A Little Bit of Gold
A Little Bit of Gold-review
A poet friend of mine dubbed Penelope a "country" Edith Piaf--the Parisian operatic street singer who wove stories out of the lives she saw around her. What distinguish Penelope's songs from most of pop and country alike is that they are not general lamentations or love songs, from anyone, to anyone. Each spring from a specific moment in a woman's life--a specific woman. Or, actually, they are an assortment of specific woman:
One has car trouble: "I love my man, my man loves his car...but neither one of them is gonna get me very far. I've got the flat tire, stick shiftin' broken transmission blues." One is unrecovered from a recent divorce: "A man I know, he asked me out to dinner and a show. I told him, 'Well, I have the kids and I just couldn't go.' But I think that he senses that I'm as scared as I can be...'cause it aint easy being single suddenly." One sells her body: "I didn't want to drown in no typing pool, or play all those silly games just to get through school. I didn't want to work in no restaurant, so I made my living knowing what you want."
Musically, her songs run a pretty good gamut: from country blues, to country folk , to country pop, to hard country. She crosses over," crosses back, then crosses somewhere else, and it's clear no boundary line's gonna fence her in.
Listen to "Headed for a Good Time: and you will feel absolutely compelled to kick up your heels, even if you have never kicked up a heel in your life. On the other hand, play, play "Jumping from the frying Pan: and you will get an urge to pour some coffee, strong and hot and languish feverishly on your chaise lounge like a late night insomniac--even if it is mid-day, and you never drink coffee. And you don't even have a chaise lounge. Penelope's lyrics, combined with her danceable melodies and great musicians, make this album worth the name "A Little Bit of Gold.
Suzanne Lummis, Poet, Playwright
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