I saw them live once at Glastonbury. They had one of their daughters with them, subsequently revealed i) to be Martha Wainwright and ii) to be off her nuts on E at the time. They were very impressive, and I wish I had not left them to go see Air.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Tuesday, 30 October 2007 22:22 (sixteen years ago) link
They had one of their daughters with them, subsequently revealed i) to be Martha Wainwright and ii) to be off her nuts on E at the time.
Martha Wainwright has nuts!?
― sonofstan, Tuesday, 30 October 2007 22:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Kate McGarrigle RIP.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100006239/kate-mcgarrigle-death-of-a-matriarch/
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 12:56 (fourteen years ago) link
oh shit!
― henri grenouille (Frogman Henry), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 13:07 (fourteen years ago) link
RIP
The debut album was there at a very important time in my life. You made me very happy Kate.
:(
― henri grenouille (Frogman Henry), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 13:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Goddamn. They're dropping like flies. RIP.
― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 13:51 (fourteen years ago) link
so sad! love her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9s54CaK2wY
― scott seward, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
oh man.
such a bad time for montreal musicians.
― fleetwood (s1ocki), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago) link
is one of them the crazy woman who wanted you to go on a musical cruise with her in tv commercials that got overplayed in atlantic canada? (i am doubtful, but the name sounds familiar)
― abanana, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:42 (fourteen years ago) link
such an alive person
― sean gramophone, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
ugh, RIP, Kate! that first McGarrigle Sisters record is brutally good. Was actually sometimes too emotional for me to listen to before, now it's gonna be even more so.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
RIP :(
― Dominique, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Sad to say that my only awareness of their work is through Billy Bragg's version of "Heart Like A Wheel", which I just found to be a heart-wrenchingly sad song. When I sought out their original it didn't affect me as much, for some reason. I also saw them do a beautiful version of Leonard Cohen's "Winter Lady" at the Cohen tribute show in Brighton.
― anagram, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
I really love Kate & Anne. My mom played them all the time when I was a kid and I scooped up their records on vinyl when my mom got rid of her record player. Years after that I played them. Up late one night, drinking wine and smoking cigarettes and feeling nostalgic. Probably that Nick Cave record they sang on made me curious again.
Even though I knew every song, it was a huge surprise to me how good it was - idiot that I am. Just great songwriting and just a really smart, cool, down-to-earth feel to it - very anglo Montrealer in attitude all around. Sounds way more like real people in the real world than Joni or Buffy to me - not that that's neccessarily the best thing all the time, but it sure worked for them.
RIP Kate.
― Brio, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:10 (fourteen years ago) link
"complainte pour ste-catherine" is my favourite too!
― Brio, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:15 (fourteen years ago) link
oh no. i was wondering why this thread had been revived. r.i.p., i love kate & anna.
― hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:15 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyjG0Tk3HFQ
― Megadeth Panel (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:18 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost and now nonxpost oh is that the same song Kirsty McColl did once?
― Mark G, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:18 (fourteen years ago) link
Sounds way more like real people in the real world than Joni or Buffy to me - not that that's neccessarily the best thing all the time, but it sure worked for them.yeah, this is otm -- i feel like the mcgarrigle's best stuff was way more down to earth and concerned with the quotidian than a lot of 70s singer-songwriters (kinda like Loudon come to think of it). Just that there's a real-life mix of humor/sadness/dignity ... I dunno, not explaining it well.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:39 (fourteen years ago) link
So sad. Some of the best sounding records ever. Hi-fi lo-fi. They gave off a vibe of "we're just sitting around the living room, playing music and harmonizing -- anyone can do this." Kind of like the Ramones, in that sense.
― Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 18:24 (fourteen years ago) link
thanks Owen, great version of that, kinda way better than the lite reggae on the record(s)
― Dominique, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 18:55 (fourteen years ago) link
It's actually an Anna song but so beautiful. And I'm into the drummer, he's got a good look.
Very sad today about Kate's death.
― Megadeth Panel (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 20:12 (fourteen years ago) link
aw, this sucks. a great talent.
RIP.
― sleeve, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 20:41 (fourteen years ago) link
So sad. They made music for adults -- very rare in today's world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb2x9uZVPek
― mottdeterre, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 20:55 (fourteen years ago) link
really sad to hear thisi did always have trouble figuring out which one was kate and which one was anna
― velko, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 21:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Proserpina - a newly written song, performed about a month ago. View with caution if you're a sentimental type.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xzwJVNTNKs
― Brio, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 22:02 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcbIjfLYxOY
― velko, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I hurt. Why must we die?
― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 13:28 (fourteen years ago) link
this is awful. hit me in the gut. poor kate.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link
the title track of Dancer with Bruised Knees is really sounding great for me these days - kinda slept on it when i first bought the record but totally loving it now
― buzza, Sunday, 27 March 2011 04:06 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.mcgarrigles.com/uncategorized/tell-my-sister-nonesuch-2011
― buzza, Sunday, 8 May 2011 00:12 (thirteen years ago) link
love the coverhttp://www.mcgarrigles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/mcgarrigle-tell-my-sister-280x248.jpganyone heard this yet? demos any good? guess it is bargain priced for a 3-CD set, so I'll probably end up getting it.
