Welcome to My First NHVV Blog!

Hey! Welcome to my first blog for NHVV! I'm so excited to be writing about all things music! From album reviews to live-show experiences and even interviews, the possibilities are endless here... and I can't wait to share them all with you! But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Emily Winter. I'm a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and my favorite band is The Beatles! But maybe you already knew that about me :) However, in this blog, I'm going outside my normal "box" that is The Fab Four (but of course I'll write about them from time to time).

As someone who loves music, I'd really like to broaden that statement by exposing myself to more artists and bands. And these album reviews will help me do just that! I hope it does the same thing for you too! There's really nothing better than finding another musician or band with a big catalogue of great songs. In today's review, if you're someone who enjoys a mix of country, folk, and bluegrass with a hint of comedy... This is the album for you!

Discovering John Hartford

On December 30, 1937, a man by the name of John Hartford was born. Hartford is well known for writing one of the most admired songs in history, Gentle On My Mind. However, behind that glorious and haunting tune, lies a sea of other great songs. Today I'm going to be writing about his 1976 album: Nobody Knows What You Do.

Having only ever listened to Gentle On My Mind, I was in for a real surprise when I dropped the needle on this record. Since I only ever listened to the one song, I found it interesting hearing Hartford sing in different styles and keys.

The Track List

The album consists of 12 tracks:

• You Don't Have to Do That
• Didn't Want to Be Forgotten
• In Tall Buildings
• John McLaughlin
• Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana
• The False Hearted Tenor Waltz
• Joseph's Dream
• Down
• The Golden Globe Award
• Sly Feel
• Somewhere My Love / We'll Meet Again Sweetheart
• Nobody Knows What You Do

According to Genius.com, all but one song (Somewhere My Love / We'll Meet Again Sweetheart) are written by Hartford. There's really some amazing material on this album. I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of digging into Hartford's catalog. From upbeat dance-alongs, instrumentals, a couple of sad tracks, to some very comedic songs... There's a little something for every bluegrass and folk fan out there.

Track Highlights

Track 1: "You Don't Have to Do That"

The first track starts us off pretty upbeat. And us women are immediately faced with a question, "Why you gotta spend all that time in front of the mirror?...". I can confidently say, I wasn't expecting that. But besides that, it's a great opening song. Strange, however, that the title track is the last song on the album, not the first or one of the first on the A-side. Throughout the song, each musician in the recording is given their own solo which I personally love. The song is very tasteful with its amount of instrumentation and vocals. Breaks in between the verses and bridge give you time to really listen and enjoy all the wonderful instrumentation.

Now, regarding the vocals, I love some good harmonies, and Hartford includes some in the chorus, "you don't have to do that! You don't have to do that! You're beautiful and you always come through...". Overall, it's a great opening track that's very fun to sing along with.

Track 4: "Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana"

Ok! So... track four, Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana... I can't tell you how quickly I turned around in my chair when I heard this song coming out of my speakers... I couldn't help but laugh. The song initially starts off slow, but then, right in the middle, Hartford can be heard saying, "Here we go now, one, two, three..." and, if you can imagine, the song completely changes tempo and goes from slow, to crazy fast.

Apart from this song being ridiculously funny, it also mentions one of my all-time favorite things! In the very last verse, Hartford sings, "Well we used to get high and listen to The Beatles..." If you happened to skip over the introduction to this album review, I'll tell you here that I'm talking about The Beatles... Not getting high... Just in case you were confused ;) So, did I just want to write about this song because it mentions The Beatles? Yep, that's exactly why haha! You caught me.

But, aside from the mention of the Fab Four, it's a really good song. That tempo change I believe really ties it together. I don't generally hear many songs with such a significant tempo change, so I personally really enjoy listening to a song with that. The chorus is pretty easy to remember too, so there you have an easy sing along!

Track 10: "Sly Feel"

Lastly, I'm going to write about track 10, which is one of the instrumentals. Now, I personally prefer lyrics to a song, and it's honestly kind of tough to describe an instrumental track in words... But I really enjoyed this one Hartford did. I'm talking about Sly Feel. Honestly, the feeling this song gives off is "sly". It starts off with a simple but neat strum on a mandolin and immediately after comes this very basic but cool bass line. As the song goes on, more instruments are brought into the mix. There's even a very very stellar electric guitar solo added near the middle and again towards the end. Quite a powerful solo for a song such as this one.

But, I believe it adds a nice new perspective to this tune. Rather than just being a folk/bluegrass song, the solo adds a bit of power to it. I know there are other songs like this one with the electric, but I believe it's a bit unexpected when you initially hear the beginning of the song. It's a great tune that'll put you in a real good mood after having a listen.

Final Thoughts

Well, I think I'll leave you here with these three tracks. I do hope you go and have a listen for yourselves, as it's really a great album. Hartford isn't afraid of putting himself out there to make people laugh, but at the same time, he clearly puts a great deal of thought and care into what he creates and how it makes people feel. There is so much more to this record than what I've written, but I can't give it all away!

I hope you enjoyed my first blog, I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope it spiked some interest in you about John Hartford. If there are any albums out there that you love, let us know! I'd be happy to review it, as I'm always open to listen to new music.

Emily Winter