What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Giving this one another spin....

Here We Go Again - Celebrating The Gunius of Ray Charles -- CD

WIllie Nelson - Wynton Marsalis - Norah Jones

Last Tuesday...Blue Note Records
Product Description

Once in a while the stars align and something magical happens...as on the night Jazz at Lincoln Center presented a salute to the late, great bluesman, Ray Charles. Two musical iconoclasts, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, along with the stunning songstress Norah Jones, collectively brought their unique musical perspective to the legendary artist's hits such as "Hallelujah I Love Her So", "Hit the Road Jack," and "Unchain My Heart." Country music legend Willie Nelson and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz artist and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis share more in common than their multiple GRAMMY® awards. They also share great respect and admiration for the late musical pioneer Ray Charles. Nelson and Marsalis joined musical forces for a two-night Jazz at Lincoln Center concert event at New York City's Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Their set list explored the legacy of Charles, cleverly sequencing the songs to tell the story of a love affair from beginning to end and beyond. This fine idea was made finer by the inclusion of fellow multiple GRAMMY® winner Norah Jones, whose style suggests a middle ground between Nelson and Marsalis. The sold out performance was captured and the resulting footage expertly mixed and mastered for the brand new album.

1. Hallelujah I Love Her So (Gospel 2-beat / Boogaloo / 4/4 Swing)

2. Come Rain or Come Shine (Walking Ballad)

3. Unchain My Heart (Bolero with Habanera bass)

4. Cryin' Time (Country Ballad)

5. Losing Hand (Dirge with Chain-Gang Shuffle)

6. Hit The Road Jack (Gospel 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)

7. I’m Moving On (Boogaloo with Afro-Latin Backbeat / 4/4 Swing)

8. Busted (Gospel 12/8 Shuffle)

9. Here We Go Again (Rhythm & Blues 12/8 Shuffle)

10. Makin’ Whoopie (Hard-Bop 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)

11. I Love You So Much (It Hurts) (Waltz)

12. What'd I Say (Boogaloo)

 

[Dennie]

At Madison Square Garden -- CD

Johnny Cash

1969/2002 Columbia Legacy

Amazon.com

Johnny Cash has long been both country legend and American icon. But once upon a time, in the late '60s, Cash was something more mercurial--pop culture superstar. This 26-song, previously unreleased concert recorded in December 1969 at a Madison Square Garden packed with 21,000 enthusiastic fans from across the cultural and political spectrum documents what's arguably the peak of Cash's career. One story-song slides naturally into the next in a set that not only documents the high points of his already rich and colorful career, but paints a compelling autobiography of the singer and his hardscrabble roots. Whether taking a bold antiwar stance as a "dove with claws" (imagine a post-Lee Greenwood country star being as brave) on "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," taking a tough, unflinching look at prison life in a four-song stretch book-ended by "The Long Black Veil" and "Folsom Prison Blues," or examining the plight of the Native American and his own religious beliefs, Cash gives a performance that underscores the honesty and integrity that made him a conquering American folk hero. The singer's generosity toward his backing musicians and songwriters is also noteworthy, acknowledging Shel Silverstein's presence as the writer of his massive hit "A Boy Named Sue," turning over the show to the Carter Family for a couple slices of Appalachian roots music, and letting the Statler Brothers showcase "Flowers on the Wall" and fellow Sun legend-turned-sideman Carl Perkins rip through an explosive, show-stopping "Blue Suede Shoes." Cash's presence here is more than mere performance; it's a frank reminder that American values remain considerably more complex than nostalgia, apple pie, and flag-waving. --Jerry McCulley

