Bonnie "Blue" Billy - Little Boy Blue 7"
(Western Vinyl)
It seems in vogue now to have releases with covers of multiple songs having
the same (or similar) names, first Versus' Shangri La EP, now Will Oldham's
Little Boy Blue 7", 3 different songs about a little boy being blue for
three different love-related reasons.
The first song "Little Boy Blue" recalls his Days in the Wake album, folk-heavy,
with a simple, sloppy acoustic guitar part and Oldham's impeccably delivered
vocals. The little boy in this song is longing for a woman's affections, and
the basis of the song is a Three Little Pigs metaphor ("I'm not the Big Bad
Wolf just the Little Boy Blue.").
The music of the second song, "Blue Boy," is a little more upbeat and a little
more sparse (again just acoustic guitar and vocals), the main melody being a
backing vocal "wooo-uh-oooo." Here, the boy finds himself recently broken out
of love with a woman and desperate to get back in.
The B-side is another song titled "Little Boy Blue" and is different than the
songs on the A-side and much of Oldham's material. In this song, Oldham is
wallowing and brooding as much as he ever has, kicking himself for not taking
up on a woman's advances when he had the opportunity. The music of the song
uses a drum machine bass bomp to gloomy effects along with sparse electric
guitar.
If you're a fan of Oldham (like me), then you'll likely eat this up as
Oldham's vocal delivery is outstanding on this release and give each of the
covers much emotion. If you're not a fan, then the sparse, imperfect music
behind the vocals will probably strengthen your convictions on your dislike
of him.
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