Traveler's Code
Darryl Purpose
Tangible Music
1999
11 tracks
On the television show "News Radio" there's an episode where a magazine article calls the character Bill McNeil "adequate" and he makes a point of telling all and sundry how proud he is to have achieved this status of adequate. In the end, he admits that there is no great glory in being just adequate. Many singer/songwriters today are Bill McNeils, apparently unaware that they could do better. They write lyrics that are pretty good but undistinguished and set them to musical compositions of about the same quality. They then record a performance of these songs that is perfectly adequate, but often not better than that, and they release it to the world.
Usually, these are competent musicians who have accomplished a certain level of skill as instrumentals, singers, and sometimes even writers. What they have not achieved is objectivity about their own work. They play for their friends and they play at local establishments. A lot of people tell them how talented they are, and they make the mistake of believing it. This is not to say that they aren't talented. All too many, however, peak at a level that feeds them steady local adulation and they stop learning or improving. They write and perform the safe stuff and never take chances. So when they release a CD, there is nothing on it to distinguish it from all the others.
Wonderful as this singer/songwriter idea may sound, many of these artists are just trying to do too much and never learn to do anything exceptionally well. Some are better lyricists, or composers, or players, or singers and might do better to focus on that single area. There's something to be said for the song stylist who interprets songs written by people who do not perform but just write songs.
And what, you ask, has all this to do with Darryl Purpose?
As a songwriter, Darryl Purpose is adequate. He may even be a bit better than adequate. He is not, however, exceptional. There is nothing to his songs that will set them apart from the crowd. The lyrics, which were all written by Purpose, tend to be saccharine cliches or melodramatic heart-tuggers. Like a lot of singer/songwriters, Purpose is a competent versifier technically but his words leave something to be desired. Six of the songs on this release were co-writes, with the music written by someone else. Purpose wrote the music for the other five. No matter. There is a sameness to this music and a derivative quality to it that, while making it a very comfortable listen, fails to distinguish it from the run of the mill.
This is a shame. Given the right material, Purpose as a performer could be much more than just adequate. A beginning is here on Traveler's Code. Purpose has assembled a group of excellent musicians to perform with him, and the sound they achieve with this mundane material raises it above the average singer/songwriter release. Especially notable are the wonderful backup vocals by Lucy Kaplansky. It's also clear that Purpose is comfortable as a singer and performer. His interpretations raise many of these songs above what they might otherwise have been.
At his best, Darryl Purpose has an amicable vocal style that falls somewhere between Jud Strunk and Mickey Dolenz, with perhaps a dash of Gilbert O'Sullivan thrown in for good measure. He has a sweet, gentle voice ideally suited for the sort of story-telling songs he chooses to sing. He is at his best when singing songs in the genre of Strunk's "Daisy a Day" or "Eres Tu" style love songs.
Although I think it could use a new or revised lyric, "True As the River" is perhaps the strongest performance on this release. With very much the feel of The Everly Brothers "Let It Be Me," this song is a sweet, gentle ballad ideally suited to Purpose' vocal style.
"Ring On My Hand" stands out for a couple of reasons. Here again, the weak lyrics are almost compensated for by the quality of the vocals. This is clearly the style of song with which Purpose is most comfortable. Purpose is joined in "Ring On My Hand" by Lucy Kaplansky, with whom he performs a sort of George and Tammy duet. Composer Robert Morgan Fisher may be letting his influences show. He has written a lovely flowing section for this song which is strongly reminiscent of the chorus of "Why Me?" written so many years ago by Kris Kristofferson.
It would be interesting to see what Darryl Purpose could do with songs that are better than just adequate. My bet is that release would be really something to hear. Maybe that will be his next one.
Those interested in learning more about Darryl Purpose and his music will find him at www.darrylpurpose.com.
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