Album Review: Joplin & Virginia Woolf Live Inside Mary Bridget Davies On Her New Live Album FREEDOM OF MY MIND

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, welcome back to Bobby’s CD sandbox where we offer our broken-down breakdowns of new music releases. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

This week’s album entry in the BobbyFiles comes from Mary Bridget Davies, a Tony Award nominee and Theatre World recipient for A NIGHT WITH Janis Joplin (2014), whose latest live album, FREEDOM OF MY MIND, pays some tribute to the late great Rock/Blues Icon that has brought her no small attention in the music and theatre worlds. This is not to lead you down the wrong path, my angels. While Davies has made many a meal out of her connection to JJ, she is not All Joplin All The Time - as we hear on this latest recording.  HOWEVER, allow Bobby to get right to the Janis of it all and talk a bit about the 3 numbers on FREEDOM that the late great Jerry Ragovoy wrote for JJ, and get them out of the way. First of all, Davies ends her album with PIECE OF MY HEART because she is Mary Bridget Davies, just as sure as bread must be buttered and her marriage to Joplin is inescapable. This is Jerry Ragovoy’s most recognizable hit for JJ, and Davies sings it with the abandon (and in the fashion of) Joplin but gives some notes her own feel and shine - not an imitation, but an homage to someone she idolizes and reveres. Cut #8 is a Mashup of STAY WITH ME/CRY BABY where you hear that MBD's high notes are purer and smoother than JJ’s, and not as “fried” in the voice box; powerful though, and she shows she can rock shout with the best of them. She is screaming in the wilderness for the one she loves to hear her… all in vain it seems. The audience reaction recorded at the end is exuberant, and for good reason since the pure passion that MBD sings is palpable and exciting to hear. This cut is followed immediately by DON’T COMPROMISE YOURSELF - The Jerry Ragovoy song Janis never got to record, due to her untimely death. One can hear with this recording that there was hit written all over this one and that MBD's voice is the voice to hit with it, in the here and now. She is no “consolation” to Joplin - she is the heir apparent.
 

PHEWWW!  OK, my lambs - that’s The Joplin portion of the review, and now let’s get down to business on FREEDOM OF MY MIND. What is essentially Act One of this album are seven original songs penned by TJ Armand and Broadway musical directing/keyboardist Mark Berman - the pair behind A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, a play with music that has the writings of Virginia Woolf at its heart. Developmental readings of this new work have been held at The Public Theater's Joe’s Pub and 54 Below, starring Davies as the central voice (Woolf - presumably). Delving into the theme of women’s empowerment, these songs fly in the face of antifeminist activities that have somehow sprung up in the last few years.  Kicking off with OWN, we hear the heartbeat of Rock & Roll rhythms that drive this cut, throughout. This is Rock & Roll for sure, which is not oft associated with La Woolf, but let that go, my dearlings, and just enjoy the vitality of this song and performance, where MBD is having such a great time. Cut #4 is WHY, and the answer is because… This song truly inclines itself toward Woolf’s thoughts and feelings in A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN - the struggle for a woman to be a woman and be free and equal. She is screaming against the society that made her a second-class person to her husband.  “Why!” she screams throughout, and the lyrics that demand attention are “My secondhand life as your wife never made ya happy,” she shouts in frustration. 
 

In all my angels, we really enjoyed FREEDOM OF MY MIND and, as Bobby’s first-ever experience of Mary Bridget Davies, we could not have asked for a better introduction. The passion of her music and the soul of her work comes right out of the speakers to you (not AT you) and makes you feel all of those feels, and all of her soul, in very potent and beautiful ways. If you love Rock music that shouts its feelings, then Mary Bridget Davies and FREEDOM OF MY MIND are definitely for you and we give this one a resounding …

4 Out Of 5 Rainbows

You Can See And Hear Everything About Mary Bridget Davies On the TJ Armand Webbysite HERE while the MBD website is being built.
 

Follow MBD on Her InstaPictograms: HERE
See her X posts: HERE
Ande Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

CREDITS & THINGS

Ms. Davies was accompanied by acclaimed NYC musicians Clint de Ganon on drums, Composer/MD Mark Berman on piano, Alex Prezzano on guitar, and Dave Richards on Bass

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