Ramblin' Jack Elliott's "A Stranger Here"

The second I read the names Joe Henry, Van Dyke Parks, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott in the same sentence, I knew I had to own this record. I didn't even need to hear anything first. Joe Henry is one of the decade's most underrated artists - his last two records (Civilians and Tiny Voices) were largely overlooked masterpieces. Everything Van Dyke Parks touches is gold, from Brian Wilson's finally-completed Smile to Joanna Newsom's epic Y's to reviving the career of Silverchair - and that's only some of what he's done in the last 5 years. Ramblin' Jack Elliott is a 77 year old folk legend. Get these three together, something special will happen.

Like Dylan and Waits in recent years, he delivers something new by drawing songs from the past - in this case an era that none of us are old enough to remember - the depression of the 1930's. Aside from Jack's voice, the barroom piano playing of Van Dyke Parks is what dominates this record. David Hidalgo's accordion adds a great south-of-the-border feel to a desperate take on Leroy Carr's "How Long Blues". The record's centerpiece is a cover of Rev. Gary Davis's "Death Don't Have No Mercy"; the interplay of Park's frantic piano playing and the dark marching baseline make it the most unnerving six minutes of music I've heard this year.

After flashy upbeat records by Bruce Springsteen and Prince failed to keep our attention, Jack used the simplicity of depression-era blues to deliver one of the year's best albums. Good luck finding a copy of it.