What Are You Listening To?

[topper]

:text-offtopic:
Yesfan wrote:
"They've brought back the RF-7s (now the RF-7 II) and they look better than ever!"

I have RF-7s I bought in 2006 (the last year they were made, and with the room
treatments I've made they sound great.

The RF-7IIs are not as tall, play 2 hz lower, and cost around $1,200 more.
I saw a pair of RF-7s on audiogon last year for $1,000
If I'd have had the money I'd have snapped them up.

 

[Dennie]

A Lifetime of Song 1951-1982 -- CD

Marty Robbins

1983 Columbia Records

a wonderful collection, March 20, 2004
By Jerry McDaniel - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lifetime of Songs (Audio CD)

Marty Robbins had so many hits through the years that even this impressive showing isn't complete. i don't know if this is a record-setting feat or not, but Marty had 37 consecutive Top-40 hits from 1953-1965...the single that broke the string was "Old Red" in 1965, it charted one week at #50. i love nearly all the songs on this album, the only one i didn't like as much is "Tomorrow You'll Be Gone". all of his big hits are on here and the only ones that were popular with his audience that they left off were: "Begging To You"; "Mr. Shorty"; "Cigarettes and Coffee Blues"; and "The Cowboy in the Continental Suit". incidentally, "Begging To You" was a 3 week #1 country hit and a #74 pop hit too so why it was left off i have no clue. Marty was one of country music's first pop cross-over acts. from 1956-1964 he constantly had singles on the country and pop singles charts. 11 of his pop cross-overs hit the Top-40, which in those days was unheard of for a country act to chart so high. All in all, this is a great look at Marty Robbins. one of my favorites is the last song, "Some Memories Just Won't Die". i love that arrangement and his performance shows that he still had it...even months before his death in December 1982 {that song was his last Top-10 in his lifetime; his final Top-10 came after his death, the early 1983 "Honkytonk Man"; not to be confused with the same titled hit by Johnny Horton and the remake later by Dwight Yoakam}.

Track listing

1. Tomorrow You'll Be Gone
2. I'll Go on Alone
3. That's All Right
4. Knee Deep in the Blues
5. Singing the Blues
6. White Sport Coat, A (And a Pink Carnation)
7. Story of My Life
8. Don't Worry
9. Ruby Ann
10. Devil Woman
11. Paso, El
12. Big Iron
13. Hanging Tree
14. Ribbon of Darkness
15. Paso City, El
16. I Walk Alone
17. My Woman, My Woman, My Wife
18. Among My Souvenirs
19. Return to Me
20. Some Memories Just Won't Die

 

[Yesfan70]

:text-offtopic:
Yesfan wrote:
"They've brought back the RF-7s (now the RF-7 II) and they look better than ever!"

I have RF-7s I bought in 2006 (the last year they were made, and with the room
treatments I've made they sound great.

The RF-7IIs are not as tall, play 2 hz lower, and cost around $1,200 more.
I saw a pair of RF-7s on audiogon last year for $1,000
If I'd have had the money I'd have snapped them up.

:text-threadjacked:


Some of the topics I've been reading about the new RF-7 IIs is the cabinet feet are more durable since they are metal instead of the high impact plastic. The only "bummer" I've seen is the old style had the magnets to hold the grill to the cabs (new ones don't). Imo, with the new finish and drivers, I much like the RF-7 IIs without the grills so that would be a non issue. I wish they would have put a veneered front on the RB-82 II bookshelfs.


Sorry for the thread jack.


Heeman,

Good call on Boz Scaggs. That's an underrated album. I think he played rhythm guitar for Steve Miller back in the day.

 

[Dennie]

.........Hey, I love your new avatar. Did you get some Palladium's? :bow-blue:


Dennie

Nope.....Just dreaming a little. If they sound as good as they look, I sure wouldn't mind owning a pair. Too bad it would have to be the bookshelfs. ($$$$!!!!) LOL!

