I’ve written many times about the lack of true
\nsinger\/songwriters left in the industry today. Gordon Lightfoot is
\nstill out there, as is Loudon Wainwright III, and we still have the
\nmusic of Harry Chapin, John Denver and Jim Croce to remind us of
\nhow it used to be.<\/p>\n
Jim Morgan almost has the field to himself these days, and on
\nOrdinary Time<\/i>, his latest release, he makes the most of it,
\nwith a few small potholes along the road.<\/p>\n
It takes a while for Morgan to really get things rolling –
\n“Don’t Call Me Tonight” is a rather bland effort of a man
\nstruggling with his feelings for a woman he most likely doesn’t
\nwant to fall in love with (but eventually does). However, by the
\nthird track “What Am I Gonna Say”, Morgan has the creative volume
\nknob cranked and, thanks to the assistance of a girls chorus (and
\nhis own son Matthew on vocals and laughter), Morgan propels himself
\ninto your heart and ears.<\/p>\n
The power of Morgan’s songs cannot be denied. “We’ve Been Given
\nToday” may seem on the surface like Morgan’s establishment of a
\nrelationship with an elder member of his family, but deeper than
\nthat, it reminds us to enjoy the beauty that each day brings and
\nthat we can learn more than just our past from our elders. (With a
\ngrandfather I’ve never been close to in failing health, this song
\nhit me especially hard.) Special note of praise goes to Russ
\nRodgers’s fretless bass work on this one.<\/p>\n
But it is the pain and ghosts of relationships that Morgan often
\nsings about on
\nOrdinary Time<\/i>, making me wonder just who broke this guy’s
\nheart. One example is on “My Heart”: “Just for the record, this was
\nnot my decision, \/ I’d much rather that we’d gone on like we did.”
\n“Only Everyday” deals with the personal aftermath of a breakup
\n(“They ask the same old questions, and I give them stock replies. \/
\nTill they leave without me saying how I really feel inside.”),
\nwhile “The Secrets Of Your Past” has our hero confronting past
\nexperiences of his beloved’s life and making the pain his own.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly,
\nOrdinary Time<\/i> has more than a touch of religion to it –
\nsomething you’d miss on just a cursory listen (and frankly, I
\nmissed it until I read the liner notes). “You” talks about the
\nomnipresent love of whatever God you believe in, no matter what you
\ndo or where you are. There are other subtle mentions of religion in
\nthis album – but at least it doesn’t hit you over the head with a
\n“Jesus Saves” message. Even someone like myself who considers
\nhimself to be religious will be surprised at the gentle nature of
\nthe message.<\/p>\n
“Alright By Me,” the album’s “closer” (not including the
\nuncredited reprise of “What Am I Gonna Say”), is a strong message
\nfrom a parent to his child, that no matter how terrible things seem
\nin their lives or how tyrannical their parents appear to be, they
\nare always loved by their parents.<\/p>\n
Morgan’s name might not be a familiar one to many people, and
\nmany stations might not be willing to take a chance on music with
\neven the slightest hint of religion to it. But
\nOrdinary Time<\/i> is more than just a plain album; it captures a
\nlot of the angst and confusion that many of us have felt at one
\npoint or another, and puts it into words we all can relate to. And
\nthat, kids, is the true gift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7333],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38837","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jim-morgan","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38837"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38837"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}