"Big River" (J. Cash) – 2:21
"I Still Miss Someone" (Cash, Roy Cash, Jr.) – 1:37
"Five Feet High and Rising" (Cash) – 2:52
"Pickin' Time" (Cash) – 2:36
"Remember the Alamo" (Jane Bowers) – 2:48
"Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" (Ed McCurdy) – 3:04
"Wreck of the Old 97" (Arranged by Cash, Norman George Blake, Robert Johnson) – 2:14
"The Long Black Veil" (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) – 3:01
"The Wall" (Harlan Howard) – 1:09
"Send a Picture of Mother" (Cash) – 2:36
"Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash) – 3:35
"Blue Suede Shoes" (C. Perkins) – 3:13 (Carl Perkins)
"Flowers on the Wall" (L. DeWitt) – 2:32 (The Statler Brothers)
"Wildwood Flower" (A.P. Carter) – 3:45 (The Carter Family)
"Worried Man Blues" (A.P. Carter) – 1:40 (The Carter Family)
"A Boy Named Sue" (Shel Silverstein) – 4:25
"Cocaine Blues" (T.J. Arnall) – 1:57
"Jesus was a Carpenter" (C. Wren) – 3:40
"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" (Pete LaFarge) – 3:11
"As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" (LaFarge) – 3:50
"Sing a Traveling Song" (K. Jones) – 3:30
"He Turned the Water into Wine" (Cash) – 3:16
"Were You There (When They Crucifed My Lord)" (Traditional, Arranged by Cash) – 4:16
"Daddy Sang Bass" (Carl Perkins) – 2:15
"Finale Medley" – 4:45:
"Do What You Do, Do Well" (N. Miller) (Tommy Cash & Johnny Cash)
"I Walk the Line" (Cash) (The Carter Family)
"Ring of Fire" (Cash, M. Kilgore) (The Statler Brothers)
"Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash) (Carl Perkins)
"The Rebel - Johnny Yuma" (R. Markowitz, A. Fenady)
"Folsom Prison Blues" (Cash)
"Suppertime" (I. F. Stanphill) – 2:55

 

[topper]

My sunny Saturday moring selection . . . with a freshly-brewed cup of black coffee and a cigarette . . . .
~

~ . :music-listening:

 

[Botch]

Brittney Spears...... :angry-tappingfoot:


Dennie :teasing-tease:

Actually, I just saw on Headline News that the critics are pretty impressed with her new album Femme Fatale, and Rolling Stone even gave it four out of five stars. :scared-eek:

She isn't too hard on the eyes...

 

[Rope]

Rope

 

[Rope]

Brittney Spears...... :angry-tappingfoot:


Dennie :teasing-tease:

Actually, I just saw on Headline News that the critics are pretty impressed with her new album Femme Fatale, and Rolling Stone even gave it four out of five stars. :scared-eek:

She isn't too hard on the eyes...

Wonder who's given more rides, her, or Greyhound?

Rope

 

[Dennie]

Rare Bird Alert -- Deluxe Edition CD

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

2011 Rounder Records

Product Description

Renaissance man Steve Martin returns to his musical passion - bluegrass - with a new album of all original songs, backed by the Steep Canyon Rangers. Rare Bird Alert is the follow up to 2009's GRAMMY® Award-winning The Crow and features precise picking, delightful melodies, and well constructed lyrics , the hallmarks of Martin's musical pursuits. Special guests, Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks lend their vocal talents, respectively, to "Best Love" and "You". This deluxe version comes with collectible Rare Bird Trading Cards.

1. Rare Bird Alert
2. Yellow-Backed Fly
3. Best Love
4. Northern Island
5. Go Away, Stop, Turn Around, Come Back
6. Jubilation Day
7. More Bad Weather On The Way
8. You
9. The Great Remember (for Nancy)
10. Women Like To Slow Dance
11. Hide Behind A Rock
12. Atheists Don't Have No Songs
13. King Tut

 

[Dennie]

Foggy Mountain Jamboree -- CD

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs

1957/2008 Columbia Legacy

The Holy Grail of Bluegrass, March 26, 2007
By Karl Fehrenbach - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Foggy Mountain Jamboree (Reis) (Audio CD)

There are two Flatt and Scruggs albums that sum up all you really have to know about bluegrass music. The first is the album "Foggy Mountain Banjo" and the second is "Foggy Mountain Jamboree". Here you have Flatt and Scruggs, two of the icons of the genre, at their peak vocally and instrumentally. The bluegrass classics of "Flinthill Special" and "Earl's Breakdown" are recorded here and are two standards every 5-string banjo player wants to master in order to become worthy to be known as a bluegrass player. The vocals, especially "Blue Ridge Cabin Home" and "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" are classics that mark a certain era in the development of bluegrass music and define the way it should be done. If you are beginning to build a bluegrass library, this is the cornerstone for your collection. One listen and you'll understand why Flatt and Scruggs were revered the way they were by lovers of this style of music.

