South Dakota musical everyman Hank Harris sent along a note with his beautiful new CD, Beautiful Planet. “Here is the newest collection. Why do I keep doing this? It’s a little like trying to sell a fax machine. Such an odd time for music delivery systems. Oh well. It’s what I do. Peace and Love, Hank.” I had a good laugh. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him I no longer listen to CDs. I’m not as old as this sounds, but over the years, I have been through many “musical deliver systems,” as Hank calls them: vinyl records, including 33s, 45s, and 78s; 8-track and cassette tapes; and CDs. A recent move from house to apartment prompted the sell-off of most of the CDs, the donation of the CD player, and, for better or worse, a commitment to digital delivery systems. Lucky me, we still have a relatively old car in the family.
The AC doesn’t work, but the CD player does, so I drove around Maine, where I now reside, during a recent heatwave, grooving to Hank’s latest collection of songs. With assistance from a fabulous group of musical collaborators led by Jimmy Goings, Hank has put together a CD that makes you want to move, dance, and celebrate until you realize he’s singing about bleak times, lost hope, and the myths of yesterday. “And I know the Beatles told us/All you need is love,’” he sings on Love Is Not Enough. “So I am studying the Book of Nature/Full of wonderful stuff/But I can’t find out why love is not enough.” 11 Times Zones East tells the story of a military drone operator, who suffers from the reality of a job that entails killing other human beings who live a world away. “I can’t sleep anymore, and if I do it’s just a nightmare,” says the subject in the song. “You never get your innocence back. It’s all in the rearview now.” There are songs of love, songs of remembrance. There is hope here. But Hank Harris is a realist, and his message is stark because our beautiful planet is in crisis, perhaps beyond the point of repair. “The word is out, we’re not going to make it,” he sings on the title track, whose upbeat melody and musical pulse belies the message. “Another flim-flam, another con man, Telling us he’s gonna save the world.” An accomplished photographer who understands beauty, Harris has included many of his photographs from South Dakota and his travels as part of the CD packing, which is a good reminder (for me, anyway) of the value of having an actual CD (and CD player). Lesson learned.
-Bob Keyes | Maine-based and nationally-recognized arts writer and storyteller
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