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Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Raising Sand -- CD
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
2007 Rounder Records
Amazon.com
Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. --Alanna Nash
1. "Rich Woman" Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Millet 4:04
2. "Killing the Blues" Roly Jon Salley 4:16
3. "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" Sam Phillips 3:26
4. "Polly Come Home" Gene Clark 5:36
5. "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" Don Everly, Phil Everly 3:33
6. "Through the Morning, Through the Night" Gene Clark 4:01
7. "Please Read the Letter" Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 5:53
8. "Trampled Rose" Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits 5:34
9. "Fortune Teller" Naomi Neville 4:30
10. "Stick With Me Baby" Mel Tillis 2:50
11. "Nothin'" Townes Van Zandt 5:33
12. "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" Milton Campbell 4:02
13. "Your Long Journey" Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson 3:55
Raising Sand -- CD
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
2007 Rounder Records
Amazon.com
Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. --Alanna Nash
1. "Rich Woman" Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Millet 4:04
2. "Killing the Blues" Roly Jon Salley 4:16
3. "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" Sam Phillips 3:26
4. "Polly Come Home" Gene Clark 5:36
5. "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" Don Everly, Phil Everly 3:33
6. "Through the Morning, Through the Night" Gene Clark 4:01
7. "Please Read the Letter" Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 5:53
8. "Trampled Rose" Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits 5:34
9. "Fortune Teller" Naomi Neville 4:30
10. "Stick With Me Baby" Mel Tillis 2:50
11. "Nothin'" Townes Van Zandt 5:33
12. "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" Milton Campbell 4:02
13. "Your Long Journey" Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson 3:55
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Feels Like Home -- CD
Norah Jones
2004 Blue Note Records
Amazon.com
Norah Jones blew everybody away with her jazzy, country-tinged, Grammy-winning debut CD, Come Away with Me. On this recording, Jones doesn't mess with her trademark formula. Under Arif Mardin's cozy coproduction, Jones is supported by her writing partners, her Handsome Band, and some special guests (country legend Dolly Parton, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, and jazz drummer Brian Blade, to name a few). Jones's Texas-twanged vocals and her sparse acoustic and electric Wurlitzer piano lines enliven the CD's 13 tracks, from the light and lively single "Sunrise" to Tom Waits's "The Long Way Home" and the bouncy duet with Parton, "Creepin' In." Jones's soul-baring piano/vocal rendition of Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," retitled "Don't Miss You at All," proves she's a true Blue Note artist with unlimited potential. --Eugene Holley Jr.
1. "Sunrise" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:20
2. "What Am I to You?" Norah Jones 3:29
3. "Those Sweet Words" Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:22
4. "Carnival Town" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:12
5. "In the Morning" Adam Levy 4:07
6. "Be Here to Love Me" Townes Van Zandt 3:28
7. "Creepin' In" (featuring Dolly Parton) Lee Alexander 3:03
8. "Toes" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:46
9. "Humble Me" Kevin Breit 4:36
10. "Above Ground" Andrew Borger, Daru Oda 3:43
11. "The Long Way Home" Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits 3:13
12. "The Prettiest Thing" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:51
13. "Don't Miss You at All" Norah Jones, Duke Ellington 3:06
Feels Like Home -- CD
Norah Jones
2004 Blue Note Records
Amazon.com
Norah Jones blew everybody away with her jazzy, country-tinged, Grammy-winning debut CD, Come Away with Me. On this recording, Jones doesn't mess with her trademark formula. Under Arif Mardin's cozy coproduction, Jones is supported by her writing partners, her Handsome Band, and some special guests (country legend Dolly Parton, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, and jazz drummer Brian Blade, to name a few). Jones's Texas-twanged vocals and her sparse acoustic and electric Wurlitzer piano lines enliven the CD's 13 tracks, from the light and lively single "Sunrise" to Tom Waits's "The Long Way Home" and the bouncy duet with Parton, "Creepin' In." Jones's soul-baring piano/vocal rendition of Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," retitled "Don't Miss You at All," proves she's a true Blue Note artist with unlimited potential. --Eugene Holley Jr.
