SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE features poems by William Blake set to music by Greg Brown.
Personnel includes: Greg Brown (vocals, guitar); Peter Ostrushko (mandolin, violin); Michael Doucet (violin); Dave Moore (panpipes, harmonica, button accordion); Angus Foster (bass).
Recorded at 74th Street Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Personnel: Greg Brown (vocals, guitar); Peter Ostroushko (mandolin, violin); Michael Doucet (violin); Dave Moore (pan flute, panpipes, harmonica, accordion).
Audio Mixer: Scott Rivard.
Recording information: 74th Street Studio, Minneapolis, MN.
Photographers: Paul Comstock; Bob Feldman.
One of the advantages of being a reasonably successful artist on an independent label is that you can pretty much do whatever you damn well please. Consequently, Greg Brown indulged his muse and put music to the famed set of William Blake poems that give this album its title. It's a natural fit, as Brown's combination of plainspoken verse and spiritual/poetic aspirations is of a piece with the wrestling match between humanity and divinity that's at the heart of Blake's words.
Wisely, Brown doesn't stray too far from his musical comfort zone. Instead of stretching himself to accommodate Blake's poems, he brings the poet's words to him, nestling them comfortably in the soft undercurrents of the album's acoustic folk/blues song structures. The music provides ample room for Blake's striking sentiments, and is pleasantly flavored by Michael Doucet's fiddle and Dave Moore's accordion.
