Dar Williams Green World CD

It ain't easy being queen. In the late 1990s, Dar Williams emerged as the unchallenged ruler of the folk singer-songwriter roost, and her Cry, Cry, Cry side-project with Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky heightened her profile even further. This all added up to a great deal of expectation surrounding THE GREEN WORLD.

Williams did not shrink from the challenge. For one thing, THE GREEN WORLD is the least "folk"-sounding of all her recordings. The rhythm section of Joe Jackson bassman Graham Maby and former Wings drummer Steve Holley provides an expansive, rock-inflected attack for Williams' very personal, lyrically detailed songs. It's not just the band or the production, though; it sounds like Williams wrote many of these songs with a wider appeal in mind. A number of the tunes are catchier and more hook-based than much of her previous work. Don't read "sell-out" into any of this, however; Williams is too set in her quirky ways to pander to the mainstream. On THE GREEN WORLD she's simply opening out a bit.

Personnel: Dar Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar); Billy Masters (guitar, electric guitar); Steuart Smith (guitar, electric sitar, accordion, Wurlitzer organ); David Mansfield (violin); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Rob Hyman (organ); Steve Holley (drums); Doug Plavin (percussion).

Audio Mixers: Steve Addabbo; Stewart Lerman; William Wittman.

Recording information: Dreamland Studios; The Shinebox; Water Music.

Photographers: Jennifer Barbato; Kate Swan; C. Taylor Crothers.

Personnel: Dar Williams (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, piano); Billy Masters (electric guitar); Steuart Smith (guitar, electric sitar, accordion, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond organ, keyboards); Knox Chandler (guitar, electric cello); Stewart Lerman (12 string guitar, Mellotron); David Mansfield (violin); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Fred Parcells (trombone); Rob Hyman (Halifax organ, pump organ, keyboards); Graham Maby (bass); Doug Plavin (drums, percussion); Steve Holley (drums); Carol Steele, Sammy Merendino (percussion).



This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.Spin (10/00, pp.182-4) - 7 out of 10 - "...She approaches life with the vivacity of an Ivy League freshman - clinging to that moment when suburban blankness gets drunk on Great Art and runs naked through the lacrosse fields - each of her records has its charms..."
CMJ (7/31/00, p.32) - "...Williams shows us how rich her songwriting skills have become."