1. Flint Hill Special
2. Some Old Day
3. Earl's Breakdown
4. Jimmie Brown, The Newsboy
5. Foggy Mountain Special
6. It Won't Be Long
7. Shuckin' the Corn
8. Blue Ridge Cabin Home
9. Randy Lynn Rag
10. Your Love Is Like a Flower
11. Foggy Mountain Chimes
12. On My Mind
13. Dear Old Dixie
14. Pray for the Boys
15. Reunion in Heaven

 

[Dennie]

Revival -- CD

Gillian Welch

1996 Acony Records

Amazon.com

Gillian Welch has captured the ethos of mountain music in a way that few lowlanders have managed, and that's just a little disconcerting. Outsiders aren't supposed to be able to infiltrate tight-knit clans. Producer T-Bone Burnett creates intimacy by recording Welch live with a small cast of supporting players, including Welch's partner, David Rawlings. While many of the songs are built around duo acoustic guitars and two-part harmonies, Burnett spices up a few of them up with some neat tricks, mixing an upright bass above the vocals on "Pass You By" and getting a fat, dirty sound out of three instruments. Welch's vocals, meanwhile, are stoical and matter-of-fact as her songs, which are infused with a repressed dread and contrition that's utterly convincing. White gospel tunes like "Orphan Girl" and "By the Mark" feel as if they were culled from hymnals, yet they were written when Clinton, not Coolidge, was president. --Steven Stolder

"Orphan Girl" – 3:57
"Annabelle" – 4:03
"Pass You By" – 3:57
"Barroom Girls" – 4:14
"One More Dollar" – 4:34
"By the Mark" – 3:40
"Paper Wings" – 3:57
"Tear My Stillhouse Down" – 4:32
"Acony Bell" – 3:06
"Only One and Only" – 5:33


Revival is the first album by Gillian Welch, released in 1996.

The plant described in the song, "Acony Bell" appears to be Shortia galacifolia, also known as the Oconee bells. Welch later began her own record label under the name Acony.

 

[Dennie]

Arkansas Traveler -- CD

Michelle Shocked

1992 Mercury Records

Great Little Known Album, December 19, 2001
By Michael Murphree (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Arkansas Traveler (Audio CD)
How did a little known young woman who had just turned 30 convince such a varied group of musicians to agree to collaborate with her on a recording project back in 1992? The list reads like a Who's Who of Alternative/Indie music: The Band, Doc Watson, Uncle Tupelo, Taj Mahal, Norman Blake, Gatemouth Brown, Allison Krause, The Hothouse Flowers, Pop Staples, The Red Clay Ramblers, The Messengers, and her own father and brother (Max Johnston of Wilco). Maybe they recognized her as a fellow musical genius. In 1999 Steve Earle recorded The Mountain with Del Coury. The CD was hailed as a great concept album of roots music. But Michelle Shocked was seven years ahead of him!

Like Steve, Michelle has had her share of personal problems. Unfortunately, hers have led to problems with her recording company, the end result being that her work is out of print. That's the main reason that this CD isn't an Amazon Essential Recording. Certainly, in the year that "O Brother Where Art Thou" tops the bestseller list, it's time to take another look at this fine album.

All tracks composed by Michelle Shocked; except where indicated

"33 RPM Soul" — 4:10
"Come a Long Way" — 4:43
"Secret to a Long Life" — 3:50
"Contest Coming (Cripple Creek)" — 3:35
"Over the Waterfall" — 4:39
"Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy)" — 3:25
"Jump Jim Crow" — 3:32
"Hold Me Back" — 5:09
"Strawberry Jam" — 4:33
"Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe)" — 6:43
"Blackberry Blossom" — 3:31
"Weaving Way" — 2:57
"Arkansas Traveler" — 4:20
"Woody's Rag" (Woody Guthrie) — 2:51

 

[Dennie]

Miles of Aisles -- CD

Joni Mitchell and the L.A. Express

1974/1990 Asylum Records

My favorite live album, February 8, 2005
By R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miles of Aisles (Audio CD)

"Miles of Aisles" is one of those albums I got on vinyl initially and upgraded to tape, then to CD. The music is just that timeless. What was a two-disk vinyl showcases the gamut of Mitchell's early work. We go from thoughtful "Cactus Tree" to fun: "You Turn me on: I'm a Radio". The digital version of this CD is definitely an improved master from the vinyl--a lot less of the white noise you hear on live recordings. This is definitely a must for Joni Mitchell fans and even a good place to start a collection.

