Whose Green City?

This is the third and final volume in the complete recordings of Lil Green in chronological order as reissued by the Classics Blues & Rhythm Series. By 1947 Lil Green was beginning to sound more than a little like Ida Cox, even when handling songs from Tin Pan Alley rather than straight up out of the tried and true traditional blues repertoire. Comparisons could also be drawn between Lil Green and Nellie Lutcher or Julia Lee. While her "crossover" performances are worthwhile, there's nothing quite like hearing this woman savor the flavor of Bessie Smith hits like "Aggravatin' Papa," "Outside of That," and "You've Been a Good Old Wagon (But You Done Broke Down)." Green's own "Lonely Woman" has a powerful undercurrent running through it – there is even a remote possibility that Ornette Coleman was inspired by this record when conceiving his own composition of the same title in 1959. Even if the link is purely coincidental, these melodies have something wonderful in common. Green's final recordings for the Victor label are strengthened by the presence of tenor saxophonists Budd Johnson, Lem Johnson, and David Young.

As City and Colour, Canadian songsmith and reformed screamer Dallas Green has enjoyed an impressive run of success over the previous decade. Initially launched in the mid-2000s as a quiet, acoustic rebuttal to his post-hardcore band, Alexisonfire, the project gained new layers around the turn of the decade, resulting in a trio of dreamy, deeply introspective folk-pop albums, each of which topped the Canadian charts. 2015's soulful If I Should Go Before You was a warmly crafted gem that utilized Green's tight-knit live band and featured some of his sharpest writing to date. Arriving four years later, A Pill for Loneliness is an altogether lusher affair, which seems to sever ties with Green's more organic tendencies in favor of ethereal synths, textured guitar washes, and a sort of orange-hued, melancholic dream pop.