Description
Moments is an album by the Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Cummins, independently released on Electro-Tone Records in March 2008. The album was produced by JB. Featuring guest appearances by Phil Keaggy and Randy Stonehill.
Tribute albums can be difficult to approach critically, since the ghost(s) of the original artists linger in the background, causing you to float somewhere between what you’re actually hearing and what you’re fondly remembering. On his CD, Moments, Richard Cummins has created a most unique tribute to not just an artist (or group of artists), but an entire period (or genre) of music. While most tribute albums feature new interpretations of songs that we heard years ago, Cummins instead gives us new compositions written in the spirit of the songs and artists he’s tipping his musical hat to – most of whom draw from the same musical well that Cummins goes back to again and again – The Beatles.
For those of us from a similar musical heritage, who are familiar with the ‘classic’ first wave of what was called Jesus Music, it’s easy to write up a mental list: Phil Keaggy, Daniel Amos, Randy Stonehill, PFR, T Bone Burnett… the list could go on, since the music of The Beatles so permeated the great creative tidal wave of the late sixties and early seventies. Now, as if stepping through time, Richard Cummins brings us a musical travelogue of the sounds and spirit of those recordings.
Lyrically, we’re taken from teenage star-struck fan, to more insightful young adult, to songs of question and eventual self-discovery and revelation («Life Was So Good», which brings to mind Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s «Our House», but with a twist…). By the time we’re through the album, Cummins (as the writer of this diary) comes to a mature understanding of life and spirituality, with the focus no longer on himself, but on the needs of others. Lyrically, these are songs that evolve and go through stages, from immaturity to self-realization.
Unquestionably, as we listen to these songs, we’re invited into Cummins’ emotional diary. Sometimes the songs are about specific people – the two most obvious cases being the first and last tracks – «Singing to us While it Hurts», and «Julian», which refer to, respectively, Phil Keaggy (who adds guitars and vocals to the first track) and Julian Lennon. In the first song, Cummins speaks not only of the pleasure we get from these artists but also of the sacrifices they’ve made that we don’t often see or think about; to «Julian», Cummins speaks for many of us who would like to reach out and say, ‘listen – I guess you’ve had it rough, but there are people who really care about you.’ Appropriately, the first song has Keaggy’s style all over it, including musical references to «What A Day», from Phil’s recording of the same name, while «Julian» is infused with Beatle-like production and sound-alike moments.
«Left Her Lonely Again» is the second track, and provides an interesting bridge, conceptually, between the first and last songs: it almost sounds like a tribute to Keaggy’s Crimson and Blue album, which was itself a tribute to the early recordings of The Beatles! The next track, «The Game Show of Life», continues the musical autobiography with Cummins sounding eerily like John Lennon (and – oddly enough – you can also hear T Bone Burnett’s vocal timbre in the mix). The presence of Randy Stonehill on this track, and the early Daniel Amos sound in the harmonies, once again brings us back to those Beatle-influenced recordings from DA’s ‘Horrendous Disc‘ period. The carnival-like ambiance, complete with a side-show barker, might be a bit too predictable, but is effective in this context. From there we go right into a song from the «I Am the Walrus» Beatle period, with lyrical references to playing songs backwards (remember?) and a wonderful little Bach Trumpet phrase thrown in for the «Penny Lane» side of the brain – this memory-triggering continues ‘till the end of the song, where «Hey Jude» is strongly referenced. Of course, there’s a ‘hidden’ track – and a good one, too: think: «Tomorrow Never Knows», but about Jesus.
Richard Cummins is a skilled musician and, on this project, a musical chameleon. If there is a weakness in this album, it is that Cummins, the artist, is perhaps too submerged in the personas of his heroes – his homage almost becomes a disguise. After listening to the album, you might be thinking more of Keaggy, Daniel Amos, Stonehill and The Beatles …and wondering where Richard Cummins went. In many ways this is a concept album – it’s possible that the concept overtook the artist at several points – it’s hard to hear a particular riff and not mentally jump to the referenced Beatle song, for instance, instead of concentrating on the song at hand. To discover Cummins in a ‘pure’ form, you might want to jump to the title track, «Moments», an instrumental where Cummins, alone with his guitar, absolutely shines. Along with Keaggy and Stonehill, there are appearances on this project by no less than John Sferra, Mike Pachelli and Chris McHugh. Cummins plays a multitude of instruments throughout the recording.
It certainly will be interesting to see where this very talented artist will go next, without the considerable presence of musical giants from his (and our) past so noticeably hovering over him. [Bert Saraco, The Phantom Tollbooth, 2007]
This album struggled to completion and almost never made it: recorded over two years with studio sessions ranging from Nashville Tennessee to Hollywood California USA, to various Canadian studios and Richard’s own ‘Nectarine Horse’ studio, nestled in the picturesque Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada.
Though Richard’s past experiences had seen him in all stages of the music business – from illegaly playing clubs with his original material from the age of 17 (before he was ‘of drinking age’), to landing deals in historic recording studios, garnering FM radio play, touring across country both the United States and Canada as well as playing in 5 different countries on several continents, to associations with movers in the record industry – he never seemed to connect with the corporate mindset that artists needed to change their art, or somehow ‘sell out’ to the latest trends and fads in order to ‘make it’. Stubbornly holding on to this set of principles, to make art from the heart, Richard knew he was passing by many opportunities at mainstream success.
Instead, Richard and his wife Michele sacrificially invested every last penny of their own money into the production of the CD, ‘Moments’. Richard was not only amazed but extremely encouraged when some significant musicians and producers believed in the project enough to come on board to help, including: Virtuoso and legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy on Guitar and vocals, Randy Stonehill who not only performs on the album, but produced a track as well, John Sferra – drummer from the Decca Records power trio Glass Harp, Keith Urban’s drummer Chris McHugh, with the album being co-produced by Nashville’s ‘jb’, whose credits include Peter Frampton, Garth Brooks, and was the man behind Phil Keaggy’s landmark acoustic instrumental album, ‘Beyond Nature‘.
Though Richard has many views on spiritual matters, society at large, and politics, he chose to keep to a general theme, creating a ‘concept’ style record based on his own diary of experiences from age 13 to 33.
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/moments/277422954)
CD tracklist:
01. Musical Collage Prologue – 1:13
02. Singing to Us While It Hurts (feat. Phil Keaggy) – 5:28
03. Left Her Lonely Again – 2:50
04. Gameshow of Life (feat. Randy Stonehill) – 4:13
05. Hello – 5:47
06. How – 3:34
07. Life Was So Good – 3:42
08. Just Like You – 3:37
09. Love (And I, Like One Who Is Blind) – 2:13
10. Sunny – 2:43
11. Moments (instrumental) – 4:51
12. Shine On You – 3:05
13. Something Very Wrong – 3:22
14. Follow the Way of Love – 3:31
15. Julian – 3:57
16. Inner Groove (Bonus Track) – 4:19
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://richardcummins.bandcamp.com/album/moments
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