What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

One of my Favorite.... Songwriters, Albums and Singers! bscene-drinkingcheers:

Songs Of Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

1977 Monument Records

Outstanding songwriting, September 5, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Songs of Kris Kristofferson (Audio CD)

I have worn out my vinyl copy of this recording; but thank heavens the CD is indestructible. Maybe 15-20 years since I first heard them, the songs Kristofferson wrote send chills down my spine. Has ANYONE ever caught the emptiness of the down-and-out better than 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' ? Listen to him turn a phrase like "wiping out the traces of the people and the places I have been" and tell me who writes more gracefully with less effort. What song has ever captured bar-room lust better than 'you show me yours', or with more irony than 'Silver-tongued Devil' ?

Folk/country lost a real talent when KK decided to pursue an acting career and leave songwriting behind. His later efforts simply don't compare with his early works. But that work is good enough to land him in my singer/songwriters' pantheon right alongside Townes van Zandt, John Prine, and early Dylan.

This disk makes--and on some days, it would TOP-- my top ten 'desert island disks' list.


Side one

"The Silver-Tongued Devil"
"Loving Her Was Easier (than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)"
"Me and Bobby McGee" (Kristofferson, Fred Foster)
"Help Me Make It Through the Night"
"For the Good Times"
"Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame"

Side two

"You Show Me Yours (and I'll Show You Mine)"
"The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 (Hang In, Hopper)"
"Stranger"
"I Got a Life of My Own"
"Why Me"
"Sunday Morning Comin' Down"

 

[Dennie]

Can't Buy A Thrill

Steely Dan

1972 ABC Records

Amazon.com

Songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen launched Steely Dan with a seductive, poker-faced 1972 debut as smoothly accessible in its music as it was elusive in its thematic concerns. The opening "Do It Again" snagged swift commercial success as one of the most mysterious pop hits in history, a sultry rock cha-cha that chronicled a series of harrowing catastrophes far removed from the reheated love songs and pro forma countercultural rebellion of the day. Though the core band boasted two formidable guitarists, Jeff Baxter and Denny Dias, it was the bloom of Fagen's keyboards and his reedy, smart-ass vocals that carried Thrill light years beyond modal, blues-based rock. That said, an enduring highlight remains the furious six-string fantasia of "Reelin' in the Years," spiked by Elliot Randall's downright historic solos, at once dour and giddy in its indictment of a poser, while "Dirty Work" (featuring short-lived, nominal lead singer David Palmer) offers a decidedly adult vignette of adultery. There isn't a weak track here, astonishing, considering how much growth future Dan albums would display. --Sam Sutherland

Side one

"Do It Again" – 5:56
Solos by Denny Dias and Donald Fagen
Vocal by Donald Fagen
"Dirty Work" – 3:08
Sax solo by Jerome Richardson
Vocal by David Palmer
"Kings" – 3:45
Solo by Elliot Randall
Vocal by Donald Fagen
"Midnite Cruiser" – 4:08
Solo by Jeff Baxter
Vocal by Jim Hodder
"Only a Fool Would Say That" – 2:57
Solo by Jeff Baxter
Vocal by Donald Fagen and David Palmer

Side two

"Reelin' in the Years" – 4:37
Lead guitar by Elliot Randall
Vocal by Donald Fagen
"Fire in the Hole" – 3:28
Steel guitar by Jeff Baxter
Vocal by Donald Fagen
"Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)" – 4:21
Steel guitar by Jeff Baxter
Vocal by David Palmer
"Change of the Guard" – 3:39
Solo by Jeff Baxter
Vocals by Donald Fagen and David Palmer
"Turn That Heartbeat Over Again" – 4:58
Vocal by Donald Fagen, Walter Becker and David Palmer

 

[Dennie]

Pearl

Janis Joplin

1971 Columbia Records

Pearl is the fourth and final album by Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971— three months after her death from a heroin overdose. It is her first (and defacto final) album recorded with Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring band.