― tylerw, Friday, 13 May 2011 19:30 (thirteen years ago) link
Remastered versions of the first two albums PLUS a third disc of demos all for the price of around one CD? Hells yes this is worth it, especially for anyone who doesn't already have the first two albums already! Haven't heard the third disc yet, but it's in the queue!
― Sean Carruthers, Friday, 13 May 2011 20:37 (thirteen years ago) link
so yeah, anyone who likes these ladies needs to get the new comp. the demos disc is astounding.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:36 (twelve years ago) link
and the remastered sound on the two albums is fab too. coming around on dancer with bruised knee, which i sort of neglected in facvor of the debut. how did i miss that john cale plays on it?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:37 (twelve years ago) link
lol, just searched out this thread to tell everyone that the new comp is sooooo good! and as is apparent from the last two posts, no one cares! i care! there's one song on the demos disc "annie" which is just a gut punch of a performance. seems to be a cover of a song by someone named chaim tannenbaum?
― tylerw, Friday, 14 October 2011 18:08 (twelve years ago) link
The self-titled is just completely ripe for discussion. Such an interesting intersection between brash almost-showtune style, NYC folksinger, 70s singer-songwriter, French-Canadian folksong, and French chanson. It has a vibe that I can't quite find an analogue to, but seems familiar and comfortably lived-in at the same time. French-Canadian Laura Nyro? Anyways, like I say...I'd love to see more discussion of particularly the debut, but really anything they've put out, if anyone's interested. I haven't heard the comp that tylerw mentions. I will have to seek it out.
― softspool, Monday, 10 September 2012 04:37 (eleven years ago) link
also, need to add my voice to the claim that "Heart Like A Wheel" is among the most devastating songs re: heartbreak ever.
― softspool, Monday, 10 September 2012 04:47 (eleven years ago) link
I agree, although I'm always bothered by the niggling suspicion that a bent wheel could actually be mended quite easliy.
― bham, Monday, 10 September 2012 08:41 (eleven years ago) link
Has anyone listened to the album taken from the tribute concert yet? I don't wanna say it's my fave album of the year, but it's certainly the one I've listened to the most thus far.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 22:16 (ten years ago) link
the highs are real high
― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 01:18 (ten years ago) link
Justin Vivian Bond's "The Work Song" is a showstopper.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 01:40 (ten years ago) link
<3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUr8MJYAjRk
― velko, Monday, 19 December 2016 03:46 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahNmtiUb4YI
― velko, Monday, 19 December 2016 03:57 (seven years ago) link
Scored an inexpensive yet near-mint vinyl copy of the debut today. This really is one of the greatest albums ever.
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Saturday, 25 March 2017 19:51 (seven years ago) link
Everyone got Anna and Janey's memoir, right?
― sean gramophone, Sunday, 26 March 2017 02:17 (seven years ago) link
Didn't know it existed! How is it?
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Sunday, 26 March 2017 02:42 (seven years ago) link
Belated shout out to my former upstairs neighbor who was blasting Dancer With Bruised Knees loud enough that I was able to Shazam "Naufragée du Tendre (Shipwrecked)" through the walls. Such a lovely album.
― J. Sam, Monday, 27 September 2021 01:47 (two years ago) link
Several things on this thread I need to check---and there was a box set, right?From my blogged Pazz & Jop comments on 2016:Reissues: Kate & Anna McGarrigle's Pronto Monto starts strangely, with olde folkie warbles over tasty yachty licks. And these top-paid studio pros should never be asked to play a straight-fwd guitar shuffle. But in terms of at least gettin' concise-if-not-always-down sounds, and thematically appropriate melodic-harmonic explorations, Kate McG. is the Lennon figure here, with Anna the moonier McCartney. Then again, her "Park Fixture" is dynamically *about* an obsesso romantic, as written and performed from that POV. (And she tries to get more concise, "I love my kid" etc.) So far seems like about half of this album works pretty well after all. Do like Kate's solo voice more than the duets.So easy gratuitous comparisons to males, but at least musically high-standard males, was apparently the thot, if any.