All tracks composed and arranged by Joni Mitchell

"You Turn Me on I'm a Radio" – 4:09
"Big Yellow Taxi" – 3:09
"Rainy Night House" – 4:04
"Woodstock" – 4:29
"Cactus Tree" – 5:01
"Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" – 5:23
"Woman of Heart and Mind" – 3:40
"A Case of You" – 4:42
"Blue" – 2:49
"The Circle Game" – 6:29
"People's Parties" – 2:42
"All I Want" – 3:21
"Real Good for Free" – 4:27
"Both Sides Now" – 4:14
"Carey" – 3:30
"The Last Time I Saw Richard" – 3:35
"Jericho" – 3:26
"Love or Money" – 4:50

(The running times are as listed on the CD, which left out a lot of the onstage banter. The Double-LP has a length of 78 min.)




8005

 

[Dennie]

Live 1973 -- CD

Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels

1982/1994 Rhino Records

Amazon.com

Because he was gone by age 27, any opportunity to hear Gram Parsons in action is worthwhile. This record was recorded in front of a studio audience and broadcast live on WLIR in New York in March of 1973, a mere six months before Parsons's untimely death. Most of the material comes from his two solo albums (now collected on one CD) and his groundbreaking work with the Byrds and Burritos. Still, there are a few noteworthy additions to the canon, namely an urgent reading of Merle Haggard's "California Cottonfields," a roughshod '50s-rock medley, and the relatively obscure sacred tune "Country Baptizing," which was written by North Carolina fiddler Jim Shumate, a onetime member of both Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and then Flatt & Scruggs's Foggy Mountain Boys. Parsons's touring band, the Fallen Angels, play with fire and looseness, especially Neil Flanz on pedal steel, and, of course, the wonderful Emmylou Harris harmonizes ever so passionately with the lead Fallen Angel. --Marc Greilsamer

"We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning" (Joyce Allsup) - 3:34
"Country Baptizing" (Jim Shumate) - 3:50
"Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" (Roger McGuinn/Gram Parsons) - 4:33
"Big Mouth Blues" (Gram Parsons) - 4:34
"The New Soft Shoe" (Gram Parsons) - 5:02
"Cry One More Time" (Peter Wolf/Seth Justman) - 5:22
"Streets of Baltimore" (Tompall Glaser/Harlan Howard) - 3:08
"That's All It Took" (Darrell Edwards/Charlotte Grier/George Jones) - 2:45
"Love Hurts" (Boudleaux Bryant) - 4:31
"California Cotton Fields" (Dallas Frazier/Earl Montgomery) - 2:32
"Six Days on the Road" (Earl Green/Carl Montgomery) - 3:04
"Encore Medley: Bony Maronie/Forty Days/Almost Grown" (Larry Williams/Chuck Berry) - 5:50

 

[Dennie]

REALLIVEROADRUNNING -- CD/DVD

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris

2006 Warner Bros. Records

Better Than The Studio Versions, November 15, 2006
By S. King (Enfield, CT)
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Real Live Roadrunning (with DVD) (Audio CD)

The blending of Mark and Emmy Lou's vocals do make for an amazing collaboration. I saw this tour live at Radio City Music Hall, and they certainly were a crowd pleasing act.

By the time this show was recorded Mark and Emmy Lou had plenty of time to hone their craft with regards to singing with each other and performing these songs. As a result I find them more entertaining than the studio produced versions of these songs (especially the songs from the "All The Roadrunning" Album).

Highlights here are: "Right Now"...(a great extended live version)
"Red Staggerwing"...(check out the extended fiddle solo!)
"This Is Us"...(beautiful piano ending)
and "Speedway To Nazareth" (for all you Dire Straits fans; Mark's guitar work is incredible!)

