Little Hawk's
1492-1975 is a concept album written and performed by Canadian singer/songwriter Troy Westwood, former lead singer of the ethnic fusion band Eagle and Hawk. According to the album's liner notes, Westwood researched and wrote the lyrics of these 14 songs before he met co-producer Chris Burke-Gaffney and multi-instrumentalist Luke McMaster, who provided the majority of the musical settings, and that's entirely obvious upon listening to the album. Westwood's wordy narrative lyrics are ploddingly literal, making the album sound like a musical history lesson about Native American life from Columbus' first landing to the April 1975 shootout between the FBI and members of the American Indian Movement. The tunes are mostly utilitarian at best; only the spooky "Do You Eat This Gold?," detailing the eradication of the Aztec empire, really works as a song.
1492-1975 works well as a teaching aid, but it's a bit of a slog as an album. ~ Stewart Mason