Peter Head - In The Key Of Night
[BBM002]

For those of you who are not familiar with Peter Head’s current style of music, he is a solo singer/piano player. Thus you only get Peter with his piano, with no other instruments to assist or embellish except for some handclaps on the last track, "I Wish I was Stoned". The cover notes say he plays two different types of pianos, and I’m trying to work out which is which – the Yamaha grand or the Laffargue upright! Perhaps the type of song is a better guide! Like the rollicking, boogie woogie left hand driven "Since I Met You Baby" is more likely played on the Laffargue! The sacrilege of playing a boogie on a grand! I’ve seen Jan Preston perform live recently at a couple of folk festivals, and I suspect that Head plays in a similar manner.

On this album he mixes up his original songs with a few well selected covers. The covers include "Last Night I Had a Dream" (Randy Newman) which is similar to the original arrangement; Ivory Joe Hunter’s aforementioned "Since I Met You Baby"; "Crying Time" (Buck Owens); "I Wish I Was in New Orleans" & "Saving All My Love For You" (both Tom Waits); "Make You Feel My Love" (Bob Dylan); "Cry Me A River" (Arthur Hamilton); "Sin City" (Gram Parsons) and "You Don’t Know Me" (Cindy Walker & Eddie Arnold). The Tom Waits’ numbers suit Head’s style which is more influenced by Randy Newman than Waits.

Head has a distinctive voice; he is able to inject some pathos and emotion into his singing, but seems to sing within a narrow range that suits his voice. The album is more of an atmospheric, mood setting album, rather than one that demands attention. It would be good to see Peter in concert to see if he plays some more upbeat tunes and melodies to sustain a live audience’s attention.

Chris Spencer