Album Review: Lucy Kaplansky, ‘The Lucy Story – Unreleased and Rare Tracks, 1976-2023’
Lucy Kaplansky’s vocals flow like a pure river on any song she sings.
Kaplansky moved to Greenwich Village in the late 1970s, hanging out, working, and performing at Folk City, and moving among a multitude of folk royalty including Odetta, the Roches, Dave Van Ronk, and Nanci Griffith, among others. Kaplansky met Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin in 1980. Kaplansky also joined with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form the band Cry Cry Cry.
Kaplanksy’s tenth solo album, The Lucy Story, captures Kaplansky’s capacious vocals as she interprets the songs of others and delivers her own compositions. The 25 songs on the album, most of them unreleased, provide a colorful snapshot of Kaplansky’s musical evolution and include an early recording she made of herself singing a James Taylor song when she was 16, as well as live performances from around the world.
The album opens with her version of Lyle Lovett’s “God Will,” Kaplansky’s crystalline vocals flowing over shimmering mandolin, Dobro, and guitar on a sparsely beautiful country ballad. She delivers a gorgeous, spare version of the late Jack Hardy’s “Forget Me Not,” with Kaplansky’s vocals riding over Mark Dann’s cascading fingerpicking. “I Know Why the River Runs” comes from the very last show of Cry Cry Cry at Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage and features the group’s ethereal harmonies; it’s exquisite. Kaplansky turns in a soaring vocal performance on a smoky bluegrass jazz version of “High on the Mountain.” In a slowly unfolding, almost caressing, take of “It Makes No Difference,” Kaplansky and Shindell capture the raw emotion of the Band’s song in a moving and unforgettable blend of voices. When they sing the final line—“That I never felt so alone before”—the feeling they evoke in their vocals is palpable, and chills shake us and tears fill our eyes. Gently tumbling piano chords provide the foundation for the stunningly beautiful arrangement of Willie Nile’s love song to New York City “When the Last Light Goes Out on Broadway,” while Kaplansky gives a spare arrangement to Gram Parsons “Hot Burrito #1” with her vocals floating above her deeply soulful piano work; this spacious version is sonically reminiscent of the best of Laura Nyro’s work. Kaplansky and Shindell join for a sparkling version of “Love Hurts,” in a live performance. Kaplansky captures the heart of the Beatles “Let It Be” in vocals that dwell in the lyrics and pull the emotional depth from them; the slow tempo of her version allows us to luxuriate in the song’s tender power. The final song on the album is a cassette recording Kaplansky made of herself singing James Taylor’s “You Can Close Your Eyes” when she was 16. The pure clarity of her vocals is evident despite the graininess of this recording.
The Lucy Story highlights Lucy Kaplansky’s voice and her ability to inhabit a range of musical forms, from country to folk to jazz, living within the notes and transporting listeners as she pulls exquisite joy or dolorous melancholy from a song. The Lucy Story celebrates the work of one of our very best singers and musicians and serves as a perfect introduction to Kaplansky’s work.
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The Lucy Story is available HERE
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