La vache qui pleure (album)

Last updated
La vache qui pleure
Mcgarrigle-vache.jpg
Studio album by
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
ReleasedNovember 2003
Recorded2001–2003
Genre Folk
Length40:31
Label La Tribu
Producer Michel Pèpin, Borza Ghomeshi
Kate & Anna McGarrigle chronology
The McGarrigle Hour
(1998)		La vache qui pleure
(2003)		 The McGarrigle Christmas Hour
(2005)

La vache qui pleure is the ninth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 2003. It is named after the prehistoric bas-relief (stone carving) of La vache qui pleure near Djanet in the south of Algeria which is pictured on the album cover. Its title La vache qui pleure (French for The crying cow) may also be a joke with the famous French cheese label La vache qui rit (The laughing cow).

Contents

It is the sisters' second full album of French songs, following on from their 1980 album Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse , while several of their other albums also included a few French songs. [1]

The album does include one English song, "Sunflower", which is a setting of William Blake's poem "Ah! Sunflower". The same song is performed in French ("Ah tournesol"), as a straight translation of the original. Blake's poem is not acknowledged in the credits for either song.

Guest musicians on the album include Joel Zifkin, Lily Lanken (Anna's daughter), and Martha Wainwright (Kate's daughter).

In 2005, the album was given a European release on the Munich label, and a twelfth track, "La complainte du phoque en Alaska" which was written originally by Michel Rivard for Beau Dommage a Montreal based band, was added. That version is currently out of print.

Critical reception

Brendan Kelly, reviewer for Montreal Gazette , wrote on November 22, 2003: [2] "La Vache qui pleure, like most McGarrigles albums, feels like it exists out of time. Some songs sound like they could have been recorded in the 1940s or yesterday."

In his review in The Guardian on April 15, 2005, Robin Denselow wrote: [3] "This new set, with all but one song in French, is a nod to their French-Canadian roots. Kate plays guitars, banjo, piano and violin, Anna adds accordion and the occasional dash of synthesizer, and Martha helps out on harmonies. The production is more gutsy than in the past, the singing and playing are fine as ever, and the songs range from the thoughtful Ce Matin to Petites Boîtes, an unexpectedly refreshing reworking of the well-worn Little Boxes, the Malvina Reynolds song made famous by Pete Seeger."

Also on April 15, 2005, Andy Gill of The Independent wrote: [4] "Presumably named in opposition to the synthetic connotations of the French processed cheese, La Vache Qui Pleure (Crying Cow) features folksy arrangements of Acadian fiddles, accordions and banjos, with the sisters' harmonies adding an Enya-esque gossamer quality to tracks such as "Petite Annonce Amoureuse" and "Sunflower (Ah Tournesol)", where the swelling and subsiding of the backing instruments is like the lapping of an ocean on a distant beach. There's a keen awareness of the plight of powerless outsiders, be they the homesick refugee of "Ce Matin", the natives of Michel Rivard's "La Complainte du Phoque en Alaska", lamenting the way their youngsters leave for the US, or the cow of the title-track, weeping for her lost calf. Most quirkily enjoyable is the reading of Malvina Reynolds' folk standard "Little Boxes (Petites Boites)", rendered as a lolloping cajun waltz of fiddle, accordion and guitars."

Track listing

All songs by Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Philippe Tatartcheff, except where noted.

  1. "Petite annonce amoureuse" – 3:58
  2. "Ah tournesol" – 2:58
  3. "Le bambocheur" (Kate McGarrigle) – 2:22
  4. "Hurle le vent" – 3:22
  5. "La Vache qui pleure" – 4:08
  6. "Rose blanche" (Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Ph. Tatartcheff, A. Bruant) – 4:52
  7. "Tant le monde" – 3:35
  8. "Ce matin" – 4:43
  9. "Dans le silence" – 3:32
  10. "Petites boites" (translation of "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds and Graeme Allwright) – 3:36
  11. "Sunflower" (Kate & Anna McGarrigle) – 3:25
  12. "La complainte du phoque en Alaska" (M. Rivard) – 6:03 (this song only appears on the 2005 Munich release)

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate McGarrigle</span> Canadian singer-songwriter (1946–2010)

Kate McGarrigle was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle.

Anna McGarrigle, CM is a Canadian folk music singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her late sister Kate McGarrigle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate & Anna McGarrigle</span> Canadian singer-songwriter duo

Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.

Philippe Tatartcheff is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

<i>Kate & Anna McGarrigle</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Kate & Anna McGarrigle is the debut album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in January 1976. Guest musicians on the album include Lowell George, Bobby Keys, Jay Ungar, and Tony Levin as well as family and friends such as eldest sister Jane McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle's husband Dane Lanken, and the siblings' old friend Chaim Tannenbaum.

