Latest Roots CDs reviewed
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Imus Ranch Record
New West ****
This CD is a fundraiser for the Imus Ranch, a special place in Arizona where children with cancer and other serious diseases get a chance to come to terms with their illness. There are memorable contributions from the likes of Delbert McClinton, a rocking Little Richard and a soulful Vince Gill. There's the wonderful Levon Helm squeezing out You Better Move On, Willie Nelson after-midnighting on What a Difference a Day Makes, and John Hiatt edging his way through a great song called Welfare Music. Lucinda Williams's contribution is a beer-soaked reading of Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, while Raul Malo throws in a neat slice of country gospel called Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs, which seems an apt tune for the times we live in. www.newwestrecords.com JOE BREEN
Download tracks: Vince Gill, A Satisfied Mind; Delbert McClinton, Lay Down Sally
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Wells for Zöe
Compass Records ****
There are lots of good reasons to buy this album, and some of them are musical. Wells for Zöe, or W4Z, is a small organisation formed by John and Mary Coyne of Lucan, Co Dublin, aimed at helping the people of Malawi by trying "with a hand up, not a hand-out". W4Z is primarily focused on the provision of clean drinking water. The Coynes' son, Éamon, is a leading tenor banjo player, and he rounded up some usual and unusual suspects for this spirited fundraiser. Haunting Scottish singer Karine Polwart joined Tim O'Brien for the opening title track, and equally impressive Kildare singer Heidi Talbot closes with Muddy Water. In between, the likes of Sinéad O'Connor, Paul Brady and Crooked Still play their part. Two songs stand out: Dougie MacLean's apt
This Love Will Carry
and the collaboration of Maura O'Connell, The Duhks, Tim O'Brien and John Doyle on a revitalised
Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves. www.compassrecords.com
JOE BREEN