I am seriously thinking about the Reference line for an upgrade (Maybe the RB-81 II or the RB-61 II). I miss my KG towers I had, but it won't be until after the first of the year before I can do anything.


They've brought back the RF-7s (now the RF-7 II) and they look better than ever!

....and from what I've heard, sound better than ever, also.

Okay, I was hoping you've moved up to the Palladium's! :handgestures-fingerscrossed:

Yeah, I can't afford them either, but I would love to have an HT with them as the main speakers! :handgestures-thumbup:


Dennie

 

[Dennie]

The Key -- CD

Vince Gill

1998 MCA Nashville

Amazon.com essential recording

Over a decade of amiable and entertaining hits, Vince Gill has occasionally emitted flashes of greatness. On The Key, he finally opens up and taps his full artistic potential with a complete collection of stunningly powerful songs. Using spare instrumentation, and working amid a foundation of bluegrass and barroom country sounds, the recently divorced Gill concentrates on simply stated yet deeply felt songs about betrayal, loss, and the prospects of opening a bruised heart to another lover. Working with a variety of female harmony partners--including Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, Shelby Lynne, and Sara Evans--Gill brings out the aching beauty of his tenor by settling into gorgeous melodies laid out with unadorned authority. By daring to bare his innermost feelings, he's achieved the greatness he's hinted at through the years. --Michael McCall

All songs written by Vince Gill except where noted.

"Don't Come Cryin' to Me" (Gill, Reed Nielsen) - 3:06
feat. Dawn Sears
"If You Ever Have Forever in Mind" (Gill, Troy Seals) - 4:38
"I Never Really Knew You" - 2:14
"Kindly Keep It Country" - 3:09
"All Those Years" - 3:57
"I'll Take Texas" - 2:05
"My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man" - 3:53
duet with Patty Loveless
"There's Not Much Love Here Anymore" - 3:28
"Let Her In" - 3:03
"The Hills of Caroline" - 4:44
"Live to Tell It All" (Gill, Sonya Isaacs) - 3:36
"What They All Call Love" - 3:20
"The Key to Life" - 4:02

 

[Dennie]

What A Crying Shame -- CD

The Mavericks

1994 MCA Nashville

Amazon.com essential recording

What a Crying Shame is more commercial and conventional than its debut predecessor, but every bit as enjoyable. Raul Malo has such a terrific voice that he can wear his broken heart on his sleeve without lapsing into self- pity. In fact, the very act of confessing his hurt seems to charge him with rocking excitement, especially when he gets a melodic hook as juicy as that on the title track or the Roy Orbison tribute, ""I Should Have Been True." Trisha Yearwood sings harmony on the saloon ballad ""Neon Blue," and the band turns Bruce Springsteen's ""All That Heaven Will Allow" into the honky-tonk shuffle it was always meant to be. --Geoffrey Himes

"There Goes My Heart" (Kostas, Raul Malo) - 3:16
"What a Crying Shame" (Kostas, Malo) - 3:50
"Pretend" (Kostas, Malo) - 3:37
"I Should Have Been True" (Stan Lynch, Malo) - 5:14
"The Things You Said to Me" (Al Anderson, Malo) - 3:31
"Just a Memory" (Kostas, Malo) - 2:24
"All That Heaven Will Allow" (Bruce Springsteen) - 3:34
"Neon Blue" (Anderson, Kostas) - 3:56
"O What a Thrill" (Jesse Winchester) - 3:13
"Ain't Found Nobody" (Harlan Howard, Kostas) - 3:18
"The Losing Side of Me" (Malo) - 3:51

 

[Botch]

A Lifetime of Song 1951-1982 -- CD

Marty Robbins

Dennie, that's downright spooky. My Woman, My Woman, My Wife has been going thru my head incessantly for almost a week, and I had no idea why or who did the song.
Spooky. :?

 

[Dennie]

A Lifetime of Song 1951-1982 -- CD

Marty Robbins

Dennie, that's downright spooky. My Woman, My Woman, My Wife has been going thru my head incessantly for almost a week, and I had no idea why or who did the song.
Spooky. :?

