Once In A Very Blue Moon (studio album) by Nanci Griffith

"Once in a Very Blue Moon" is the third album by Nanci Griffith, but you might as well consider it her first.

After getting signed to the folk-friendly Philo label, Griffith probably enjoyed much more of an allowance to produce and distribute records. She grows here in a songwriter and a stylistic singer, but producer Jim Rooney gets credit for capturing lightning in a bottle. Rooney made a career of producing albums for artists like John Prine and Iris DeMent, playing a historic role in what would become to be known as Americana.

Where the first two albums were gentle and sentimental, Griffith kicks things into gear with a powerful acoustic backing band and Rooney's organic thumping production. It's folk, not bluegrass, though many bluegrass fans might salivate when seeing the names of the instrumentalists: Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor Roy Huskey Jr., among others. This superb set of backing musicians helps drive the music, which got lost in a sluggish melodic lingering of the other two albums.

Griffith also has backing singers: a young Lyle Lovett and Denice Franke, well known in the Texas singer-songwriter community. A track by Lovett is included on some reissued of the album. Franke went on to perform and record with Griffith's ex-husband Eric Taylor, who she divorced around the time this project was produced. It must have been on good terms though, since Taylor co-wrote the opening track of the album. Griffith writes the rest of the tracks, except for the Bill Staines classic "Roseville Fair," "Robin Winter Smith" by Texas singer-songwriter Richard Dobson, Lovett's "If I Were the Woman You Wanted," and Pat Alger and Eugene Levine provided the lovely title track.

Griffith also grew as a singer. She incorporates a more assertive singing style, with a tactful use of edgy snarl and dynamics. At the same time, she does best on the sentimental songs, and the title track is a career highlight as far as vocal performances are concerned. Griffith also continues to improve as a songwriter and her material gels well with her choice of cover material. Her best contribution is the closing track "Spin on a Red Brick Floor," her tribute to the Anderson Fair restaurant at the center of the documentary "For the Sake of the Song."

All the elements finally come together on "Once in a Very Blue Moon," folk songwriting that strikes you, with a nostalgic melodic folk sound. It's sort of the style that brings Bruce Springsteen to mind. It's Americana before they had a name for it. And while it may have sounded archaic at the time, Rooney's production on "Moon" makes it just as fresh and organic as it just have sounded in 1984.

Also, check out the details on the cover. I see a letter and a biking helmet, referencing the letter in the title track and the biker in Robin Winter Smith. Also, she has glass of wine with which she toasts the madness, from the song "Friend Out in the Madness." There is a deck of cards, referencing "Mary and Omie," and Griffith herself is dressed in blue like the girl in "Roseville Fair."

For whatever reason, the Lyle Lovett original "If I Were the Woman You Wanted" is left off most UK versions.

Highly Recommended.

Track Pick: Once in a Very Blue Moon
Gems: Spin on a Red Brick Floor, Mary and Omie