Side A

"Move Over" (Janis Joplin) - 3:43
"Cry Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) - 3:58
"A Woman Left Lonely" (Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham) - 3:29
"Half Moon" (John Hall, Johanna Hall) - 3:53
"Buried Alive in the Blues" (Nick Gravenites) - 2:29

Side B

"My Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) - 3:26
"Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) - 4:33
"Mercedes Benz" (Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth, Michael McClure) - 1:48
"Trust Me" (Bobby Womack) - 3:17
"Get It While You Can" (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) - 3:27

 

[Dennie]

Sneakin' Around -- CD

Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed

1992 Columbia Records

At the Grammy Awards of 1993, Sneakin' Around won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

One of Chet's Finest, June 3, 2009
By C. C. Black (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sneakin Around (Audio CD)

Why Columbia lets titles like this go OP is beyond me. Chet and Jerry Reed make an awesome duo, and "Sneakin' Around" boasts a dozen great charts with no filler that I can hear. I own well over a dozen Atkins albums, and probably none contains as many tracks with so many pleasures as this one. If you can find this rarity at a reasonable price, spring for it.

"Summertime" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
"Cajun Stripper" (Kershaw)
"Vaudville Daze"
"Here We Are"
"The Claw" (Jerry Reed)
"First Born" (Lehman)
"Major Attempt At A Minor Thing"
"Gibson Girl"
"Sneakin' Around" (Kass)
"Nifty Fifties"
"Here Comes That Girl"

10283

 

[Dennie]

Heroes -- CD

Mark O'Connor

1993 Warner Bros. Records

Pure Genius, February 15, 2002
By Mrs. M. A. Hughes "Maria Hennings Hunt" (Dartford, Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Heroes (Audio CD)

Immerse yourself in the incredible genius of Mark O'Connor and his amazing chameleon-like creative ability to tease so many different moods and styles from his violin. If you like Cajun music - this is for you. If you like Western Swing - this is for you. If you like foot tapping fiddle with a Celtic slant - then this is for you! Classical? Jazz? Blues? Country Rock? Then yeah - you guessed it - this is for you! This is an absolutely fantastic album - a brilliant collection of melodies that bring together some of today's greatest violinists. Pure Genius.

"New Country" (Jean-Luc Ponty) – 3:54
"The Devil Comes Back to Georgia" (Charlie Daniels) – 4:09
"Fiddlin' Around" (Johnny Gimble) – 4:49
"Gold Rush" (Bill Monroe) – 4:36
"House of the Rising Sun" (traditional) – 7:52
"Diggy Liggy Lo" (J.D. Miller) – 2:48
"Sweet Jole Blon" (Doug Kershaw) – 2:21
"Sadness/Darlin' Waltz" (traditional) – 2:51
"Jerusalem's Ridge" (Bill Monroe) – 3:27
"Sally Johnson" (traditional) – 5:09
"Ashokan Farewell" (J. Ungar) – 4:52
"This Can't Be Love" (Rodgers/Hart) – 5:27
"Ain't Misbehavin'" (T. Waller/H. Brooks/A. Razaf) – 5:30
"Nomad" (L. Shankar/Caroline Shankar) – 8:00


Personnel

Mark O'Connor - Violin

with On New Country:

Jean-Luc Ponty - Violin

On The Devil Comes Back to Georgia:

Charlie Daniels - Violin
Johnny Cash - Vocals
Marty Stuart - Vocals
Travis Tritt - Vocals

On Fiddlin' Around:

Johnny Gimble - Violin

On Gold Rush:

Byron Berline - Violin
Bill Monroe - Mandolin

On House of the Rising Sun:

Vassar Clements - Violin

On Diggy Diggy Lo:

Doug Kershaw
Lionel Cartwright
Clinton Gregory

On Sweet Jole Blon:

Doug Kershaw - Violin

On Sadness/Darlin' Waltz:

Buddy Spicher - Violin

On Jerusalem's Ridge:

Kenny Baker - Violin

On Sally Johnson:

Terry Morris - Violin
Texas Shorty - Violin
Benny Thomasson - Violin

On Ashokan Farewell:

Pinchas Zukerman - Violin

On This Can't Be Love:

Stéphane Grappelli - Violin

On Ain't Misbehavin':

Stéphane Grappelli - Violin

On Nomad:

L. Shankar - 10-string double violin

 

[Botch]

Heroes -- CD

Mark O'Connor

Whoa, I didn't know about this one! :scared-eek:

 

[Dennie]

First Take :romance-cloud9:

Roberta Flack

1969 Atlantic Records

"First Take" still takes first place!

