Search - Be Good Tanyas :: Blue Horse

Brilliant Canadian folk-country trio

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 06/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The group named themselves after the title of a song by Obo Martin McCrory despite the fact that none of them is actually called Tanya. Still, the verse of the song that is printed in the booklet (about a free-spirited gypsy soul wanting to get away to sing) provides plenty of clues as to why they chose the name.



Frazey Ford (guitar vocals), Samantha Parton - no relation to Dolly (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Trish Klein (electric guitar, banjo) recorded two albums together, this being the first. Jolie Holland was not a member of the group but appears on several tracks variously singing, playing guitar or playing fiddle. Other guests provide electric violin, double bass and drums as required. Trish is also an artist - her painting of a train provided the cover for the front of the booklet.



Despite the inclusion of a banjo among the instruments, the music here is generally mellow and reflective. On this album, their voices sound fragile so it was probably wise of them to avoid picking up the tempo too much. The songs are a mix of originals (mostly written by Samantha and / or Frazey) and covers of traditional songs. The original songs are the best here, especially Littlest birds, Only in the past and Don't you fall. Among the covers, the most famous is the Stephen Foster classic, Oh Susanna, though this song doesn't really suit them. Nevertheless, their cover has a charm of its own. The best of the traditional songs are Rain and snow and The coo-coo bird, both of which suit them ideally.



The Be Good Tanyas, with their fragile voices, take a little getting used to (and some may never get used to them) but they know exactly what they are capable of and make the most of the talent they have. The result is an album of mellow folk-country music that is distinct from the alternatives on offer."

Canada finally earns my respect

Peter Durward Harris | 11/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"who would have thought that this would be the album that finally made me admire canadian music as an entity and even begin to love its inherent gritty charm? i mean, i know that a lot of amazing musicians like joni mitchell, neil young and fred eaglesmith are canadian and they're great and everything, but i've always thought of great canadian music as an exception to the rule. it's an ethnocentric world-view, i know, but i've given it up; The Be Good Tonyas' Blue Horse insists that there is a rawness and depth that is uniquely northern, and i have not found that essential vitality in american music, ever.upon listening to the album, two things immediately occured to me: 1) the melodies of these songs are simple and flawless, the harmonies beautiful and completely unexpected. i found myself constantly thinking, 'wow, i never would have thought of that'; and 2) they're just so cool, and they don't even try. in fact, i'm going to go out on a limb here and say that frazey ford's lazy, seductive, semi-slurred vocal delivery is the essence of what jeff tweedy, ryan adams, and their alt-country disciples have built careers around trying to simulate. the be good tonyas are the real deal. you can't listen to their songs without believing them and without your heart breaking along with theirs because they don't fake it. there's no bells and whistles and what you see is (thank God!) what you get. they could be your sister, your girlfriend, that wierd hippy friend you see once a year--sitting on your couch and singing you a new song she just wrote. and you can't help but love it, glitches, flubs, off-key notes and all."