"Promises To Keep"
LP on Harbourtown in 1990
now on CD
Sleeve Notes
Reviews
Folk Roots - Sep '90
Prittle Prattle - Dec '90
Stirrings - Dec '90
Top Albums of 1990
Roy Harris
Rock 'n' Reel
Taplas - May '91
Stirrings - June '91
Sing Out - Nov '92
Twenty Years into her career as a recording artist and Sara Grey comes up with her best album! It's not that she's changed her repertoire dramatically, this is what must be regarded as her pretty standard mix of traditional songs, ballads, banjo tunes and some of the songwriters that she has long promoted; fellow Americans Bruce 'Utah' Phillips, Si Kahn, Dillon Bustin as well as our own Dave Goulder. Where this album scores heavily is on things like recording quality. Harbourtown's usual excellence ensures that a criticism cannot be repeated, and the sensitivity of the accompanying musicians to her distinctive, apparently simple but enormously subtle approach.
Here we have Roger Wilson on fiddle, Tony Gibbons on bouzouki and any of Dave Howard, Shay Black or Brian Peters on guitar. Having been involved in recording Sara in different musical company for a radio session some years ago, I can fully appreciate how much happier Sara sounds here on Dillon Bustin's La Belle Riviere. The latter-day string band sound comes over most beautifully on Oh, Death with a suitably ominous tone prevailing.
She is one of the select band of performers that still breathe life and vitality into traditional ballads and there's three crackers here; Lady Of Carlisle, Sweet William's Ghost and Lakes of Champlain (Of Coolfin to us in Britain)
Worrying media stories about increasing racism in Europe and America make this a suitable time for Sara to rework two of Si Kahn's Civil Rights struggle songs, Mervin Barr and Sunrise. The latter is the only unaccompanied song on the album and her fine clear treatment brings out the enormous power of the lyrics.
Having already decided that this is Sara's best album, the reviewer comes to the last track and finds that it is the outstanding one. Brian Peters offers swinging guitar and Sara multi-tracks and builds beautiful layers of harmony in Alice Gerrard's gently feminist reworking of a jazz classic, Tight Like That, as Nice Like That and the pleasure is complete.
Well done Sara! "It's Nice Like That, I like it like that. Hey! Daddy, Baby, It's Nice Like That, It's so nice, nice, nice, nice....
Vic Smith
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Prittle Prattle - Dec '90
A gem of an album, with impeccable musicianship from all; singing by turns restrained, triumphant, gentle, strong, fun and deeply emotional, but always with that beautiful rhythmic vitality that is in Sara's voice. It's also good to hear an unaccompanied track (Si Kahn's "Sunrise"), but for me the high spots are Dave Goulder's "Dry Stone Walls", which has a delicious freedom of rhythm, accompanied by Shay Black; "I Love You Well", where Roger Wilson's fiddle playing is a lovely compliment to Sara's voice and banjo, and above all, "The Sky" by Deroll Adams, a song of great depth, where Sara is accompanied by brian Peters. Sara's repertoire is always filled with goodly things, and this collection, for me, is flawless. And that little touch at the end that's so characteristic of this ebullient singer... nice one, Sara!
Molly Nudds
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Stirrings - Dec '90
The combination of banjo and vocals has not always pleased me - this is not intended to upset the editor of this august journal, who on occasions produces sounds in both these departments - but I must confess to being rather taken by this record.
Sara Grey has used six excellent musicians to vary the arrangements though the dominant sound on the album remains her own. The treatments range from the sensitive, unaccompanied Sunrise, an optimistic Civil Rights song from Si Kahn to a much fuller sound on several tracks.
An Appalachian feel, not surprisingly, characterises a number of the songs such as Ginny's Gone to Ohio, Lady of Carlisle and Derroll Adams' simple, understated The Sky.