― dow, Monday, 27 September 2021 16:13 (two years ago) link
The box was a three-disc set w/the first two albums and a disc of demos/outtakes.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 27 September 2021 16:45 (two years ago) link
From Omnivore:
Mountain City FourMountain City FourRelease date: September 23, 2022DescriptionHistoric, early recordings from Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s beginnings as members of the Mountain City Four.In 1963, Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon recruited Kate McGarrigle to form a trio. A few months later, Kate’s sister Anna joined, and the group became the Mountain City Four. Playing locally at Montreal folk clubs, the band developed a loyal and substantial following and played into the 1970s.Kate and Anna began writing songs which were passed from friend to friend, and eventually found their way into the repertoires of Maria Muldaur and Linda Ronstadt. While in L.A singing backups on Maria’s first record, they were invited by Greg Prestopino to record a few of their other compositions. Greg passed the demo on to Warner Brothers Records who quickly offered Kate and Anna their own recording contract and they were off and running. For several years, the Mountain City Four continued as the opening act for Kate and Anna’s live shows and contributed backup vocals and instrumentals to the sisters’ early studio recordings.The McGarrigles origins shine brightly on Mountain City Four which contains sixteen previously unissued recordings from 1963–1964, 1969–70, and a final one in 2012 two years after Kate’s passing which featured members of the Mountain City Four’s extended family. The tracks include classics like Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” the traditional “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “This Train,” and “All The Good Times,” written by Lead Belly and Alan Lomax.Mountain City Four is produced by original member Peter Weldon and Jane McGarrigle. The packaging contains photos and liner notes from Weldon, both Jane and Anna McGarrigle, and Joe Boyd, outlining the history and sharing memories of the Mountain City Four. Not only is Mountain City Four a window into the origin of one of the world’s foremost singer/songwriting sisters, but a look into the incredible folk music scene of the 1960s. CD / DIGITAL TRACK LIST:JESULEIN SÜSS/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKENMEAN OLD FRISCOEREV SHEL SHOSHANIMMOTHERLESS CHILDRENDARK AS A DUNGEONBLUE MOON OF KENTUCKYREUBEN RANZOYOU’VE GOT TO WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEYEN FILANT MA QUENOUILLETHIS TRAINTHE LOG DRIVER’S WALTZV’LÀ LE BONNE VENTYOU’RE GONNA NEED SOMEBODY ON YOUR BOND ALL THE GOOD TIMESSAM HALLSHENANDOAHCat: OV-501
DescriptionHistoric, early recordings from Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s beginnings as members of the Mountain City Four.In 1963, Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon recruited Kate McGarrigle to form a trio. A few months later, Kate’s sister Anna joined, and the group became the Mountain City Four. Playing locally at Montreal folk clubs, the band developed a loyal and substantial following and played into the 1970s.
Kate and Anna began writing songs which were passed from friend to friend, and eventually found their way into the repertoires of Maria Muldaur and Linda Ronstadt. While in L.A singing backups on Maria’s first record, they were invited by Greg Prestopino to record a few of their other compositions. Greg passed the demo on to Warner Brothers Records who quickly offered Kate and Anna their own recording contract and they were off and running. For several years, the Mountain City Four continued as the opening act for Kate and Anna’s live shows and contributed backup vocals and instrumentals to the sisters’ early studio recordings.
The McGarrigles origins shine brightly on Mountain City Four which contains sixteen previously unissued recordings from 1963–1964, 1969–70, and a final one in 2012 two years after Kate’s passing which featured members of the Mountain City Four’s extended family. The tracks include classics like Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” the traditional “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “This Train,” and “All The Good Times,” written by Lead Belly and Alan Lomax.
Mountain City Four is produced by original member Peter Weldon and Jane McGarrigle. The packaging contains photos and liner notes from Weldon, both Jane and Anna McGarrigle, and Joe Boyd, outlining the history and sharing memories of the Mountain City Four. Not only is Mountain City Four a window into the origin of one of the world’s foremost singer/songwriting sisters, but a look into the incredible folk music scene of the 1960s.
CD / DIGITAL TRACK LIST:JESULEIN SÜSS/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKENMEAN OLD FRISCOEREV SHEL SHOSHANIMMOTHERLESS CHILDRENDARK AS A DUNGEONBLUE MOON OF KENTUCKYREUBEN RANZOYOU’VE GOT TO WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEYEN FILANT MA QUENOUILLETHIS TRAINTHE LOG DRIVER’S WALTZV’LÀ LE BONNE VENTYOU’RE GONNA NEED SOMEBODY ON YOUR BOND ALL THE GOOD TIMESSAM HALLSHENANDOAH
Cat: OV-501
CD, MP3---more info: http://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/mountain-city-four/
― dow, Friday, 12 August 2022 20:33 (one year ago) link
I usually have to get used to the Sisters' definitively 60s-based folkie vocal precision (a bit dainty sometimes, no matter how expressive) all over again after not listening for a while, but the MC4 have an arrestingly rich harmonic blend right off---maybe it helps that this set is mostly live---and the effect continues when the McG.s are way up front, confidently reaching out to the audience, though never oversinging---well, "This Train" does sound like something from A Mighty Wind, but that's "This Train," unless maybe Woody G. sang lead: he couldn't chirp if his life depended on it, and wouldn't anyway---also, "Dark as a Dungeon" zips by like most others, too fast to register in this case, but otherwise they do slow down when appropriate, which is not too often. Really good range of material, too.
― dow, Sunday, 8 January 2023 20:53 (one year ago) link