1. "Sunrise" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:20
2. "What Am I to You?" Norah Jones 3:29
3. "Those Sweet Words" Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:22
4. "Carnival Town" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:12
5. "In the Morning" Adam Levy 4:07
6. "Be Here to Love Me" Townes Van Zandt 3:28
7. "Creepin' In" (featuring Dolly Parton) Lee Alexander 3:03
8. "Toes" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 3:46
9. "Humble Me" Kevin Breit 4:36
10. "Above Ground" Andrew Borger, Daru Oda 3:43
11. "The Long Way Home" Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits 3:13
12. "The Prettiest Thing" Norah Jones, Lee Alexander, Richard Julian 3:51
13. "Don't Miss You at All" Norah Jones, Duke Ellington 3:06
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Pretzel Logic -- Remastered CD
Steely Dan
1974/1999 ABC/MCA Records
Amazon.com essential recording
Pretzel Logic marked a transition for Steely Dan from a studio-bound rock band producing hits such as "Reeling in the Years" and "Do It Again" to a looser constellation of studio musicians under the direction of songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. That later version of Steely Dan would paint its masterpiece with Aja. Pretzel Logic is much more playful than that, and also jazzier than the albums that came before. The jazz intentions are made perfectly clear on "Parker's Band," a swinging tribute to bebop titan Charlie Parker, and a crafty cover of Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-oo." The lyrics displayed their own twisted logic, presenting a tumble of images in search of a unifying principle that most often remained elusive. Steely Dan was that rare act that could work such purposeful obscurity to its advantage: "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" was a top-five hit even though nobody had a clue as to what it was about. Or, perhaps, everybody had a clue, but nobody could agree. --John Milward
Side 1
"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" – 4:30
"Night by Night" – 3:36
"Any Major Dude Will Tell You" – 3:05
"Barrytown" – 3:17
"East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (Duke Ellington, Bubber Miley) – 2:45
Side 2
"Parker's Band" – 2:36
"Through with Buzz" – 1:30
"Pretzel Logic" – 4:28
"With a Gun" – 2:15
"Charlie Freak" – 2:41
"Monkey in Your Soul" – 2:31
Pretzel Logic -- Remastered CD
Steely Dan
1974/1999 ABC/MCA Records
Amazon.com essential recording
Pretzel Logic marked a transition for Steely Dan from a studio-bound rock band producing hits such as "Reeling in the Years" and "Do It Again" to a looser constellation of studio musicians under the direction of songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. That later version of Steely Dan would paint its masterpiece with Aja. Pretzel Logic is much more playful than that, and also jazzier than the albums that came before. The jazz intentions are made perfectly clear on "Parker's Band," a swinging tribute to bebop titan Charlie Parker, and a crafty cover of Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-oo." The lyrics displayed their own twisted logic, presenting a tumble of images in search of a unifying principle that most often remained elusive. Steely Dan was that rare act that could work such purposeful obscurity to its advantage: "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" was a top-five hit even though nobody had a clue as to what it was about. Or, perhaps, everybody had a clue, but nobody could agree. --John Milward
Side 1
"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" – 4:30
"Night by Night" – 3:36
"Any Major Dude Will Tell You" – 3:05
"Barrytown" – 3:17
"East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (Duke Ellington, Bubber Miley) – 2:45
Side 2
"Parker's Band" – 2:36
"Through with Buzz" – 1:30
"Pretzel Logic" – 4:28
"With a Gun" – 2:15
"Charlie Freak" – 2:41
"Monkey in Your Soul" – 2:31
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Black and Blue and Tabacco Road -- Remastered CD
Lou Rawls
2006 Blue Note Records
This excellent twofer brings together a pair of albums Lou Rawls recorded for Capitol in the early 1960s. Both sessions feature Rawls with a hard-swinging big band and flanked by a three-strong saxophone section and the soul-jazz organist Richard "Groove" Holmes. The results, as one might expect, are both raucous and smoky. And while Rawls wouldn't hit his stride commercially until 1966's LOU RAWLS LIVE, he sounds utterly in command here.Both BLACK AND BLUE and TOBACCO ROAD focus on jazz and blues standards, including George Gershwin's "Summertime," Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair," W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road," which would become Rawls's signature tune. The artist's rugged, soulful singing is the perfect match for the well-arranged big band, and the 2006 CD-issue of these classic albums is a welcome arrival.
Track Listing
1. Roll 'Em Pete
2. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water
3. How Long, How Long Blues
4. Everyday I Have the Blues
5. St. James Infirmary
6. Black and Blue, (What Did I Do to Be So)
7. Gloomy Sunday - (previously unreleased)
8. Kansas City
9. Goin' to Chicago Blues
10. Trouble in Mind
11. World of Trouble
12. Six Cold Feet of Ground
13. Strange Fruit
14. Tobacco Road
15. Cotton Fields
16. Rockin' Chair
17. Stormy Weather
18. Ol' Man River
19. Blues For a Four-String Guitar
20. St. Louis Blues
21. Georgia on My Mind
22. Sentimental Journey
23. Summertime
24. When It's Sleepy Time Down South
Black and Blue and Tabacco Road -- Remastered CD
Lou Rawls
2006 Blue Note Records
This excellent twofer brings together a pair of albums Lou Rawls recorded for Capitol in the early 1960s. Both sessions feature Rawls with a hard-swinging big band and flanked by a three-strong saxophone section and the soul-jazz organist Richard "Groove" Holmes. The results, as one might expect, are both raucous and smoky. And while Rawls wouldn't hit his stride commercially until 1966's LOU RAWLS LIVE, he sounds utterly in command here.Both BLACK AND BLUE and TOBACCO ROAD focus on jazz and blues standards, including George Gershwin's "Summertime," Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair," W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road," which would become Rawls's signature tune. The artist's rugged, soulful singing is the perfect match for the well-arranged big band, and the 2006 CD-issue of these classic albums is a welcome arrival.
Track Listing
1. Roll 'Em Pete
2. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water
3. How Long, How Long Blues
4. Everyday I Have the Blues
5. St. James Infirmary
6. Black and Blue, (What Did I Do to Be So)
7. Gloomy Sunday - (previously unreleased)
8. Kansas City
9. Goin' to Chicago Blues
10. Trouble in Mind
11. World of Trouble
12. Six Cold Feet of Ground
13. Strange Fruit
14. Tobacco Road
15. Cotton Fields
16. Rockin' Chair
17. Stormy Weather
18. Ol' Man River
19. Blues For a Four-String Guitar
20. St. Louis Blues
21. Georgia on My Mind
22. Sentimental Journey
23. Summertime
24. When It's Sleepy Time Down South