It’s always insightful to hear a group’s early recordings and get a sense of its journey after you’ve been listening to them for years. With its 33rd release, Baton Rouge’s Smithfield Fair previously known as Charmer, provides such an opportunity by repackaging most of its 1983 LP From The Cradle to the Grave and its ‘84 follow-up Dancing in the Dust for the first time on CD and digital platform format. (The Charmer-Smithfield Fair name change wouldn’t occur until ’89 when Smithfield Fair moved to the Scottish music of its shared heritage for the next 20 years).
These early recordings were seminal in the Capital City group’s evolution since they established the blueprint of what Smithfield Fare is today. As these 16 tracks reveal, all the ingredients were there from the get-go, the deep, quality songwriting; Jan Smith’s astonishingly pure voice: resounding harmonies and exceptionally strong performances, especially on “When the Spirit Moves” where no ounce of emotion is spared.
Among this treasure trove are various professions of love, including Dudley-Brian Smith’s “Gravity,” a tender revealing of feelings towards his newfound soul mate Jan as their relationship accelerated beyond being a musical partnership (she and Dudley-Brian married towards the end of ’84).
With its intriguing, eyebrow-raising title, “Guns of Humanity” isn’t a gun-control song per se but a message advocating the love of mankind.
Additionally, the various embellishments in the arrangements are worth noting, such as the spry recorder playing on “Dancing in the Dust” and “City Bird” for a mild Celtic flavor, a harbinger of what would eventually come in its evolution. “You Are a Child of God” adds a church bell to its haunting melody while “In the Air” and “In Constant Twilight” swirl in a sea of surrealism. And if Smithfield Fair should ever cease someday for Dudley-Brian, he could consider joining a jam band, based on his extended, hard-driving solo on “A Mary Dance.”
There’s a lot to absorb here, but given the opportunity, it’s a powerful and emotive listen from Louisiana’s longest, continuously running, progressive folk music institution.
