{"id":25025,"date":"2023-05-16T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T09:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25025"},"modified":"2023-03-23T14:48:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:48:51","slug":"loudon-wainwright-iii-a-lifetime-of-achievements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/16\/loudon-wainwright-iii-a-lifetime-of-achievements\/","title":{"rendered":"Loudon Wainwright III: A Lifetime of Achievements"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The global events of the last few years \u2013 global pandemic, political unrest, a brutal war in Europe \u2013 could provide more than enough motivation for a songwriter to create a bumper crop of songs focusing on the negative, the downcast, the pessimistic side of life. But even though he\u2019s long been known for his keen and observant songwriting approach, revered troubadour Loudon Wainwright III tends toward a wryly humorous approach in his work. So even against the backdrop of worldwide calamities, his latest album, Lifetime Achievement<\/i> is a collection of upbeat and optimistic songs that provide some welcome light amid the darkness.<\/p>\n

Wainwright readily concedes that the pandemic was a terrible occurrence. \u201cBut for me personally,\u201d he says, \u201cit wasn\u2019t bad; in some ways it was good.\u201d Wainwright spent most of the lockdown period at his home on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, with his girlfriend and their two cats. \u201cSusan couldn\u2019t go to her office, and I don\u2019t have an office to go to<\/i>,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we spent a lot of the three years here on this island, and on a good day, it was a beautiful thing.\u201d Along the way he endured a mild case of Covid, but for him, that was the worst of it.<\/p>\n

Wainwright wrote a batch of new songs during that time, and when it came time to record them, he decided to employ a spare approach. \u201cI\u2019ve made a lot of records,\u201d he points out. \u201c25 or 30; I don\u2019t even know<\/i> how many. And I\u2019ve done them a lot of different ways.\u201d Some of Wainwright\u2019s albums have found him backed by a rock band; others used jazz players. Some were big studio affairs; others, simple, homespun and intimate records. \u201cIt\u2019s been kind of a checkered career,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The songs often dictate the kind of aesthetic each of his albums should have, Wainwright suggests. For Lifetime Achievement<\/i>, \u201cwe decided originally to keep it super-simple: voice and guitar,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I think that was the correct choice. For this<\/i> record, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of songs on Lifetime Achievement<\/i> do feature a full band. \u201c\u2019Town & Country\u2019 is pretty rocked-up,\u201d Wainwright says, and the title track \u201chas all kinds of various [instruments] on it.\u201d But that unadorned and straightforward approach characterizes the album.<\/p>\n

Considering his body of a work as a whole, it\u2019s tempting to label Loudon Wainwright III a prolific songwriter. But he\u2019s not sure that description is an accurate one. \u201cIn the beginning of my career, I was writing three to four songs a week,\u201d he admits. But these days, he says that it takes him several years to gather together a group of songs. \u201cI liken it to sex,\u201d he says with an impish grin. \u201cWhen you\u2019re young and happening, it just keeps coming. But now\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

For Wainwright, quality wins out over quantity. In normal times, he might road-test new songs, trying them out in front of audiences to see how they land, tinkering with them as needed before taking the songs into the recording studio. \u201cThat’s the finest litmus test,\u201d he says. \u201cSee if it works, see if there are laughs in it, see if I get<\/i> the laughs, see if the song itself works emotionally with an audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the worst of the pandemic now receding into history, 76-year-old Wainwright is back on the road. But only now is he getting the chance to play his new songs in front of a live audience. \u201cDuring the pandemic I created a couple of virtual shows,\u201d he says. But without the feedback that comes from singing and playing music in the same room as people who are watching and listening, he didn\u2019t have that real-time feedback at his disposal. \u201cSo,\u201d he shrugs, \u201cI just had to assume they\u2019re good songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wainwright \u2013 whose career includes many acting credits in movies (M*A*S*H<\/i>, The 40-Year Old Virgin<\/i>) and television (Ally McBeal<\/i>, Parks and Recreation<\/i>), began his career as a recording artist with a self-titled album in 1970. Asked what the young man who wrote melancholy character studies like \u201cHospital Lady\u201d and the wacky singalong \u201cDead Skunk\u201d (from 1972\u2019s Album III<\/i>) might think of the 2023 version of Loudon Wainwright,\u201d the quick-witted songwriter is momentarily stumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was starting off, I was a young guy full of beans and ambition and dreams,\u201d he explains. \u201cI couldn’t imagine that I would be doing this as a 75, 76-year-old man. But, as it turns out, I am and did, so look what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy my 2016 interview with Wainwright.<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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