Peter Cooper
Album: Opening Day
Label: Red Beet
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.petercoopermusic.com

Peter Cooper has been described as a "modern day renaissance man", for being all of the following : musician, singer, songwriter, producer, author, professor of country music and music journalist. Apart from being really good at all of these things, he's also one of the nicest people you could wish to meet.

Peter is also incredibly prolific - he has made three duo records [with Eric Brace] and three solo records in the past five years!

The latest [and quite possibly the best] of his solo albums is "Opening Day" on which Peter wrote [or co-wrote] nine of the eleven songs. He is a songwriter of great charm and wit as this album clearly demonstrates.

Apart Peter's masterful lyrics, what also makes this album stand out is the wonderful playing [throughout the album] of veteran pedal steel guitar maestro Lloyd Green. Lloyd is, without doubt, one of the greatest ever exponents of the pedal steel, having played professionally since 1956. He has played with just about every major star in Country Music, including Faron Young, George Jones, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Don Williams, Tammy Wynette and Charlie Pride. He also played on the classic, genre-defining country rock album "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" by The Byrds and has also played with Paul McCartney. Lloyd's contributions to this album are outstanding.

According to Eric Brace this album "may be approached like a book of interconnected short stories". Certainly, it is possible to detect certain themes that run from one song into another. Several of the songs are autobiographical, none more so than the excellent opener "Much Better Now" which details Peter's early career as teacher, waiter and shop assistant before describing his current role as a father.

The title track "Opening Day" uses a sport as a metaphor for life in general. Everyone is optimistic on opening day at the start of the season but the results don't always justify that optimism and only the lucky ones get the breaks.

"Feels Like Home" is another autobiographical song where the writer feels the first cold wind of winter which immediately reminds him of home and long winters. The song features some typically brilliant pedal steel from Lloyd Green and sweet harmonies from Julie Lee.

"Jenny Died At Twenty Five" is about a woman who feels her life is over when she realises that her youth has gone. Its companion piece is "Grandma's Tattoo"in which an elderly lady hangs on to the memories of her youth by keeping a secret of her Batman tattoo [ her "private work of art]. The clever juxtaposition of these two songs gives the listener two different approaches to the same issue -that of getting old.

"Quiet Little War" is a brilliant song about a man who has breakfast with his family [in New Mexico] and then drives off to work. Nothing unusual in that you might think. Until you find out that his job is to "fly" remote-controlled 'planes [drones] over Afghanistan in order to bomb potentially hostile targets. This man has the power to decide "who will live and who will die" in this "quiet little war" and then drives back home to his family. Extraordinary.

There are two cover songs on this album. The first is "Birches", a lovely song by the late Bill Morrissey and the other is "A Million Miles To The City" by the great Tom T.Hall. Peter and Eric Brace were nominated for a Grammy for their production of an album of songs by Tom and this is a typically powerful song by the man, which describes the isolation of his childhood on a farm in Olive, Kentucky.

Overall, this is an immensely satisfying album by Peter Cooper. If you don't know his work, this is an excellent place to start. He is a songwriter of rare wit and integrity. Add to this the fabulous pedal steel playing of Lloyd Green and you have a sure-fire winner.

Peter Cowley