Damn right it is!

I'm outa here.....


Dennie :sci-fi-beamup:

 

[Dennie]

A Lifetime of Song 1951-1982 -- CD

Marty Robbins

Dennie, that's downright spooky. My Woman, My Woman, My Wife has been going thru my head incessantly for almost a week, and I had no idea why or who did the song.
Spooky. :?

....also, "I" don't usually know what I am going to play next. Sure, sometimes I have some picked out to listen to, but that rarely works out. I'll hear something that reminds me of another artist or even a certain instrument and my "Playlist" is shot to hell.

But, you seem to know a week in advance, what I'll be playing and you don't even know it! :confusion-scratchheadyellow:


Dennie :techie-hiding:

 

[Dennie]

Freedom's Road -- CD

John Mellencamp

2007 Universal Republic

Amazon.com

The heartland rocker's first album of all-new material in more than five years finds John Mellencamp in full anthem mode. This is his State of the Union address, with guitars that chime like the Byrds heralding sentiments that recall the socially-conscious 1960s, yet sound all the more pertinent today. Balancing the desolate landscape of "Ghost Towns Along the Highway," the hell-on-earth of "Rural Route," and the tolls demanded on the title track's "Freedom's Road" are the embrace of brotherhood on "Someday," the Everyman populism of "The Americans," and the soaring transcendence of "My Aeroplane." Within the context of the album's song cycle, the "Our Country" centerpiece sounds richer and more powerful than it has as a truck commercial--like a roots-rocking sequel to Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Mellencamp enlists Joan Baez for a duet on the protest ballad "Jim Crow," while saving his most blistering political commentary for the unlisted bonus track, "Rodeo Clown." --Don McLeese

All songs written by John Mellencamp.

"Someday" – 3:08
"Ghost Towns Along the Highway" – 4:40
"The Americans" – 5:11
"Forgiveness" – 4:30
"Freedom's Road" – 4:19
"Jim Crow" – 3:22
"Our Country" – 3:47
"Rural Route" – 3:08
"My Aeroplane" – 4:41
"Heaven Is a Lonely Place" – 4:32
"Rodeo Clown" [hidden track after several minutes of silence] – 4:25

 

[Botch]

....also, "I" don't usually know what I am going to play next. Sure, sometimes I have some picked out to listen to, but that rarely works out. I'll hear something that reminds me of another artist or even a certain instrument and my "Playlist" is shot to hell.

I'm that way too. I bought one "5-disk" CD player years ago, but found by the time the first disk had played I wanted to listen to something else that wasn't in the player. It's been single-disk players for me ever since.
And it sounds like you're going to be listening to some surf music next week, with the line "I want to go surfing!" in it, please let me know who the artist is, I don't know...

:scared-yipes:

 

[Dennie]

....also, "I" don't usually know what I am going to play next. Sure, sometimes I have some picked out to listen to, but that rarely works out. I'll hear something that reminds me of another artist or even a certain instrument and my "Playlist" is shot to hell.

I'm that way too. I bought one "5-disk" CD player years ago, but found by the time the first disk had played I wanted to listen to something else that wasn't in the player. It's been single-disk players for me ever since.
And it sounds like you're going to be listening to some surf music next week, with the line "I want to go surfing!" in it, please let me know who the artist is, I don't know...

:scared-yipes:

:laughing-rolling:



Dennie

 

[PaulyT]

Sarah's first album...

Nice! How do you like it?

I've listened to this first album a few more times now, and my emerging opinion is that I like it more than her second. The second is perhaps a bit more polished, but the first has more raw energy to it and I think the music is slightly more interesting. There are more spots in it that make me "sit up and pay attention." Certainly could be just a personal preference thing, though...

 

[Dennie]

Sarah's first album...

Nice! How do you like it?

I've listened to this first album a few more times now, and my emerging opinion is that I like it more than her second. The second is perhaps a bit more polished, but the first has more raw energy to it and I think the music is slightly more interesting. There are more spots in it that make me "sit up and pay attention." Certainly could be just a personal preference thing, though...