Emmy Lou's voice is beautiful and here classic song: "Red Dirt Girl" is included here also.

These two are legendary musicians, and this live CD/DVD makes a winning combination. This live show is a must have for fans of either (or both) artists.

Cheers!

CD

Right Now
Red Staggerwing
Red Dirt Girl
Done With Bonaparte
Romeo and Juliet
All That Matters
This Is Us
All the Roadrunning
Boulder to Birmingham
Speedway at Nazareth
So Far Away
Our Shangri-La
If This Is Goodbye
Why Worry

DVD

Right Now
Red Staggerwing
Red Dirt Girl
I Dug Up a Diamond
Born to Run
Done With Bonaparte
Romeo and Juliet
Song for Sonny Liston
Belle Starr
This Is Us
All the Roadrunning
Boulder to Birmingham
Speedway at Nazareth
So Far Away
Our Shangri-La
If This Is Goodbye
Why Worry

 

[Dennie]

The Very Best of -- 2 CD Set

Eagles

2003 Elektra Records

Amazon.com

This packed double-disc is the slim option for fans who find the Eagles' vaunted greatest hits sets too little and the boxed set too hefty. Hit singles large and medium are here, often ("One of These Nights," "Hotel California") still sounding definitive and even tough. Large helpings of favorite album cuts are also included, along with a taster from a promised 2004 Eagles studio reunion. Unfortunately, "Hole in the World," Don Henley's response to September 11, feels just as empty and entitled as "Get Over It," the band's previous state-of-the-union message (from which the newer song represents a philosophical 180-degree turn). But for those seeking an overview of this Southern California juggernaut's successes, as well as telling comments from band members--mostly Henley and Frey--in a well-designed booklet, Very Best will more than do. --Rickey Wright

Disc one

"Take It Easy" (Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey) – 3:29
"Witchy Woman" (Don Henley, Bernie Leadon) – 4:10
"Peaceful Easy Feeling" (Jack Tempchin) – 4:16
"Desperado" (Henley, Frey) – 3:33
"Tequila Sunrise" (Henley, Frey) – 2:42
"Doolin-Dalton" (Browne, Frey, Henley, J.D. Souther) – 3:26
"Already Gone" (Tempchin, R. Strandlund) – 4:13
"Best of My Love" (Henley, Frey, Souther) – 4:35
"James Dean" (Browne, Frey, Souther, Henley) – 3:36
"Ol' '55" (Tom Waits) – 4:22
"Midnight Flyer" (Paul Craft) – 3:58
"On the Border" (Henley, Leadon, Frey) – 4:28
"Lyin' Eyes" (Henley, Frey) – 6:21
"One of These Nights" (Henley, Frey) – 4:51
"Take It to the Limit" (Randy Meisner, Henley, Frey) – 4:48
"After the Thrill Is Gone" (Henley, Frey) - 3:56
"Hotel California" (Don Felder, Henley, Frey) – 6:30

Tracks 1–3 from Eagles (1972)Tracks 4–6 from Desperado (1973)Tracks 7–12 from On the Border (1974)Tracks 13–16 from One of These Nights (1975)Track 17 from Hotel California (1976)

Disc two

"Life in the Fast Lane" (Joe Walsh, Henley, Frey) – 4:46
"Wasted Time" (Henley, Frey) – 4:55
"Victim of Love" (Felder, Souther, Henley, Frey) – 4:11
"The Last Resort" (Henley, Frey) – 7:25
"New Kid in Town" (Souther, Henley, Frey) – 5:04
"Please Come Home for Christmas" (Charlie Brown) – 2:58
"Heartache Tonight" (Henley, Frey, Bob Seger, Souther) – 4:26
"The Sad Café" (Henley, Frey, Walsh, Souther) – 5:35
"I Can't Tell You Why" (Timothy B. Schmit, Henley, Frey) – 4:56
"The Long Run" (Henley, Frey) – 3:42
"In the City" (Walsh, Barry De Vorzon) – 3:46
"Those Shoes" (Felder, Henley, Frey) – 4:56
"Seven Bridges Road (Live)" (Steve Young) – 3:25
"Love Will Keep Us Alive" (Pete Vale, Jim Capaldi, Paul Carrack) – 4:00
"Get Over It" (Henley, Frey) – 3:29
"Hole in the World" (Henley, Frey) – 4:13