Cider Mill, a superb and all too brief dance tune, follows Ginny's Gone to Ohio which sounds almost like an inland shanty, if there is such a thing. Oh Death is given suitable dour but very listenable treatment with extremely effective use by Rick Standly of bowing on a double bass. Lakes of Champlain is an American relative of the more familiar Lakes of Coolfin while, continuing the aquatic theme, La Belle Riviere is a jaunty ode to the Ohio sung to guitar backing.
A lovely rendition of a superb Dave Goulder song which is new to me, Dry Stone Walls, opens side two to be followed a couple of tracks later by a second and very powerful Si Kahn song, Mervin Barr. Of this, Sara comments on the detailed insert notes that: "There's a note of optimism and strength in adversity which runs through Si Kahn's songs ..." This expresses more eloquently than I can the feelings I've had about Si Kahn's songs ever since I first heard Andy Irvine sing one.
The album finishes with Sara double-tracking vocals on Alice Gerrard's upbeat feminist Nice Like That to complete a thoughtful, well-crafted and enjoyable record. Just the right balance has been achieved between variety and a distinctive style. It's definitely worth a listening and I'm delighted to have had the prejudice I expressed at the beginning of this review significantly shifted.
Kevin Borman
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Promises To Keep was chosen in Folk Roots Jan '91 as one of their Albums of '90 by:-
Lesley Osborne (GMR folk/world music presenter)
Vic Smith (Folk Roots contributor, BBC Radio Sussex presenter)
Sheena Wellington (Singer, Radio Tay presenter)
Nick Dow (BBC Radio Lancashire presenter, musician)
Geoffrey Hewitt (Producer of Radio 2's "Folk On Two")
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Now this is my kind of record! A great choice of material, clear Singing, not over arranged (slight reservation on that) and done from the heart. This is not the album of one who puts herself before the material, all style and no content, as is the case with so many nowadays.
Sara Grey has been singing and loving songs for a long time. A look at the self written sleeve notes shows that, with references to all kinds of collections, and credits to singers and writers like May Kennedy, Doc Boggs, Joe Hickerson, Si Kahn, Dave Goulder, Derroll Adams and more.
It would be superfluous for me to go into details about the songs and tunes included, they are all top quality choices. My favourites are "Lady of Carlisle" - not unlike my own version from Velvet Brightwell and Dillard Chandler - and "Ginny's Gone To Ohio", but that's just because I happen to like songs like those. Different people would make different choices. My only quibble with the album is that although by current standards it is quite sparsely arranged there are still too many people on it. This is not to disparage the work of Brian Peters, Roger Wilson, Shay Black, Tony gibbons, Dave Howard and Rick Standly, who work sympathetically and well, but merely to suggest that the lady is ideally heard absolutely solo.
Sara is a sociable soul who loves to gather musicians around her. All credit for that, but my opinion is that her butterfly voice which expresses a lyric so well, needs only her own banjo behind it to make a complete musical statement.
That reservation aside I will still say that "Promises To Keep" - a Robert Frost quote I do believe - is on of the best albums to come out for some time, and because of the classic quality of the repertoire it's appeal will not fade.
Roy Harris
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Rock 'n' Reel
American born Sara Grey now based on this island, on this recording sounds, most probably because of her accent, reminiscent of sixties female American voices, Joan Baez in particular.
Her choice of material seems incredibly well suited to her voice and playing, the descriptive narrative of 'La Belle Riviere' is a fine example of this.
This really is a delightful release that has grown on me constantly with Sara Grey the real star accompanying herself with some very effective banjo picking and the backing of Brian Peters, Shay Black, Tony Gibbons, Roger Wilson, Dave Howard and Rick Standly completing an all star and unbeatable line-up.
As well as performing material from both American and British traditions she covers a couple of tracks from Si Kahn the stirring and optimistic tale of 'Mervin Barr' and displays her beautiful vocals on 'Sunrise' proving this woman has an ear for the contemporary as well as the traditional.
