"Harp: A Time to Sing features two discs of music commemorating a September 1984 performance by folk artists Holly Near, Arlo Guthrie, Ronnie Gilbert, and Pete Seeger. In particular, the one-time performance was intended to incite awareness about all the social problems plaguing the Reagan era: AIDS, starvation, Reaganomics, the arms race, gay rights, and anything else associated with conservative '80s Republican ideology. It was a politically charged and idealistic time for pop music in 1984, Harp: A Time to Sing is surprisingly modest and low key despite its political motives -- characteristics very much associated with the folk music scene. There's plenty of soapboxing here, so be prepared. More than anything, A Time to Sing captures a moment in time when musicians sought to change the world through song. And of that time, this performance tends to be one of the more sincere and effective, even if it didn't grab the headlines that "We Are the World" did." (Allmusic)
The significant artistic growth demonstrated on Holly Near's fourth album was predicated on her coming out as a lesbian, an act she defined as going beyond "sexual preference" to embrace cultural and political aspects, among others. Indeed, this album was the closest Near had yet come to a conventional folk album, in part because she had parted ways with composer/arranger Jeff Langley, whose eclectic musical taste had dominated her earlier efforts. In his absence, and in the presence of folkies such as her new lover, Meg Christian, Near relied on acoustic guitar and piano to construct simple musical arrangements charged with some impressive harmony singing. The new simplicity brought with it some of her catchiest songs ever, notably the album-ending "Something About the Women." The CD reissue added two songs available on other Holly Near albums, both of which concerned emotional issues more directly than anything else on the record and thus didn't quite fit. (allmusic)
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