Tracks 1-5 from Hotel California (1976)Track 6 was a non-album single (1978)Tracks 7-12 from The Long Run (1979)Track 13 from Eagles Live (1980)Tracks 14 and 15 from Hell Freezes Over (1994)Track 16 is a new track (2003)

 

[Dennie]

Get Lucky -- CD

Mark Knopfler

2009 Reprise Records

Product Description

This is the sixth solo studio album from the legendary musician and follows 2007's highly successful Kill To Get Crimson, which Rolling Stone heralded as 'a gem' and USA Today described as, '...yet another unpretentious showcase for his unmistakable gifts as a musician, tunesmith and storyteller.'
Recorded at Knopfler's award-winning British Grove Studios in West London, Get Lucky was co-produced with longtime collaborators, engineer Chuck Ainlay and keyboardist Guy Fletcher and featured Richard Bennett, Danny Cummings, John McCusker, Matt Rollings and Glenn Worf. The 11-track album explores a lifetime of musical roots exemplified by the title track. 'The first itinerant person I ever met would sing in soul bands in winter, then work part-time in fairgrounds or 'go pick fruit down south' when the weather turned warm,' explains Knopfler. 'I was about 15 years old, stuck in school and envious. 'Get Lucky' came from him and other traveling characters I went on to meet in places I'd find myself working short-term, like farms, warehouses, building sites, before I got lucky with my songs.'

"Border Reiver" – 4:35
"Hard Shoulder" – 4:33
"You Can't Beat the House" – 3:25
"Before Gas and TV" – 5:50
"Monteleone" – 3:39
"Cleaning My Gun" – 4:43
"The Car Was the One" – 3:55
"Remembrance Day" – 5:05
"Get Lucky" – 4:33
"So Far from the Clyde" – 5:58
"Piper to the End" – 5:47





8025

 

[Dennie]

will t. massey CD

WIll T. Massey

1991 MCA Records

I wrote this review for Dallas-based Buddy magazine in June, 1991.


Will T. Massey
Will T. Massey
MCA Records

It would be so easy to dismiss Will T. Massey as merely this year's populist rocker. After all, the vital ingredients are all in place - the Springsteenesque vocals, a backup band made up of heavy hitters such as Mike Campbell, Waddy Wachtel, and Roy Bittan (from the E Street Band) who manage to sound an awful lot like John Mellencamp's crew, and a slew of personal songs of unfulfilled yearnings, small town frustrations, disillusionment and, of course, angst.

But just as the smug expression settled on this reviewer's face, it became achingly clear that there's a whole lot more going on here. Maybe this is what those aforementioned two have been going after with their neo-folk-roots, get-down-to-basics forays. The big difference is that there's no affectation here. Will T. Massey is the real thing.

The ten tunes here sketch a painful panorama of life in an almost featureless, humorless wide space in the road where there's no there there. But the allegory goes far beyond Massey's hometown of San Angelo and into the personal emptiness of restless youth in a sometimes indifferent world. To say that the tenor of this album is bleak would be a serious understatement. Let's not beat around the bush, folks, it's dark. Check out some of the titles: "It's Midnight All Day Long," "Highway Hearse," "Homeless Heart," "A Summertime Graveyard." You get the idea. Very dark. Nonetheless, rather than slipping into a tiring, brooding mess, Will T. Massey takes us in and out of ourselves and leaves us with a feeling of catharsis. One feels good for having gone through the wringer with him; it's somehow cleansing.

As for the music itself, it ranges from the sturdy rock and roll backbeat of "Highway Hearse," in which boy meets car meets the devil, to the tender "Summertime Graveyard," with its spoken verses and fragile romantic choruses. Much credit must be given to the expensive talent in the band, as they restrain themselves and allow the songs to come through. After a while, one doesn't mind the somewhat `Boss'-like vocals - in fact, they sound great without the histrionics into which Springsteen too often lapses.

