Barb Jungr - The Men I Love: The New American Songbook '2011

Tracks list

When jazz, cabaret, and traditional pop artists speak of the Great American
Songbook, they are usually referring to Tin Pan Alley treasures of the 1910s,
20s, 30s, and 40s. But worthwhile American popular music didnt end with Cole
Porter, Irving Berlin, Harry Warren, or the Gershwin siblings. Rock and R&B gave
us subsequent generations of American musical poets, and British cabaret singer
Barb Jungr obviously had that fact in mind when she called this album The Men I
Love: The New American Songbook. Jungrs 2010 release is not a celebration of the
Tin Pan Alley era, but rather, a tribute to songwriters (most of them American)
who made their mark in the 60s, 70s, or 80s. Although cabaret has been a major
focus for Jungr, The Men I Love doesnt really fall into that category.
Stylistically, this 52-minute CD has more to do with folk-rock, soft rock, and
adult alternative than it does with cabaret. So when Jungr puts her stamp on Bob
Dylans You Aint Going Nowhere, Jimmy Webbs Wichita Lineman (a major country-pop
hit for Glen Campbell in 1968), or Paul Simons My Little Town, listeners are
reminded of Judy Collins, Sarah McLachlan, or Mary Fahl rather than Wesla
Whitfield or the late Nancy LaMott. Jungr takes plenty of chances, transforming
everything from the Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime to the Isley
Brothers-associated This Old Heart of Mine into introspective folk-rock ballads.
Occasionally, Jungr misses the mark. Her most awkward moment comes on Bruce
Springsteens The River, a poignant tale of a blue-collar worker who impregnates
his high school sweetheart and struggles to support a wife and kid doing
construction work when he can find it. Jungr, like Springsteen, performs The
River in the first person and does so without irony, which is problematic
because The Boss lyrics were obviously written from a male point of view. The
River probably would have worked well for Jungr had she changed Springsteens
lyrics to the third person and played the part of a sympathetic female observer,
but trying to portray a construction worker who impregnated his girlfriend was a
misstep on Jungrs part. Thankfully, that is the only real misstep on a generally
engrossing album that has a lot more plusses than minuses.

Tracklist:
01. Barb Jungr - Once in a Lifetime (4:10)
02. Barb Jungr - Im a Believer (5:48)
03. Barb Jungr - Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache (3:16)
04. Barb Jungr - Night Comes On (6:06)
05. Barb Jungr - Cant Get Used to Losing You / Red Red Wine (3:26)
06. Barb Jungr - The River (4:55)
07. Barb Jungr - I Saw the Light (4:01)
08. Barb Jungr - This Old Heart of Mine / Love Hurts (5:41)
09. Barb Jungr - Everything I Own (4:05)
10. Barb Jungr - You Aint Going Nowhere (3:21)
11. Barb Jungr - My Little Town (3:42)
12. Barb Jungr - Wichita Lineman (3:46)

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