Defying Gravity

Annotator Jeff Hannusch calls the Australian Jesse Winchester release Defying Gravity a live album, although there is little sound of an audience on the tracks (rarely is applause heard at the end of songs, for instance), and the recording is otherwise unidentified in the release by the AIM label. Aural evidence and song selection, however, suggest that this 65-minute recording chronicles Winchester's touring band of about 1977. The material comes largely from his early albums Jesse Winchester; Third Down, 110 to Go; Learn to Love It; Let the Rough Side Drag; and Nothing But a Breeze, and it is notable, for instance, that in performing "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt" (from the 1974 Learn to Love It), Winchester updates the lyric to refer to President Jimmy Carter, who took office in January 1977 and immediately pardoned Vietnam War resistors like Winchester, who had moved to Canada in 1967 rather than submit to the military draft. (The song list is similar to that on the 1977 promotional album Live at the Bijou Cafe.) Also, there are no selections from later albums like A Touch on the Rainy Side (1978) and Talk Memphis (1981). Of course, Winchester has only rarely performed with a band, though he did in 1977, when he first returned to the U.S. to perform. The tracks here are given a clear if bass-heavy mix, with the pedal steel guitar prominent. These are not the original recordings, of course, but the album's selection makes it a good summary of the first seven years of Winchester's writing and performing career. At the same time, there is no indication that this is an authorized release, even if it may be technically legal in Australia. ~ William Ruhlmann|