''The Loving Kind'' is the 19th album by singer-songwriter

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...

. It was released June 9, 2009 as her last album for

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

, a label for whom Griffith worked since 2002. Comprising thirteen songs (A fourteenth was released as a bonus track on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

), it was her first release of all new material since 2005. The album tackles political topics such as Loving vs. Virginia ("The Loving Kind") and

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

("Not Innocent Enough"), as well as songs about Griffith's heroes, such as

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

("Up Against the Rain").

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

gave the album a generally positive review, stating that "It does sound like her muse is finally on the mend."

Lyrics and inspiration

The lyrics in ''The Loving Kind'' are much more political than Griffith's previous work. The song ''The Loving Kind'' was written after Griffith read an obituary of Mildred Loving, the plaintiff in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case ''

Loving v. Virginia ''Loving v. Virginia'', 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States, laws ban ...

'' that invalidated laws prohibiting

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...

. "Money Changes Everything" and "Things I Don't Need" reflect the economic downturn that took place as the album was being written. "Up Against the Rain" and "Cotton's All We Got" were written about

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, while "Not Innocent Enough" is about Phillip Workman, a man who was sentenced to death after the shooting of a police officer. "Across America" is about Barack Obama's campaign, while "Still Life" is a glaring criticism of George W. Bush. "Sing" is an autobiographical song about Griffith's love for Folk music, Folk and country music.

Reception

The album received mostly positive reviews. ''USA Todays Jerry Shriver gave the album 3 out of 4 stars, stating: "Wielding a clear, insistent voice and a soft acoustic guitar, the folkie star tackles a host of weighty topics, including interracial marriage, capital punishment and the second Bush era. But this is no tedious polemic: A crack backing group renders sweet country-inflected arrangements, and Griffith tosses in a couple of honky-tonkish weepers and a tender ode to Townes Van Zant [sic]."

Track listing

# "The Loving Kind" # "Money Changes Everything" # "One of These Days" # "Up Against the Rain" # "Cotton's All We Got" # "Not Innocent Enough" # "Across America" # "Party Girl" # "Sing" # "Things I Don't Need" # "Still Life" # "Tequila After Midnight" # "Pour Me a Drink" # "Love is Love" (iTunes bonus track) Out of the fourteen tracks on the album, nine were written by Griffith. "Money Changes Everything", "Party Girl", "Tequila After Midnight", and "Pour Me a Drink" are covers of other artists' work. "One of These Days" was written by Griffith for her ''The Last of the True Believers'' album in the 1980s.

References

External links

* Jon Lusk
''Nanci Griffith The Loving Kind Review''

2009 * Thom Jurek
''Nanci Griffith The Loving Kind''
AllMusic * Steve Horowitz
''Nanci Griffith: The Loving Kind''
PopMatters 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Loving Kind, The Nanci Griffith albums 2009 albums Rounder Records albums