Here is one of those albums so pure in its artistry that it stands as one of the finest examples of what "less is more" truly means. But it wasn't until I saw Roberta in person that I understood the power of her connection with an audience. And visa versa. It was 1972, still early in her trajectory, and she had sold out what was one of her biggest concerts to date at the H.I.C arena in Honolulu. At the last minute, she fell ill and everyone had the option of getting their money back or keeping their ticket till she rescheduled several months later. No one was surprised that everyone held on to their ticket, but no one was prepared for what happened when she finally appeared. So enraptured was the audience that the second her foot hit the stage she received a standing ovation that simply would not stop. Not when she finally gave up bowing and sat down at her piano, and not when she finally buried her face in her hands and simply wept. It was the most profoundly moving concert moment I have ever seen - and she hadn't even sung a note! Such was, and is, the power of Roberta Flack and "First Take." Everything that has been written here is accurate; but, strangely, no one mentioned the one track that, for my money, is the most powerful, "Ballad of the Sad Young Men," which has only become more poignant with the added tragedy of AIDS. If ever there was an album that defines musical excellence, it would have to be the one that got its name when it was recorded on its "First Take." But when you do it right the first time, one take is all you need, isn't it?

- Steven B. Williams, Los Angeles

"Compared to What" (Gene McDaniels) - 5:16
"Angelitos Negros" (Andrés Eloy Blanco, Manuel Alvarez Maciste) - 6:56
"Our Ages or Our Hearts" (Robert Ayers, Donny Hathaway) - 6:09
"I Told Jesus" (Traditional) - 6:09
"Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" (Leonard Cohen) - 4:08
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Ewan MacColl) - 5:22
"Tryin' Times" (Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson) - 5:08
"Ballad of the Sad Young Men" (Fran Landesman, Tommy Wolf) - 7:00

 

[Dennie]

Heroes -- CD

Mark O'Connor

Whoa, I didn't know about this one! :scared-eek:

I know, Right?! :bow-blue:

It's Fantastic! :violin: :happy-cheerleaderkid:


Dennie :dance:

 

[Dennie]

This is my last one for the evening.....

Both Sides Now -- CD

Joni Mitchell

2000 Warner Bros. Records

A bittersweet journey of lushly orchestrated standards, April 17, 2000
By Ward J. Lamb (slate hill, new york United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Both Sides Now (Audio CD)

Here Miss Mitchell combines her love of colour in art with her whiskey coloured voice. The nuance is particularly heart felt.The songs seem tinged with pain, and poetry. The echoes of Billie Holiday( Lady in Satin) are pronounced and reverant.If ever Joni has made an effort to send someone a love letter it is to Holiday in her phrasing and smokey vocals. Her Canadian American directness is a metaphor to her artworks included within the cd cover. There is a Hopper-esque lonely solitude that pulls one into a vintage American sensibility. The cd is one that grows on you and penetrates the heart with every layer of listening. A superb rendition of "A Case of You", reminds us that Joni is a classic writer, as well as performer.This cd could have been called "The four seasons of Love".Like Leonard Cohen she sits perfectly with those that enjoy their personal torments and share the depth of the human condition with their listeners.

"You're My Thrill" (Sidney Clare, Jay Gorney) — 3:52
"At Last" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) — 4:28
"Comes Love" (Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias) — 4:29
"You've Changed" (Bill Carey, Carl Fischer) — 5:00
"Answer Me, My Love" (Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman, Gerhard Winkler) — 3:23
"A Case of You" (Joni Mitchell) — 5:52
"Don't Go to Strangers" (Redd Evans, Arthur Kent, David Mann) — 4:10
"Sometimes I'm Happy" (Irving Caesar, Clifford Grey, Vincent Youmans) — 3:58
"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) —– 3:49
"Stormy Weather" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) — 3:07
"I Wish I Were in Love Again" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) — 3:36
"Both Sides, Now" (Joni Mitchell) — 5:45

 

[Dennie]

I'm going to sneak in one more.... :shhh:

Time (The Revelator) -- CD

Gillian Welch

2001 Acony Records

One of the greatest recordings I have ever heard., July 18, 2007
By J. Billings "EnglishPresley" (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Time (The Revelator) (Audio CD)

In a lifetime of listening to music, in the wake of thousands and thousands of albums sat with, there are perhaps 50 that are so self-assured, so complete, and so beautifully executed that there is nothing to say other than... "don't let another day pass without listening to this." Finding records like this is the whole reason I listen to music in the first place.
Sunset on a decrepit back porch with a glass of whiskey...

