MRS. PINOCCI'S GUITAR - Cheryl Wheeler

YEAR: 1995

LABEL: Rounder

TRACK LISTING: Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar, Does the Future Look Black, School Girls, TV, The Rivers, Further and Further Away, Is It Peace or Is It Prozac?, Howl at the Moon, The Storm, So Far To Fall, Makes Good Sense To Me, Piper, Time Taketh Away, One Love

IMPRESSIONS: Along with Cheryl's DRIVING HOME, this is one of my favourite albums of all time. Another masterpiece (that's two in a row for our girl). The opening title track is deceptively simple but often makes me cry during the final verse. This album is just wall-to-wall with exceptionally well-written songs and it's debatably Wheeler's masterpiece. I saw Cheryl live circa 2000 along with Patty Larkin, John Gorka and Cliff Eberhardt and when she sang "Howl at the Moon" the other three singers unexpectedly came on the stage to sing harmony on the chorus; from Cheryl's reaction the moment was unplanned and you could tell it genuinely touched her.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar, Does the Future Look Black, School Girls, TV, Further and Further Away, Is It Peace or Is It Prozac?, Howl at the Moon, The Storm, So Far To Fall, Makes Good Sense To Me, Piper, Time Taketh Away

GUEST ARTISTS: Jonathan Edwards (vocals on "School Girls", co-producer), Johnatha Brooke (background vocals on "The Rivers")

FACT SHEET: MRS. PINOCCI'S GUITAR is Cheryl Wheeler's fifth album. The title track is based on an actual event in Cheryl's life. The hilarious and oddly touching "Is It Peace or Is it Prozac?" was written after Cheryl suffered a nervous breakdown and, after she recovered she wrote "Howl at the Moon" for her new dog James. "Makes Good Sense To Me" was Cheryl's response to the right-wing "Contract with America" in 1994. The album was nominated for the "Song of the Year" Penguin Award for "So Far To Fall" and won Penguin Awards that year for "Duet of the Year" for "School Girls" and "Album of the Year".