<i>Dancer with Bruised Knees</i> 1977 studio album by Kate and Anna McGarrigle

Dancer with Bruised Knees is the second album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1977. It was produced by Joe Boyd. The album employed several notable folk musicians to contribute a bluegrass feel to many of the tracks. The album also includes three French songs, one by the McGarrigles with Philippe Tatartcheff, and two traditional numbers. The guest musicians included John Cale, Dane Lanken, Bill Monroe, Dave Mattacks and Pat Donaldson. Dancer with Bruised Knees peaked a No. 35 on the UK Albums Chart.

<i>Pronto Monto</i> 1978 studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Pronto Monto is the third album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1978. The title is an approximate pronunciation of the French phrase "prends ton manteau", which means "take your coat". The album did not meet sales expectations, and the sisters were dropped from Warner Bros. Records soon afterward. In 2016, the album was released on CD by Omnivore Recordings.

<i>Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse</i>

Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse is the fourth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1980. Consisting entirely of songs in French, the album was initially available only in Canada. The subsequent international release was simply called French Record.

<i>Love Over and Over</i> 1982 studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Love Over and Over is the fifth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1982. Following this album, the McGarrigles did not release an album of new material until Heartbeats Accelerating in 1990. The album contains a French-Canadian version of Bob Seger's "You'll Accomp'ny Me".

<i>Heartbeats Accelerating</i> 1990 studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Heartbeats Accelerating is the sixth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1990. It was their first album in eight years, after Love Over and Over in 1982, and received favourable reviews from many music critics.

<i>Matapédia</i> (album) 1996 studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Matapédia is an album by the Canadian duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Zifkin</span> Canadian musician and songwriter (born 1954)

Joel Zifkin is a Canadian musician and songwriter. His primary instrument is the electric violin and he is best known as a session musician and live performer.

<i>Wrecking Ball</i> (Emmylou Harris album) 1995 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Wrecking Ball is the eighteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 26, 1995, through Elektra Records. Moving away from her traditional acoustic sound, Harris collaborated with producer Daniel Lanois and engineer Mark Howard. The album has been noted for its atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen Jr., Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, who wrote the title song.

"Complainte pour Ste. Catherine" is a song written by Canadians Philippe Tatartcheff and Anna McGarrigle. It was originally used as a B-side to another single, "Hommage à Henri Richard", which was written by McGarrigle and Richard Baker, and released in April 1974. It was intended to coincide with the Montreal Canadiens entry into the 1974 NHL playoffs, but failed to succeed commercially after the Canadiens lost to the New York Rangers. Kate & Anna McGarrigle then reused it for their debut album, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in December 1975, where it became a smash hit.

<i>All I Intended to Be</i> 2008 studio album by Emmylou Harris

All I Intended to Be is the 25th studio album from Emmylou Harris and her third release on Nonesuch Records. It was released in the United States on June 10, 2008. The album debuted at number 22 on the Billboard 200, and number four on Top Country Albums, which makes the album Harris’ highest charting solo record on the Billboard 200 since Evangeline was released in 1981. As of 2014 it has sold 153,973 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

<i>Cold Dog Soup</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Guy Clark

Cold Dog Soup is an album by the American singer-songwriter Guy Clark, released in 1999.

<i>Songs of the Civil War</i> 1991 compilation album by Various artists

Songs of the Civil War is a compilation album, released in 1991 by Columbia, that presents an assortment of contemporary performers recording period pieces and traditional songs, most of which date back to the American Civil War.

<i>Beau Dommage</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Beau Dommage

Beau Dommage is the self-titled debut album by Quebec folk-rock group Beau Dommage, released in 1974. It is their most popular album, making triple platinum with many hit singles such as Le picbois, Tous les palmiers, and La complainte du phoque en Alaska.

<i>Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle</i> 2013 compilation album by various artists

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle is a two-disc compilation tribute album to Canadian singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, released by Nonesuch Records in June 2013.

<i>Tell My Sister</i> 2011 box set by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Tell My Sister is a three-disc compilation album consisting of songs recorded by Kate & Anna McGarrigle. It was released by Nonesuch Records as a box set on May 3, 2011. The first two discs contain Kate & Anna McGarrigle's first two albums, Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Dancer with Bruised Knees. The third disc comprises demos, including acoustic versions and other previously unreleased tracks.

References

  1. ↑ Kate & Anna McGarrigle, La Vache Qui Pleure
  2. ↑ Kelly, Brendan (November 22, 2003). "The McGarrigle way: Off-the-cuff performances, a casually unfolding career: Kate and Anna McGarrigle don't work with a master plan. Their latest album, no exception, just happens to be all in French". Montreal Gazette. Montreal: Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ Denselow, Robin (April 15, 2005). "Kate and Anna McGarrigle, La Vache Qui Pleure". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ Gill, Andy (April 15, 2005). "Album: Kate & Anna McGarrigle - La Vache Qui Pleure, MUNICH". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.