That pretty much matches most of the reviews I've read. And "rawer" can be a good thing. Often when it is too polished up, it loses emotion and that is never a good thing, when it comes to music.

Thanks Pauly,

Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Simpatico -- CD

Suzy Boggus & Chet Atkins

1994 Liberty Records

Too bad this one's Out Of Print, January 18, 2007 (NOTE: it was re-issued this year- :handgestures-thumbup: )
By J. M. Jacobs "Just one man's opinion..." (East Helena, MT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Simpatico (Audio CD)

Here is a disc that will remind you why just about everybody loved Chet Atkins. Like so many other artists, Chet helped Suzy Bogguss get her start. From working together, Chet tried to help her get a recording contract. No takers. So one day he called her up and asked her if she'd like to tour with him. After her exposure on the tour, she was offered a recording contract almost immediately. Then Chet and Suzy decided they'd like to do an album together and what an effort it turned out to be!

The smoothness of Suzy's voice is in perfect harmony with Chet's smooth playing in that spare, "just right" style he had. The production allows Suzy's singing and Chet's playing to be present in the mix and even to an untrained ear they sound exceptional.

This album is a good example of what's happening to high quality older recordings in the music industry today. As good as this one is, it should be judged a classic and never go out of print. However because not many people even know about it, you have to do like I did and search it out from a second hand source. By my humble judgment, it was easily worth the effort.

"In the Jailhouse Now" (Jimmie Rodgers) – 3:11
"When She Smiled at Him" (Joanie Beeson, Michael Johnson) - 3:06
"Forget About It" (R. L. Kass) - 4:22
"Wives Don't Like Old Girlfriends" (Shane Fontayne, Randy VanWarmer) - 4:12
"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:59
"Two Shades of Blue" (Deborah Allen, Bobby Braddock, Rafe VanHoy) - 3:25
"One More for the Road" (Atkins, Bogguss, Doug Crider) - 4:26
"I Still Miss Someone" (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash Jr.) - 3:40
"You Bring Out the Best in Me" (Bogguss, Crider, Steve Dorff) - 3:34
"This Is the Beginning" (Pat Donohue) - 5:12

 

[Dennie]

Our Shangri-La -- CD

Rick Shea & Patty Booker

2003 Tres Pescadores Records

Country Music The Way It Should Be, December 30, 2003
By "zorrowitz" (Columbia, MO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Our Shangri-La (Audio CD)

A magnificent album from start to finish, and every cut is a gem. Patty Booker has an incredible voice and range from the depths of sorrow to sheer joy and the best of honky tonk. Rick Shea is an outstanding musician, song writer and vocalist. The pairing of their soulful and distinctive voices gives an added dimension to the songs that make them duets in the best sense of the word, as their voices wonderfully compliment each other. The material and performances are all first rate with outstanding original songs and terrific interpretations of classics.

Track listing

1. When Will I Ever Learn
2. I'm No Good Without You
3. Summer Wine
4. Just a Matter of Time
5. I Know What's Wrong (But I Just Can't Get It Right)
6. Our Shangri-La
7. There's Fewer Things All the Time
8. You Take Me For Granted
9. Bull and the Beaver, The
10. You
11. Baby That Ain't True
12. Fat Daddy
13. House That We Once Lived In, The


17936

 

[Dennie]

Only What I Feel -- CD

Patty Loveless

1993 Epic Records

Her Critically Acclaimed Album!!, January 6, 2009
By CountryGal "pamela" (Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Only What I Feel (Audio CD)

Patty is one of the leading ladies in country and rightly so!
This album really started things off for her.
With her big hits You Will,Blame It On Your Heart and the beautiful ballad How Can I Help You Say Goodbye,this will leave a lump in your throat!
There's also some great songs like Nothin' But The Wheel,Mr.Man In The Moon and You Don't Know How Lucky You Are-(very true lyrics)
Patty has such an amazing country voice that you can't help but fall in love with.This is a must to any country collection...