All songs written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

"Revelator" – 6:22
"My First Lover" – 3:47
"Dear Someone" – 3:14
"Red Clay Halo" – 3:14
"April the 14th Part I" – 5:10
"I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll" – 2:51
"Elvis Presley Blues" – 4:53
"Ruination Day Part II" – 2:36
"Everything Is Free" – 4:48
"I Dream a Highway" – 14:39

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

Paper Airplane -- CD

Alison Krauss and Union Station

2011 Rounder Records

Product Description

A truly breathtaking collection of 11 exquisite songs, Paper Airplane is Alison Krauss' 14th album and the band's follow-up to 2004's triple Grammy® winning Lonely Runs Both Ways (Rounder). It is Krauss' first release since her 2007 internationally acclaimed, multi-platinum collaboration with Robert Plant, Raising Sand, which won six Grammys including "Record Of The Year" and "Album Of The Year."

Alison Krauss and Union Station features the talents of Krauss (fiddle and lead vocals), Dan Tyminski (guitar, mandolin and lead vocals), Barry Bales (bass and harmony vocals), Ron Block (banjo, guitar and harmony vocals), and Jerry Douglas (Dobro and harmony vocals). Paper Airplane was produced by the band and recorded in Nashville with engineer Mike Shipley (Maroon 5, The Cars, Def Leppard, Joni Mitchell). As bluegrass virtuosos the members of Union Station are beyond compare, and the music they create together transcends all genres. Their work on films such as Cold Mountain and O Brother, Where Art Thou? has contributed immeasurably to a renaissance of American roots music.

Part of Alison Krauss' incontestable talent is how effortlessly she bridges the gap between roots music and country, rock and pop. A highly sought-after collaborator, Krauss has worked with some of the biggest names in popular music, including James Taylor, Phish, Dolly Parton, Yo Yo Ma & Bonnie Raitt. Since signing with Rounder Records at the age of 14 in 1985 Krauss has sold in excess of 12 million albums and garnered 26 Grammy® Awards, the most for any female and the third most of any recording artist in Grammy® history.

1. "Paper Airplane" Robert Lee Castleman 3:36
2. "Dustbowl Children" Peter Rowan 3:06
3. "Lie Awake" Viktor Krauss, Angel Snow 3:55
4. "Lay My Burden Down" Aoife O'Donovan 3:52
5. "My Love Follows You Where You Go" Barry Dean, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose 4:03
6. "Dimming of the Day" Richard Thompson 5:20
7. "On the Outside Looking In" Tim O'Brien 3:35
8. "Miles to Go" Barry Bales, Chris Stapleton 2:54
9. "Sinking Stone" Jeremy Lister 4:42
10. "Bonita and Bill Butler" Sidney Cox 4:03
11. "My Opening Farewell" Jackson Browne 4:08
Total length:
43:15

 

[heeman]

 

[heeman]

 

[heeman]

This is a great one!

Track listing1."Border Song" - Eric Clapton 4:21
2."Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" - Kate Bush 4:57
3."Come Down in Time" - Sting 3:38
4."Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" - The Who 4:32
5."Crocodile Rock" - The Beach Boys 4:21
6."Daniel" - Wilson Phillips 4:03
7."Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" - Joe Cocker 3:57
8."Levon" - Jon Bon Jovi 5:27
9."The Bitch is Back" - Tina Turner 3:38
10."Philadelphia Freedom" - Hall & Oates 5:12
11."Your Song" - Rod Stewart 4:49
12."Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Oleta Adams 6:02
13."Madman Across the Water" - Bruce Hornsby 6:10
14."Sacrifice" - Sinéad O'Connor 5:12
15."Burn Down the Mission" - Phil Collins 6:58
16."Tonight" - George Michael 7:23
In the same year as this album's release, John and Michael reworked the former's song "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at a concert. This version was released as a charity single, and hit #1 in many countries.

 

[Zing]

This is a great one!

WORD! :text-+1:

If you're a fan of the CD, the DVD version is a must-have, especially for $6. :handgestures-thumbup:

 

[Yesfan70]

Is that Billy Crystal? Must be the movie soundtrack album to "City Slickers 3", methinks.