A solidly consistent release, echoing the best of the sixties but with a distinct feel for the nineties.
Sean McGhee
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Taplas - May '91
These days, when much of the folk/roots world's output seems to be aiming for the jugular, getting you worked up, angry, elated or emotionally disturbed in one way or another, it's a pleasure to know there are still people like Sara Grey around. An evening in her company is akin to sitting in a friend's kitchen, drinking her wine and sharing her songs and stories. When it comes to an end, you feel at peace with the world.
That's just the feeling she's captured on this album. Despite all her years over here, and despite the fact that she's surrounded herself with some fine British musicians, including Brian Peters, Roger Wilson and Shay Black, Promises to Keep sounds plaintively rural American. It's not just the choice of songs or the performance, but something in the recording that makes it sound like a home grown, stone-groung, low-tech US folk record. And That's said as a compliment.
Sara mixes seven traditional songs and ballads with seven newer ones - a couple from Si Kahn, one from Utah Phillips and one from Dave Goulder among them. The album almost divides into a traditional and a composed side, but not quite - and, in any case, you'd have to work hard spotting the difference.
But working hard is not what this album's about. Get yourself a plate of blueberry muffins and a cup of Celestial Seasonings tea, put it on and dream about that Vermont log house. There are lots of very acceptable faces of America, and Sara Grey is just one of them.
Mick Tems
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Stirrings - June '91
Review of performance at The Hefts and Blades March 1991
I'm thankful to have discovered Sara in recent years, initially as half of a duo with Ellie Ellis, and latterly as a soloist - though she also works with Brian Peters and Roger Wilson in The Lost Nation Band. Hers is certainly a mature talent, the summation of long years' immersion in her chosen idiom, the traditional "old-timey" repertoire of the eastern United States. She treats her songs as though they were old and valued friends - which ther probably are! - and such affection and unsolemn respect communicates itself instantly to anyone whose heart is not hacked out of obsidian.
Sara is a dandy singer with a georgeously understated banjo technique; this is the "clawhammer" or frailing style of the old mountain musicians: no ferocious bluegrass pyrotechnics here. Eschewing elaborate or attention-grabbing arrangements, she lets her songs and tunes breathe freely; she also handles unaccompanied material with a sure grace. And she's a great tale-spinner too when time allows, with a flawless ear for the verbal idiom and inflection.
Sara' programme on this occasion mixed traditional with a tasteful measure of contemporary. Of the former, the Ballad of Fair Fanny Moore (collected from the delightfully named Eva Bigrow) was a highlight; of the latter, Leadbelly's mordant elegy on the titanic tickled me the most. From the first to the last her performance testified to 30 years well spent. We should be properly grateful to innovators, to those who boldly go where none has gone before. But we need the like of Sara Grey to remind us, now and again, that the old virtues endure.
Raymond Greenoaken
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Sing Out - Nov '92
Sara Grey's newest album is a fine mixture of traditional songs and newer material. Her singing is masterful on ballads like "Sweet William's Ghost" and "Lakes of Champlain" and she's appropriately chilling in Dock Boggs version of "Oh Death". In a somewhat lighter mood she includes the "love test" ballad "Lady Of Carlisle" where a woman chooses between two suitors by seeing which will retrieve her fan from the lion's den.
The more recent compositions include two strong civil rights songs from Si Kahn, Bruce Phillips' classic "Going Away" and dave Goulder's "Dry Stone Walls". Sara has fun with Alice Gerrard's feminist "Nice Like That" and with "La Belle Riviere", an irrisistable history in song of the Ohio River by Dillon Bustin.
Grey's gentle frailing banjo style, nothing really fancy, perfectly accompanies her distinctive singing. Brian Peters and Shay Black join her on guitar and vocal harmony.
Those who remember Grey from various Folk Legacy albums (including her own 1970 LP and the "Five Days Singing" set with the New Golden Ring) will be delighted with this new offering
Bob Blackman