Christie Hennessy - Just Another Man

It was with great sadness that I read of the passing of the Irish singer-songwriter, Christie Hennessy, just before Christmas. Christie was truly an original voice, whose songs are as instantly identifiable as his tender and delicately endearing vocals. Christie's songs are permeated with an affable warmth and humour that make the listener feel immediately at ease. It is Christie's insightful observations of every day life that makes for a compelling listen, as I remarked in my review of Christie's last album, Stories For Sale; "Christie displays a talent for making the ordinary appear extraordinary." It is this sensitive treatment of every man's everyday life that makes Christie's songs so engaging, reaching out to so many and striking that all important chord.

Christie always had the appearance of a relatively shy man, with his lyrics portraying a humbling air of humility. "Just Another Man," the opening track to his last album, Stories For Sale, is one example of this; "Oh I am just another man, doing what I can, when I can." It is however no coincidence that when this particular man did what he could, when he could, hearts were stirred and souls were soothed by the sheer poetry and poignancy that poured forth.

In one of his best loved songs, "Roll Back The Clouds," Christie intelligently dissects the shallowness of fame and the music business, portraying the superficial nature of an obsession with celebrity at the expense of talent. In today's world full of reality television and cynically manufactured music, where celebrity and talent have never been further apart, its narrative is all the more immediate. Of course, in Christie's inimitable manner, this message isn't preached or delivered forcefully, but served up with a gentle self-deprecating humour. It is also this song that holds the line "…and yet I gave my heart to every part," something of which one can be absolutely certain when listening to the formidable body of work that Christie leaves behind. There appear to be fewer artists these days who can wholeheartedly declare that they give of their heart in their work, and this is perhaps the saddest aspect of the loss of the utterly genuine article that was Christie Hennessy.

For me, the most important song of Christie's will always be "Love Belongs To Everyone," from his 1994 album, Lord Of Your Eyes. This has to be one of the most thoughtful and moving songs I've ever heard, with Christie homing in flawlessly on the insecurities of life, repeating the reassuring refrain that "love belongs to everyone," gently encouraging you to realise that this may well be all that matters in today's over-complicated, world typified by greed and disrespect.

It is with a heavy but grateful heart that I will always treasure the songs of Christie Hennessy, and they will always be held in my deepest affections.

Rest in peace Christie.


"When you grow up and you look back,
You'll wonder how you made it through it all,
Through evil minds, cheating and lying,
Each step you take is nearer to a fall,
But love belongs to everyone…"

(from "Love Belongs To Everyone")

ALBUM REVIEW : 'Give US Your Poor' (Various Artists)

Various Artists, Give US Your Poor (Appleseed Recordings, 2007)

Give US Your Poor is a campaign aimed at raising the awareness of homelessness in the United States. Their mission statement is:

The Give US Your Poor mission is to create a revolution in public awareness, dispel myths and inspire action towards ending epidemic homeless in the United States. It works to affect change at the policy level, engage volunteerism and contributions at the individual and corporate levels through media, technology and education; and to funnel support to partner homeless organizations.

This is an impressive collection that unites some of the USA's biggest names in rock and roots music with homeless or previously homeless musicians, to raise money for, and public awareness of, the growing homelessness crisis in the USA.

The album opens with a moving montage of interviews with homeless people set over a funky piano-led tune -- it is particularly poignant when one of the homeless being interviewed reveals that she is just nine years old. Kicking off in style, Jon Bon Jovi turns in a soulful blues-rock number, "Show Me The Way," with the song's composer, Mighty Sam McClain.

"Hobo's Lullaby" provides an opportunity to hear the mighty Bruce Springsteen singing alongside his hero, Pete Seeger, on this roots-laden Americana, driven along by Seeger's banjo with an overall sound that owes much to Springsteen's recent Seeger Sessions recording. Elsewhere, Bonnie Raitt and Weepin' Willie Robinson get together on a typically delicious, bluesy rendition of "Walking The Dog," with Bonnie's distinctive slide guitar adding an extra slice of class.

There are some young or relatively unknown performers who also make an impact here. The sublime jazz-tinged tones of Sonya Kitchell on her own composition, "So Lonely," ache with desolation and anguish. Eleven-year-old Kyla Middleton, who has experienced homelessness herself, shares the lead vocals with Dan Zanes on Leadbelly's "Boll Weevil," turning in ragged, world-weary vocals that you wouldn't really expect from one who hasn't even reached her teens.

Elsewhere one can find a typically charming song by Jewel, written when she was just a teenager herself. A couple of Julia Dinsmore poems achieve maximum emotional impact thanks to sincere readings from actor, Danny Glover, whilst Sweet Honey In The Rock give a characteristically uplifting and spiritual reading of the traditional piece, "Stranger Blues."

This is one of those great collections that places artists in surroundings outside of their usual comfort zones and provides some surprising and unique results. Much of this may not sound like it belongs in the folk music genre, but it is uniting people through music in a fight against adversity, and if that isn't in the true spirit of folk music, then I don't know what is!

http://www.giveusyourpoor.org/media/cd.php