"You Will" (Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, Randy Sharp) – 3:16
"How About You" (Chris Waters, Chuck Jones) – 2:41
"Nothin' But the Wheel" (John Scott Sherrill) – 3:57
"Love Builds the Bridges (Pride Builds the Walls)" (Jim McBride, Jerry Salley) – 3:32
"Mr. Man in the Moon" (Wally Wilson, Michael Henderson) – 3:11
"Blame It on Your Heart" (Harlan Howard, Kostas) – 3:34
"You Don't Know How Lucky You Are" (Carl Jackson, David Wills) – 3:42
"All I Need (Is Not to Need You)" (Will Robinson, Tim Nichols, Randy Scruggs) – 2:53
"What's a Broken Heart" (Don Pfrimmer, George Teren) – 3:09
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" (Burton Banks Collins, Karen Taylor-Good) – 5:00

 

[Dennie]

My last one for the evening.....

Famous Blue Raincoat -- 24k Gold CD

Jennifer Warnes

2010 Impex Records

Downright classic coveralbum, superb soundquality even bettered, February 10, 2011
By pierke666 (Flanders, Belgium) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Famous Blue Raincoat (24 Karat Gold CD) (Audio CD)

This is one of my all time fave 's : as so many "HiFi-freaks" I first heard this one on a show years ago. By now it has been demo 'ed to death, but people still bring this album along to compare equipment ! True, there 's nothing "natural" 'bout the sound : every single detail you hear has been very carefully added in the mix. No "one-take live" sensation here, with "warts 'n all" portrayal : instead a seemingly endlessly detailed and heavily polished sound. (This 24 Kt gold version especially : As good as zero backgroundhiss, very wide freq.range and wonderful lowlevel micro-dynamics.) Production is thus very "US-style" : rather smooth/sweet and errs on the side of bombastic. This brings me finally to the music (To me still the most important thing, but not to every "High-Ender" out there, it seems) which is nothing short of fantastic! Some coverversions here even trump the original (L.Cohen-)versions, nearly making them seem bleek. No bald statement of me alone : even Mr. Cohen himself who collaborated in the making of this album admitted this in an interview! I can only think of a handful of coverversions doing this, and none of them are by the same artist, let alone on one album... And even if the emotional approach is sometimes "opera-like" larger-than-life JW gets away with it, being the incredible singer she is.
Somehow a shame to state this -JW being a singer/songwriter- but if you 're thinking of buying just one of her albums, let this be the one (especially this edition containing extra tracks): you won't be dissapointed !

All songs written by Leonard Cohen except where noted.

"First We Take Manhattan" – 3:47
"Bird on a Wire" – 4:42
"Famous Blue Raincoat" – 5:33
"Joan of Arc" – 7:57
"Ain't No Cure for Love" – 3:21
"Coming Back to You" – 3:43
"Song of Bernadette" – 3:55 (Jennifer Warnes, Bill Elliott, Cohen)
"A Singer Must Die" – 4:52
"Came So Far for Beauty" – 3:37 (Cohen, John Lissauer)

Additional tracks on 20th anniversary reissue

"Night Comes On"
"Ballad of the Runaway Horse"
"If It Be Your Will"
"Joan of Arc" (Live in Antwerp, Belgium, 1992)

 

[Dennie]

Wind On The Water -- CD

David Crosby & Graham Nash

1975/2000 ABC/MCA Records

Supernova Effort from a remarkable Friendship, March 24, 2003
By o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Wind on the Water (Audio CD)

Well, this is the gem of the entire CSNY catalogue! Crosby and Nash never sounded better, never played better, never wrote better, and their back up band was spot on from the first note to the last. I remember walking down Bloor Street when I first heard this from a record shop. I was hooked. I wore out 6 vinyl copies of this.

Crosby and Nash seemed positively liberated from the chains that went with being in the Supergroup that was more ego than substance. For all of Neil's posturings, at this point in their career, Cros and Nash were the best songwriters in rock music, touching on themes of life, death, love and environment with a poignancy any writer would sell their soul for.

