Kate’s unfortunate death from cancer in January 2010 at the age of 63 has once again pulled the spotlight of cultural celebrity their way, and the release of Tell My Sister — a box set containing their first two albums and a third CD full of spare, acoustic demos and other previously unreleased tracks — was followed in May by a pair of memorial/benefit concerts in New York City’s Town Hall, featuring guests Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, and a cast of many others.
The sister’s first two releases, Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Dancer with Bruised Knees, from 1975 and 1977 respectively — fully restored and remastered here by the pair’s original producer, Joe Boyd — are now considered underground masterpieces. But it’s Tell My Sister, the third disc here, that’s the real revelation — a fresh-sounding, awe-inspiring collection of demos, unreleased tracks, and acoustic interpretations that still feels remarkably relevant and compelling.
And Odditties is the perfect companion-piece to that third disc, presenting an even dozen tracks from the vast McGarrigle archive, personally selected by Anna and released in December 2010 on a small Canadian label.
Odditties begins with four Stephen Foster tunes, includes a lovely, multi-tiered arrangement of the Cajun classic, “Parlez-nous a Boire,” and concludes with a coolly understated rockabilly arrangement of “You Tell Me That I’m Falling Down,” a McGarrigle Sisters honky-tonk ballad that easily stands with the very best of the genre.
That credo pretty much expresses what made the McGarrigle Sisters iconic — an unmistakably vulnerable presentation of deep longing and faith-based devotion expressed through the medium of charming and utterly delighful 19th-century parlour songs.