Review by Peter Fawthrop

CD - One Thousand Pennies

Winner of a 2002 NAPPA Gold Award, 2002 West Coast Music Award, 2002 Parents' Choice Silver Award & a Children's Music Web Award

 

"In a better world, we could send Canadian singer Norman Foote over to the Middle East for musical peace talks. In that world, they would not be necessary anyway, except as a deterrent to heart and soul pollution. If comparing his music to world peace doesn't entice you to fork over 1000 (or so) pennies for "1000 Pennies" read no further. The album is a blooming concoction of celestial goofiness and calm. Rainbow colored strokes pour from front to back on the album's cover, making an appropriate choice for Foote's sixth album, which plays like a summer daydream for its running time of just over 30 minutes. In addition to instruments like the accordion, penny whistle, percussion, harmonica, and mandolin, Foote goes where few, if any, musicians have gone before; turning the sound of dropping pennies into an equally effective instrument on the addictive Celtic title track. He also plays his own guitar like a pro, despite his photo appearance of a giddy child who has just picked one up for the first time. There is an old fashioned charm running amok here, especially through streets of pop and light jazz, that one would be hard pressed to find on most childrensâ albums made today. While Kenny Loggins has reinvented classics with his "Pooh Corner" albums, Foote is at the forefront of kidsâ music because he writes songs we have not heard before, and they are good. Some are suited for smaller children: "Snuggle Up" and "Loose Tooth." Some are for everyone: "Let's Sing A Song" and "Think of Something Good." He experiments with space opera on the tracks "Lost Umbrellas and Odd Socks" and "Circus Boy." On one hand, these two songs would work better with a visual backdrop since they display an air of surrealism. On the other, they require children to pay attention and use MTV'âs nemesis number one; their own imagination. "Circus Boy" seems too short, maybe because the song splits and shifts melodies together, and the best part, "That's my mommy and that's my pop/ Here we are together underneath the big top" plays only once. Foote might be able to fix that during his popular concert tours, or remake it for a future album. He has already done so with "When I Grow Up" which is a remake of his self-penned "Singing Policeman." Rejuvenated with a more accessible title, it makes a much greater impact this time around with windy choral effects. Once again, Foote serves up a solid package of entertainment, but after six albums there is a curious thought wavering overhead- he has yet to release a masterpiece. It will come, in prediction, in the form of either an album targeted toward adults, or a children's album that focuses almost entirely on songs which are universal in terms of age. Past songs like "Love Is A Little Word," "Magic Penny," and the best tracks on this most recent album "Deeper than the Deep Blue" and "Where the Blackberries Grow" are perfect examples. There is a definitive feeling of warmth when the album closes with "The summer is half over/ the sun's high in the sky/ that's how I remember the end of July." The reason we love Norman Foote is cemented in the beautiful music and cheery lyrics of this short verse.