:confusion-scratchheadyellow: I think it is one of the greatest "Country" singers.....ever! :confusion-scratchheadblue:

Merle Haggard!

He's new! :liar:


Dennie

LMAO! You gotta admire Kazaam's humor.



Didn't know you was a Haggard fan. I like some of his stuff. My old man was a huge fan since he was a truck driver. "Moving On" and "White Line Fever" were staples at his house.

He's the original outlaw. When he was doing time in San Quentin, he saw Johnny Cash perform there. I think you can see him in the crowd on the DVD release (if that's true). Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, pardoned him in '72.

 

[Dennie]

I've never seen any of those "City Slicker" movies, so I didn't get it.

Poor Billy, I'm not sure it is a good thing to look like Merle, but I am not the one that has to "Love" them, thank goodness! LOL

Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Rumors -- CD

Fleetwood Mac

1970/1990 Warner Bros. Records

Amazon.com essential recording

With the pop sense of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks now leading the band, Fleetwood Mac moved completely away from blues and created this homage to love, Southern California-style. Each songwriter makes his or her presence known: Nicks for her dreamy, mystical reveries ("Dreams," "Gold Dust Woman; Christine McVie for her ultra-catchy slogans ("Don't Stop"); and Buckingham for his deceptively simple pop songs ("Second Hand News," "Go Your Own Way"). "The Chain," written collectively, is the Mac at their most dramatic. But it's the ensemble playing, the elastic rhythms, and lush harmonies that transform the material into classic FM fare. --Rob O'Connor

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Second Hand News" Buckingham 2:43
2. "Dreams" Nicks 4:14
3. "Never Going Back Again" Buckingham 2:02
4. "Don't Stop" C. McVie 3:11
5. "Go Your Own Way" Buckingham 3:38
6. "Songbird" C. McVie 3:20
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
7. "The Chain" Buckingham, Fleetwood, C. McVie, J. McVie, Nicks 4:28
8. "You Make Loving Fun" C. McVie 3:31
9. "I Don't Want to Know" Nicks 3:11
10. "Oh Daddy" C. McVie 3:54
11. "Gold Dust Woman" Nicks

 

[Dennie]

This is my last one for the evening....

All I Intended To Be -- CD

Emmylou Harris

2008 Nonesuch Records

Amazon.co.uk

Emmylou Harris has always had a way with woe. On All I Intended To Be, she seems more maudlin than ever as she sings her way through songs about loss, heartbreak, even the odd funeral. Of course, this is the kind of material Harris has always been comfortable with, but as her career and years advance gracefully, so her gliding soprano seems to breathe ever more refinement and soul into her material. All I Intended To Be has been produced by Brian Ahern, her former husband and the man behind her first 11 albums--another reason the album sounds so comfortable and accomplished. Joined by a virtuoso set of players including keyboardist Glen Hardin and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Duncan, plus vocalists Vince Gill, Buddy Miller, and Dolly Parton, Harris blends a handpicked selection of cover versions with her own material. Tracy Chapman's "All That You Have Is Your Soul" gets a honeyed reworking, as does Merle Haggard's "Kern River" and Mark Germino's "Broken Man's Lament". Billy Joe Shaver's "Old Five" and "Dimers Like Me" both get respectfully and sublimely covered too. But her own songs--in particular "Sailing Round the Room" and "Gold"--stand up well to these evergreens. An eclectic and profound set, All I Intended To Be is also one of Harris’ best in recent years.--Danny McKenna

"Shores of White Sand" (Jack Wesley Routh) – 4:22
"Hold On" (Jude Johnstone) – 4:35
"Moon Song" (Patty Griffin) – 4:06
"Broken Man's Lament" (Mark Germino[7]) – 5:05
"Gold" (Emmylou Harris) – 3:32
"How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower" (Emmylou Harris, Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle) – 3:44
"All That You Have Is Your Soul" (Tracy Chapman) – 4:41
"Take That Ride" (Emmylou Harris) – 3:39
"Old Five and Dimers Like Me" (Billy Joe Shaver) – 4:16
"Kern River" (Merle Haggard) – 4:03
"Not Enough" (Emmylou Harris) – 3:25
"Sailing Round the Room" (Emmylou Harris, Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle) – 5:31
"Beyond the Great Divide" (J.C. Crowley, Jack Wesley Routh) – 4:26