Reviews (23)

All of Harry's best songs in one place...with some filler
I grew up listening to Harry Chapin, and many of his songs rank among my favorites. "Taxi", and "Cats in the Cradle" especially are emotionally moving and are almost tearjerkers, while "Sniper" is a masterpiece, "Sequel" is a part 2 to "Taxi", and the list of great songs goes on. "I Wanna Learn a Love Song", "WOLD", etc. They are all here in one place (well, "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is conspicuously missing). I docked this one a star however because of the filler. I guess some people might find all the spoken word sound clips scattered throughout this anthology a nice touch, but whether you find them a nice touch or filler depends on your taste. That's my only complaint about this collection. Otherwise, prepare to OD on Harry when you listen to this!

Chapin collectors please note:
You know, I think this collection has some rarities on it, and I didn't know Harry had any. I have a complete collection of his Elektra albums, plus the unfinished "Last Of the Protest Singers" which his estate released on K-Tel, but "Thanksgiving Hunger Drives", "Commitment and Pete Seeger", "Performing", "Calluses" & "My Grandfather" don't ring a bell. Plus, I think both these discs max out at the 75-minute CD limit ("Sniper" and "There Only Was One Choice" are both quite long"), so you get a lot of music for your 22 bucks. Plus you get Harry, a paradox for such a seemingly-simple artist. He was a sentimentalist; there are songs I can't sing myself at parties because they bring tears--don't ask me to name them all. He was a humorist; "30,000 Pounds Of Bananas" about the tragic crash of a fruit truck is a hilarious parody of the truckdriver songs of '60s Country. He could be as noir as some Springsteen stuff; in "Sniper", he crawls inside the mind of Texas University Tower gunman Charles Whitman. Plus, we get both halves of the "Taxi" saga here in the same collection. Maybe my Chapin collection isn't all that complete after all.

miss ya harry
I absolutely love singer/songwriters from the 70s,and Harry was one of the best and most prolific.He was also hard-working,doing over a 100 shows a year and giving most of the proceeds to charity.His untimely death from a car accident in 1981 was a great loss.

the best collection for the $$
I had a birthday option once-cash, or CDs. I only really knew "Taxi" and "Cat's in the Cradle" from some records, but I wanted them on CD. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money on a 2 disc set just for 2 songs. I sort of knew some of the others like "WOLD" and "A Better Place To Be" (a fantastic song, despite that one review), but not that much. So I opted to pass on the cash and got some CDs and made sure that this was the first one I grabbed. I loved almost everything on it right away. I was sad not to see "30,000 lbs of Bananas", but other than that there were no disappointments. The spoken tracks with exerpts from speeches and interviews are amazing. "My Grandfather" is probably my favorite. "Sniper" seriously distrubed me for a while until I realized what a brilliant composition it is. Even "There Only Was One Choice" is on here which is a pretty incredible song but so long that you'd think it'd be left off.

For me though, "Circle" is tough to listen to. It is one of the live tracks on the collection and in the middle he talks of his causes and how he'll be in the lobby to meet everyone and "kiss all the pretty ladies" then adds "sorry guys, maybe next year". You see, he died shortly after that performance so there was no "next year". The whole speech is incredibly passionate about his causes and all of the things that he was working for so to think that we lost him shortly after reminds us of what a sudden and tragic loss this was.

Brilliant stuff, with some fluff throw in...
I love Harry. I have since I first heard "Taxi" back around 1972. I have owned or heard just about everything he left us. This is a good overview of his work, with most of his best songs. Some chatter included does not hold up on repeated listenings and could have been dispensed with. This is the only Chapin I have on CD, but I have kept my vinyls and cassettes. All fans of Harry have a different original album favorite, it seems, and all of Harry's albums have a couple of soul-searing classics and at least two or three numbers that don't impress at all. One of my favorite Chapin releases has not made it to CD yet. "Sequel" came out on the Boardwalk label and not only includes that wonderful follow-up to "Taxi", but also has "Remember When the Music." It deserves a CD release. Is anyone listening who can make that happen? Harry, we know you were not perfect, and neither was any single record you put out...but you were a damn good man and artist, and we have missed you terribly. No one has emerged to fill your spot in our culture, and we suffer for it. Jackson Browne has tried, and come close...but no one has produced another "Taxi" or "Cat's in the Cradle" yet. This two-disc set is worth owning if you don't already have these songs in playable condition. Harry Chapin often erred musically on the side of excess, but when he nailed it, he nailed it good. In addition to the songs I've already named, listen to "Old College Avenue"; "I Wanna Learn a Love Song"; "Flowers Are Red"; "She Sings Songs Without "Words"; "Story of a Life"; "W*O*L*D*"; "Mr. Tanner"; "Corey's Coming"; and "Circle". This man put his soul into his lyrics and performances, and exposed it to all who would listen. I thank God I have had his songs in my life. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

hey
this girl was on tlcs what not to wear and i hear one of her songs and i loved the song

Something truly original!!
Singer/songwriter Megan Slankard is a unique talent. Her first album, "Lady is a Pirate" is a big, fun acoustic bag of tricks. Her catchy, percussive playing style, lilting vocals and clever lyrics are an absolutely addicting combination. This album will fast become a favorite. Keep an eye out for her newest effort, the slickly styled "Freaky Little Story" due out in September 2003.

Amazing!!!
Last night Megan Slankard came to my school and performed, I was captivated. I could only stay for one song but I snatched up a CD before I left. I have been listening to it since then. It is a great listen and easy to do work with.

