There’s a chance the name Paul Siebel might mean nothing to you, but if you’re familiar with the works of Bonnie Raitt or Iain Matthews, you’ll be familiar with some of these songs, both being champions of his writing. Significantly underlooked in his lifetime, his studio recording career was limited to just a pair of albums: Woodsmoke and Oranges in 1970, and Jack-Knife Gypsy a year later, each on the Elektra label, itself a pointer towards the quality therein. Indeed, a quick gander at each of those records displays as stellar a supporting cast as one could want, with the likes of Davids Bromberg and Grisman, Clarence White and Buddy Emmons on hand to gild his lily.
Neither album provided the breakthrough Siebel anticipated or deserved. Time took its toll, with depression and addiction blighting his muse. Give or take a couple of abortive comebacks, he remained largely under the radar, baking bread and/or working for Maryland Parks Department, until his death at 84 in 2022. Hopefully he was able to get some slight comfort from royalty checks, primarily through “Louise,” his best-known song, with upward of 30 covers, including by Raitt, Willy DeVille and Linda Ronstadt.
Suzy Thompson may also be a name that’s new, but she has had a long career, playing often in old-time string bands, as well as collaborations with Geoff Muldaur in the Texas Sheikhs and with Cajun doyenne Ann Savoy. Playing fiddle and guitar, she is what you might call a “musician’s musician.” Well familiar with his songs, she got to meet the octogenarian Siebel following a run of tribute concerts she performed online, during lockdown. and they became friends. Now, with the assistance of fellow “musician’s musician” travellers, like Cindy Cashdollar, Jody Stecher and her husband Eric, drawing in also the lesser-spotted presence of John B. Sebastian, she has delivered Suzy Sings Siebel, Vol. 1.
The first thing to notice is the affection with which these renditions are crafted. If Siebel’s own versions are homely and comfortable, with a waft of pre-commercial country tropes, these songs are positively back-porch, all filtered through a sepia tinged rural backdrop, part moonshine and part molasses. “Bride 1945” opens proceedings with a gloriously nostalgic waltz through one of Siebel’s most poignant songs. Cashdollar’s lap steel imparts a time appropriate feel, and Thompson’s voice is a warm and honeyed glow, with a ragtime element to her picked guitar.
“Nashville Again” has a bigger band, bluegrass inspired, with Cashdollar now on dobro, Jody Stecher on mandolin, and Eric Thompson on National guitar. A gentle rhythm section of Mark Schatz on stand-up bass and the drums of Michelle Goerlitz maintain a discreet tempo. It’s as if you can see the roots of rock and roll unfurling in a string band setting. Stecher, who also produces, reappears for “Uncle Dudley,” pairing her guitar with Thompson S’s, and Schatz’s bass, whilst Kate Brislin pops up on harmony vocals. Another of Siebel’s story songs, it is like an old movie, black and white, of course, caught unexpectedly on a late night channel.
“Louise” needs to be a corker to pass muster alongside the other illustrious versions. With Thompson dialing it down, it becomes not only that corker, but one of the best. Sebastian’s harmonica is the clincher, a lonesome prairie sound, although Cashdollar’s dobro and Thompson matter of fact vocal vie hard for that spot. This time, as with the opener, it is Molly Mason on bass. Not content to rest on that laurel, “Lose My Blues” romps out with a banjo-fed bravado. A song I know best from an old Flying Burrito Brothers live set, 1972’s Live In Amsterdam, and later reprised by Rick Roberts in a solo release, the big question is whether she would tackle the yodel. Yes, dear reader, she does, as well as supplying the fiddle to Bill Evans’ banjo. Superb.
A honk of harmonica, Sebastian again, ushers in another guitar rag, “You Don’t Need a Gun,” which has to be one of the most gallingly bleak narratives in anyone’s canon, let alone Siebel’s: “I told him he was useless, I proved it to his face. So with his knife he took his life, and me I can’t escape.” Eek, not that you’d necessarily guess it, from the jocular vocal delivery. It is this lyrical dexterity, allied to tunes that veritably bounce, that has comparison with John Prine beginning to materialize. “The Ballad of Honest Sam” is a further exemplar, and I note that, if anything, Siebel preceded Prine in getting his first recordings out.
“If I Could Stay” is a sweet sashay, a song of love versus restlessness, à la “Tower Song” by Townes Van Zandt or John Hartford’s “Gentle on My Mind,” seeming also a little prophetic given Siebel’s later life story. Cashdollar pulls yet another great accompaniment out her dobro for this one. Thompson manages to convince in her interpretation, part of what feels the true bond between the two artists. “Any Day Woman” then answers the question you may have never had, around the place of kazoo in modern music. The answer is that it is here, alive and well, and played by Brislin, although it would be a stretch to describe this music as modern. The original is replete with a rolling New Orleans piano vibe, and the kazoo offers a similar complement, if through the essence of a dimestore Satchmo.
I confess to not so much taking to the final song, “Long Afternoons,” if I get the purpose of the inclusion. This is only part Siebel penned, as Thompson has added verses. It feels her eulogy to her deceased friend. On that basis it works, but detracts from the flow of the nine selections ahead of it. With Thompson alone and unadorned by anything other than her voice and her guitar, it seems gauntly bare, which is possibly the point. If the album has seemed earlier a celebration, this is just a tad too sad.
Will there be a Suzy Sings Siebel, Volume 2, I wonder? Siebel has enough songs for another, but I guess it depends on the reception to this. I think it is largely a wonderful record, but am uncertain how much current favor there is for this style of music. Enough, I’d wish to hope and think. And with endorsements such as Bonnie Raitt’s (“a loving, heartwarming tribute…her sweet voice, great playing and gentle arrangements”), well, that might be enough.
Suzy Sings Siebel, Vol.1 tracklisting:
- Bride 1945
- Nashville Again
- Uncle Dudley
- Louise
- Lose My Blues
- You Don’t Need a Gun
- The Ballad of Honest Sam
- If I Could Stay
- Any Day Woman
- Long Afternoons
