Not to be confused with the other trad-folk staple 'Motherless Children', Ora Cogan's version of '(Sometimes I Feel Like A) Motherless Child' is another track that arrived fully formed, lifted wholesale from her 2007 album Tatter. We ummed and ahhed about re-recording the song for Beautiful Star but ended up using the same take, which features Trish Klein and Frazey Ford of The Be Good Tanyas on backing vocals and Ora's own beautifully bowed and plucked violin. Ora has a knack of somehow compressing a century of personal anguish and hard labour into each reedy syllable, giving the song a palpable depth and a resonance that lasts long after it's finished.
credits
from Beautiful Star: The Songs Of Odetta,
track released November 30, 2009
Ora Cogan – vocals, violin
Mark Beaty, Frazey Ford, Trish Klein and John Raham – backing vocals
Arranged by Ora Cogan. Recorded by Robert Wilson and Mike Tulley at the Myer Horowitz Theater in Edmonton, BC, Canada. Appears on Tatter (P) and (C) 2007 Ora Cogan.
supported by 7 fans who also own “Motherless Child”
John Drumbo French from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band worked with Thompson on two albums along with Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser.
Those two French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson albums led me to this.
Also, Richard Thompson taught Hugh Cornwell (of The Stranglers) how to play the bass guitar in a band when they were both at the same school (Emil and The Detectives?).
With a career spanning 50 years and playing with two of my heroes (French and Cornwell) Thompson has produced a fascinating EP. yellowcakeuf6
supported by 7 fans who also own “Motherless Child”
The instrumentation and songwriting in this album is really top-tier. Aofie is one of my favorite folk/alt-country artists and she performs wonderfully, bringing her unique tone of voice to this project. This album was my first step into Aofie's artistry, and is firmly one of my favorite albums. rileyridgway