McGarrigle Hour

Personnel: Kate McGarrigle (vocals, guitar, banjo, accordion, piano); Anna McGarrigle (vocals, guitar, accordion, piano, bass); Loudon Wainwright (vocals, guitar); Chaim Tannenbaum (vocals, whistle, mandolin); Rufus Wainwright, Jane McGarrigle (vocals, piano); Martha Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Lily Lanken, Dane Lanken, Sylvan Lanken (vocals); Philippe Tartartcheff (spoken vocals); Michel Pepin (guitar, mandolin, bass, drums); Joel Zifkin (violin); Tom Mennier (piano); John McColgan (drums, percussion).
Recorded at Le Studio Morin Heights, Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada and Studio Frission, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Includes liner notes by Jane McGarrigle.
This elegantly produced family album contains an embarassment of riches. For the McGarrigles aren't just any family. Besides sisters Kate and Anna (and Jane), there's Kate's ex-husband Loudon Wainwright, their singer/songwriter offspring Rufus and Martha Wainright as well as old friends like multi-instrumentalist Chaim Tannebaum and producer Joe Boyd. Add guests Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris and the table can get a little crowded here. The atmosphere never loses that saving intimacy however.
Each individual is allowed his or her moment in the limelight--Rufus shines especially on his original "Heartburn," Martha on hers, "Year Of the Dragon." Most of the numbers are old-timey parlor songs--whether public domain traditional folk, Stephen Foster's "Gentle Annie" or Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do." The McGarrigles' special gift has always been to invest this homespun material with something other than "traditional" values. This get-together--the sisters' best record in years--is no exception. Their music remains sharp and pungent, a little acerbic, and always mindful of the tragic undercurrent lurking beneath the surface warmth.