Maria McKee --- Maria McKee --- 1989 (Geffen)
Sometimes you just buy an album on spec, you know? On instinct, or on recommendation. I think this was the latter, with a bit of the other two thrown in: I feel that I read about this in my publication of choice as a twenty-something, “Kerrang!”, and they had praised it highly. This was prior to her hit with “Show me Heaven”, which would the following year propel her to international stardom, but forever paint her as a one-hit wonder, this despite being already known for her helming of the rock band Lone Justice and having written Fergal Sharkey's chart-topping hit, “A good heart”.
But this album was pretty much ignored, reaching a measley 120 on the US Billboard chart, and failing to chart any singles released. Is that because it's a crappy record? Quite the reverse: as a solo debut this is nothing short of stunning, but in an era obsessed with quick-fire, repeating formulas for success, thoughtful, insightful music like this became criminally overlooked, and it wasn't until “Show me Heaven” made it that people would stop saying “Maria who?”
The album opens on hard acoustic guitar in a sort of folky/rock bopper, and certainly one of the longer song titles I've come across. “I've forgotten what it was in you (that put the need in me)” is filled out by breezy organ and piano, but it's the soulful, aching voice of McKee herself that takes charge and demands attention, like a cross between a country songstress and a rock chick, retaining the best of both. It's a powerful, bitter, almost wistfully angry song that really gets things going well, and some well-placed fiddle from Steve Wickham really adds to the country sound, then the mood slows down for “To miss someone”, with a sort of James Taylor feel to it, a downbeat song of realisation as Maria confides
”I'm petrified of running/ Out of things to do” and admits
”Guess I'm not so independent after all.”
Lovely piano lines here, backed by solid organ and some gentle guitar, and you really get a feeling for Maria's songwriting when you see how she speaks to the everyman (and woman) in songs like “Am I the only one (who's ever felt this way)?” --- you can really idenitify with her lost loves and her failures, see that she's not some big star writing about other people's experiences, but a human being who has been hurt, loved and lost, and who often feels as confused, betrayed and dismayed as you and I do. This is a big, open country mid-pacer, with great fiddle, mandolin and guitar driving the song, in an upbeat melody though the subject is certainly not happy.
She teams up with the famous Robbie Robertson for one of the standouts, the lovely, slow, gentle “Nobody's child”, which rides mostly on the mournful organ sound laid down by Bruce Brody, with a great little guitar solo in the middle and of course Maria's wistful, almost tearful voice rising above it all. “Panic Beach”, up next, is an angrier song, lyrically very in Springsteen territory, on acoustic guitar and piano. This song is a real vehicle for the versatility of Maria McKee's vocals, and she reaches some notes that quite surprise you, as Brody's organ drones along in the background, adding a sense of gravitas and weight to the song. The sense of desperation, trying to survive, comes though strongly as she describes her landlord in lines like
”If a tear comes to his eye/ He may let a month go by/ Before he takes my key” and
”I'll do my time/ Then say goodbye/ To Panic Beach.”
Rocking out to the full then, another long title, “Can't pull the wool down (over the little lamb's eyes)” kicks the tempo right back up as the mistakes referred to, and cried over in the first few tracks are thrown aside and a fierce determination not to be fooled again takes their place. Another great organ performance by Brody and some powerful backing vocals, and Maria screaming her anger and frustration and promise to open her eyes in future makes this song, yeah, another standout. There are a few, believe me.
It's good to see that McKee writes, or co-writes every track on the album, bar the closer, and can she write a good song! We go all gospel for “More love than a heart can hold”, with Brody excelling himself on the ivories, and a vocal chorus to wring tears from a stone, Maria singing like a diva possessed who has seen the light, her voice seeming to reach to the very heavens themselves, climbing on the strength of her love and devotion, then her anger returns for “This property is condemned”. Carried on sharp acoustic and electric guitar backed up by Hammond organ, it's nevertheless a stripped-down sound which again allows Maria to shine on vocals, her rage and frustration reaching dangerous levels, her band knowing just when to back her and when to fall back and leave her to fly solo.
“Breathe” is a dark, moody grinder of a love song, if you can imagine such a thing. Slow, heartbeat drumming and rising keyboards with a few pin-sharp flourishes on the guitar shape this song, flute and mandolin coming in to add their own touches, with some really nice double-tracked backing vocals helping maintain the atmosphere and mood of the song. We close on what I consider to be the standout, not just because it's a simple piano ballad, but because it approaches the whole idea of love and dating in a somewhat unique way.
Featuring Maria herself on the piano, “Has he got a friend for me” is the only song on the album she does not have a hand in writing, penned as it is for her by Richard Thompson. It's the painfully simple question of a girl who is not pretty or socially active, and wants to know if her more glamourous friend has someone she can date. Something in the vein of Janis Ian's “At seventeen”, it's quite heartbreaking as she breathes
”If he knows someone who's graceful and wise /Doesn't mind a girl who is clumsy and shy/ I don't mind going with someone that I've never seen...” A beautiful yet painful end to a wonderful album.
I personally hated it when Maria hit fame with “Show me Heaven”, as rather than then reissuing her album and getting it more notice, the label ignored it completely and she ended up basically living on that as her only claim to fame. She obviously hated it, as she refused for years to play the song live, and who could blame her? But if you like well-written, well-thought-out and, well,
real music, you could do a lot worse than take a listen to this album. Just don't hold that single against her, okay?
TRACKLISTING
1. I've forgotten what it was in you (that put the need in me)
2. To miss someone
3. Am I the only one (who's ever felt this way)?
4. Nobody's child
5. Panic Beach
6. Can't pull the wool down (over the little lamb's eyes)
7. More love than a heart can hold
8. This property is condemned
9. Breathe
10. Has he got a friend for me?