Still, Will T. Massey's strength is in his insightful, touching lyrics. In "Barbed Wire Town" he ponders life without the safeguards (or constraints) of the "barbed-wife kind of philosophy/where maverick minds are never free." In "Send Up the Smoke" he addresses how we allow ourselves to become gradually estranged from our own feelings.

While much of Massey's words deal with abandoned dreams and painful introspection, there's still a feeling of hope that comes through on this album.

On "Coffee Break" with its laid-back, almost meandering manner, Massey looks at the Texas sky and wryly suggests, "The angels take a coffee break at night/we see the tips of their cigarettes shining bright/We call them stars; they call that a joke/and the clouds - they are Holy Smoke."

This is an impressive debut from a gifted writer. Since this album is about his life to this point, it will be interesting to see where his life takes him, and how he chronicles it in song. Some folks say you have your whole life to write your first album, and after that, well...

We'll be listening.


-Chuck Flores
Buddy Magazine - Dallas, TX
June, 1991

Track listing

1. I Ain't Here
2. Send up the Smoke
3. It's Midnight All Day Long
4. You Take the Town
5. Barbed Wire Town
6. Coffee Break
7. Highway Hearse
8. Bravery to Weep, The
9. Homeless Heart
10. Summertime Graveyard, A

 

[Dennie]

Live Shots -- CD

The Joe Ely Band

1980 MCA Records

One of the Best Live Albums Ever!, November 21, 2007
By Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)


This review is from: Live Shots (Audio CD)

Joe Ely had recorded only three albums for MCA in the latter half of the seventies before recording this super-charged 1980 live set in London while on tour as the supporting act for the Clash. The album kicks off with a rousing rendition of the Joe Ely original "Fingernails" and for nearly an hour Ely's crack band (including pedal steel player Lloyd Maines and accordion player Ponty Bone) charges through one electrifying number after another.

In addition to his own tunes ("Honky Tonk Masquerade," "I Had My Hopes Up High," and "Johnny's Blues") Ely includes no fewer than four songs by fellow Texans Butch Hancock (including the classic "She Never Spoke Spanish to Me") and Jimmie Dale Gilmore ("Wishin' for You"). Ely also includes a cover of another Lubbock, TX legend--Buddy Holly--with a high energy version of "Not Fade Away."

The original vinyl album included a bonus 4-track live disk called TEXAS SPECIAL, which is also included here. While Ely has recorded numerous first-rate albums during his 30-year career (including 1978's classic HONKY TONK MASQUERADE), LIVE SHOTS features what is unarguably his best band and is an excellent place to introduce yourself to Ely's combination of western, honky-tonk and rockabilly. [Running Time - 54:21] VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Side One (of original LP):

"Fingernails" — 3:00
"Midnight Shift" (Jimmie Ainsworth, Earl Lee) — 3:00
"Honky Tonk Masquerade" — 3:49
"Honky Tonkin'" (Hank Williams) — 3:12
"Long Snake Moan" (arranged/adapted by Ely) — 5:10

Side Two:

"I Had My Hopes up High" — 3:13
"She Never Spoke Spanish to Me" (Butch Hancock) — 3:53
"Johnny's Blues" — 4:48
"Fools Fall in Love" (Hancock) — 4:37
"Boxcars" (Hancock) — 4:37

Texas Special EP:

"Crazy Lemon" — 3:56
"Not Fade Away" (Norman Petty, Charles Hardin) — 3:42
"Treat Me Like a Saturday Night" (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) — 3:09
"Wishin' for You" (Hancock) — 4:41

 

[Dennie]

Gary's Greatest -- CD

Gary Stewart

1990 Hightone Records

The ghost of county music, April 19, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Gary's Greatest (Audio CD)

The is the real thing, songs that have been inspired by the same demons that pushed Hank Williams Sr. over the edge. This collection of hits is the perfect place to start with Stewart. A gravel scotch soaked voice, enough broken hearts to make you want to put a gun to your head, Stewart is one-of-a-kind. The way county music was once upon a time, before the business men and the radio consultants slashed out the heart. Buy this masterpiece and beg RCA to bring back all of his tragicly out-of-print records from the 1970s.

