effect which may have as much to do with his decision to record in Canada with Bob Doidge, Lightfoot's former producer, as with his natural style. From song to song, however, the style of this release features a refreshing variety of style while still maintaining a certain unity. Musicians speak of an instrument being in tune with itself. If such an analogy may be made, Brooks Willams is indeed in tune with himself.
While it may serve well [or not] in defining what Brooks Williams is about as a songwriter, the title song is not as strong as some of the others on 7 Sisters. A song about a chain of seven mountains in Massachusetts, "Seven Sisters" at times sounds a bit forced. More subtle is a song Williams did not write, the Memphis Slim song, "Mother Earth."
It's interesting to find a wholly instrumental cut on a release by a contemporary singer-songwriter. "Minor Maybe" makes a refreshing break from the outpouring of political messages and lovesick blues [apologies to Hank Williams] we hear from the new folkies. It's like intermission before we go back to the concert.
This CD does also include songs about relationships. Of these, by far the most interesting is "Jane." The song is bright and lively and the story is interesting without slipping into the cliché trap.
Most interesting of the songs on 7 Sisters is "Some Fine Day." In its richly metaphorical lyrics, its melody, and the arrangement for this recording, "Some Fine Day" is highly reminiscent of the best Leonard Cohen recordings. On a CD filled with folk-country sounds, the arrangement for this song has the same quirky feel one notices in many Cohen songs. Where backup singers fill out and add richness to the Cohen songs, here Hugh Marsh's electric violin plays the same role, giving the song an edge that draws the listener into the melody. 7 Sisters is worth buying just for this song.
With this his seventh CD release in seven years, it is surprising that Brooks Williams is not better known. He is certainly a talent to be reckonned with and to watch for in the future.
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