"Carry Me" has come back to me as a source of comfort several times when I've lost friends to Aids/Cancer/Tragedy. "Mama Lion" is a wonderful tribute to a lover who has so affected your life that even though you are no longer with him/her, it is their positive influence, not the negative that lives with you, eh Nina? "Wind on the Water" is the quintessential environmental track, and Nash hit his zenith here as a creative writer. Sheer profundity as Cros would often comment. "Cowboy of Dreams" would reference Neil more accurately than anything I've ever heard or read. The musicianship is a wonder to behold on this: looser, now that they were both free of Stills' maniacal control issues and Neil's passive aggressive mind games, this is the essence of what David and Graham were capable of.

Live, they were tremendous during this period. That probably fed Crosby's ego enough to convince himself that he was handling his drug problems. Six to nine months after this, he was teetering on becoming useless as a creative songwriter. Well, this was still to come.

At this point, with this release, they were brilliant. It is evident in the confidence seen on their faces in the cover photo, and it carries all the way through every single track. Well done, a true diamond.

"Carry Me" (Crosby) – 3:35
"Mama Lion" (Nash) – 3:17
"Bittersweet" (Crosby) – 2:39
"Take the Money and Run" (Nash, Rafferty) – 3:23
"Naked in the Rain" (Crosby, Nash) – 2:27
"Love Work Out" (Nash) – 4:45
"Low Down Payment" (Crosby) – 4:54
"Cowboy of Dreams" (Nash) – 3:30
"Homeward Through the Haze" (Crosby) – 4:06
"Fieldworker" (Nash) – 2:47
"To the Last Whale... (A. Critical Mass/B. Wind on the Water)" (Crosby, Nash) – 5:33


David Crosby - guitar, vocals
Graham Nash - guitar, vocals, keyboards
Danny Kortchmar - bass, guitar
David Lindley - violin, guitar
Craig Doerge - keyboards
Joel Bernstein - guitar
Ben Keith - guitar
Russell Kunkel - drums
Stan Szeleste - keyboards
Levon Helm - drums
James Taylor - background vocals
Carole King - background vocals
Jackson Browne - background vocals

 

[Dennie]

CSN -- CD

David Crosby, Stephen Still & Graham Nash

1977/ 1995 Atlantic Records

Adult music, March 21, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: CSN (Audio CD)

Some people prefer the youthful flash of this trio's first album, some the rocknroll flash of the first one where "Y" was part of the mix, but I've always found CSN to be the most satisfying of Crosby, Stills and Nash' efforts in that particular formation. The main reason is that it sounds like three ADULTS really giving their all together; in the songwriting, in the harmonies, in every respect. Particular high points are Still's "See The Changes," a sort-of cousin musically to his earlier "Helplessly Hoping," but whose world-weary lyrics are some of the most penetrating the man ever wrote; Nash's "Cold Rain," about returning to where you originally came from and remembering why you left in the first place, with some wonderful close harmonies; Nash again with "Cathedral," a dramatic high point in the group's arrangements; and Crosby's "Shadow Captain," as potently evocative of sailing on the open seas as a song can get. This album doesn't have the "gosh-wow" factor of CSN's 1969 debut, but it's just as rewarding an album---maybe more.

Side One

"Shadow Captain" (Crosby, Craig Doerge) – 4:32
"See the Changes" (Stills) – 2:56
"Carried Away" (Nash) – 2:29
"Fair Game" (Stills) – 3:30
"Anything at All" (Crosby) – 3:01
"Cathedral" (Nash) – 5:15

Side Two

"Dark Star" (Stills) – 4:43
"Just a Song Before I Go" (Nash) – 2:12
"Run from Tears" (Stills) – 4:09
"Cold Rain" (Nash) – 2:32
"In My Dreams" (Crosby) – 5:10
"I Give You Give Blind" (Stills) – 3:21