1. Your Place Or Mine
2. Whiskey Trip
3. Brand New Whiskey
4. Out of Hand
5. Ramblin' Man
6. In Some Room Above the Street
7. Ten Years Of This
8. Let's Go Jukin'
9. Little Junior
10. Drinkin' Thing
11. Flat Natural Born Good-Timin' Man
12. Stone Wall (Around Your Heart)
13. She's Got A Drinking Problem
14. Single Again
15. She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)
16. An Empty Glass
17. Quits

 

[Dennie]

Greatest Hits -- CD

John Anderson

1996 BNA Records

John's early classic hits, August 8, 2005
By Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)


This review is from: John Anderson - Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

For reasons only Amazon knows, the pages for John's original greatest hits album on Warner (covering the early eighties) and his later greatest hits album for BNA (covering the nineties comeback) are linked, so reviews for either album are listed under both. This review refers to the earlier Warner collection though I plan to expand the review eventually to cover the comeback hits if I can't persuade Amazon to de-link the pages (I've tried before and failed) - in that unlikely event, I'll do a separate review and remove this paragraph from here.

With a voice and musical style that has echoes of, but which is distinct from, Merle Haggard, John Anderson burst on to the country music scene in 1980. He was a regular country hit-maker for much of the eighties but faded towards the end of that decade. He made a successful comeback on a different record label in the nineties.

I quickly became a huge fan of John's music. His debut album was a classic, featuring songs such as 1959, She just started liking cheating songs and (best of all) Your lying blue eyes. All of them became top twenty hits in the country charts. Bigger hits came later including some on this collection but those first three hits are (to my ears) as good as anything else that he ever recorded.

Among those bigger hits are Swinging (the biggest hit John ever had - it crossed over to the American pop charts), I'm just an old chunk of coal, Would you catch a falling star and Black sheep. Later eighties hits can be found on volume 2.

If you love the music of Merle Haggard and George Jones, you'll surely enjoy listening to John Anderson. And if you only buy one collection of John's music, the original Greatest Hits - the one on Warner - is the one to go for until and unless a more comprehensive collection appears. If you enjoy this collection and want to hear more, go for volume 2 or the BNA collection or both.

Money in the Bank - John Anderson, DiPiero, Bob
Seminole Wind - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]
Straight Tequila Night - John Anderson, Hupp, Debbie
I Wish I Could Have Been There - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]
I Fell in the Water - John Anderson, Salley, Jerry
I've Got It Made - John Anderson, Barnes, Max D.
Keep Your Hands to Yourself - John Anderson, Baird, Dan
Mississippi Moon - John Anderson, White, Tony Joe
Swingin' - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]
When It Comes to You - John Anderson, Knopfler, Mark
Long Hard Lesson Learned - John Anderson, Anderson, Donna
Let Go of the Stone - John Anderson, Barnes, Max D.
Country 'Til I Die - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]
Who Got Our Love - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]
Bend It 'Til It Breaks - John Anderson, Anderson, John [1]

 

[Dennie]

In The Dark -- CD

Grateful Dead

1987/1990 Arista Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Hardcore Deadheads always equate this 1987 comeback record with commercial acceptance and a watered-down fan base, but while those assertions are indeed accurate, step back and you'll hear an album full of strong material and equally solid, live-in-the-studio performances. It's more than coincidence that songs such as "Touch of Grey" (the band's only top 10 hit), "Hell in a Bucket," "West L.A. Fadeaway," and "Throwing Stones" all became staples of the Dead's last decade of touring. While longtime fans will probably have no use (or desire) for this release (especially since the CD version omits the brilliant "Brother Esau"), it remains one of the band's most successful studio forays and the quintessential icebreaker for newcomers. --Marc Greilsamer

Side one

"Touch of Grey" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:47
"Hell in a Bucket" (Barlow, Weir) – 5:35
"When Push Comes to Shove" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:05
"West L.A. Fadeaway" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:39

Side two

"Tons of Steel" (Mydland) – 5:15
"Throwing Stones" (Barlow, Weir) – 7:18
"Black Muddy River" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:58
"My Brother Esau" (Barlow, Weir) - 4:20

"My Brother Esau" was omitted from the LP and CD releases of In the Dark, but was included on the cassette and on international releases.