Unbelievable voice of an Angel
I saw her perform @ the CD release party at the Great Plate and she was STUNNING. Her voice is incredibly captivating, soothing and the songs have an pure quality that has yet to be recognized by the rest of the music community. For those of you searching for something new ----> you must hear this CD, you won't be disappointed! Check out the web site ...

Buy this now!
This is a great debut effort from an extremely talented singer-songwriter. She is reminiscent of Shawn Colvin and Rickie Lee Jones but mostly she is herself! Buy this CD today! ... Read more

Reviews (21)

It's Kottke. What do you expect?
It's interesting to compare LK's debut album "6- and 12-String Guitar" with this record. This one is definitely a more mature, more thoughtful Kottke, where musicality is more important than outright speed. I would have titled this CD "Thinking Man's Guitar". If you have any interest in fingerstyle acoustic guitar, this is another terrific collection of songs from a true virtuoso.

Just like five guys playing guitar at the same time.
Leo Kottke is the best. I bought his first album (armadillo) in 1969. Those were the days. He's from Minnesota like my friend Joe Jacobs. If you like the guitar, get these albums by Leo Kottke. When he plays, it sounds like five guys are playing simultaneously. Oh yeah, I remember the liner notes which said his voice sounds like geese farts on a muggy day. Best when turned up loud with your Cerwin Vegas.

If you like to write instrumental guitar...
...youll love this. Ive been a Kottke fan for about 5 years now. I have a few of his albums and this one seems to be the most mature. Unique approach to writing and playing. Not for the musically faint of heart, he tends to go off on musical rants...but thats a main reason WHY i like him.

This is the first guitar record i show players who are wondering about the limits of acoustic guitar.

Catagory: Leo Kottke
This is an excellent instrumental outing by guitarist Leo Kottke, featuring a dozen intricate solo tracks. A co-worker had overheard this and asked, what kind of music it was. I was at a loss for a few seconds, before replying, Leo Kottke. It is a sound consisting of numerous genres and influences, when at the end is just a man communicating through his guitar. Good stuff.

Kottke At His best
This 1999 release from the legendary guitar player illustrates just how unique of a guitar player Leo Kottke is. Every song is graceful and eloquent, and despite only having twelve tracks, the cd clocks in at a magnanimous 51 minutes. There's not much more to say about the album. Leo Kottke is just an incredible guitar player, and that's the bottom line. Anyone who appreciates any kind of acoustic guitar music, or any kind of guitar for that matter, should buy this. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Karen Dalton was one of the ultimate free spirits. Arriving in New York from her native Oklahoma in 1960, she immediately became a part of the rising folk scene there, a hippie before they had a name, someone who lived life completely on her own terms. She was also, as this records shows, a superbly talented singer, eerily reminiscent of Billie Holliday. The only problem was that she disliked performing, and, in fact, had to be coaxed to make this album in the late '60s. Fortunately, the recording went very smoothly, with most of the vocals being first takes. Dalton (who died in the early '90s) had a natural feel for the blues. She could take songs by her contemporaries, even old folk songs, and find the blues inherent in them. It remains a mystery, really, why a record this good was lost among the releases of the time; its power might have been simple, but it was undeniable. Dalton did record again, making one other album. Now that we have the joy of It's So Hard to Tell, perhaps someone will see fit to issue that, too, and make our legacy complete. It's just a shame we've come to them so late. This is the real folk blues. --Chris Nickson ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Outstanding! Truly a gem of a recording!
I remembered Karen Dalton from her Woodstock years on an album from an obscure label like, "Just Sun", or "Sunshine Records" (?). That was a long time ago and in the interim she has proven (by this cd) just how unique and powerful a performer she really is! The choice of material, the personal and emotional nature of the vocals and the incredible mood each song evokes is a gift to the listener. Sounds like she sang them in the dark, on the bed, next to me! What more could I ask? This goes into my "Favorite Female" vocalist pile along with Madeline Peyroux, Joni Mitchell and a cherished handful of others! I want more!

The greatest "unknown singer" of all time?
I first heard about Karen through one of her biggest admirers, Lacy J. Dalton. Lacy compared her to Billie Holiday, and said she might even be BETTER than Billie Holiday. When I first read Lacys assesment, i was inclined to be skeptical. I love and trust Lacy J., but thought she might be blinded by nostalgia and sentimentality.This theory was reinfoirced by the fact that I couldnt find any matererial on Karen. However, little bits of data began to seep in., and almost every evaluation echoed Lacy J. Here was a tstupendous talent few people had ever heard of. However, the few who had heard her--ranging from Lucinda Williams to Peter Stampfel--loved her. after listening to this amazing album, and reading Stampfels eloquent, honest liner notes, I am compelled to conclude that Karen Dalton WAS the most underrated "popular" singer, in ANY genre of the whole twentieth century. This unique, almost weird, utterly uncanny voice is unforgettable.

Are You Going To the Country?
Yes, Karen Dalton had another album out with this title or this song on it. It also contained a song called, "Take me" which i've heard sung by George Jones. These two songs alone place Karen Dalton among the finest of the 60's folkies. Superb vocals that take you away to the country and her. Someone please rerelease that album if possible.don't remember the label name.

A Lost Masterpiece
This CD is quite simply beautiful and soulful.

to complete the picture
We know that this time,early '60s in NY was very productive,that everyone got their start there,some survived,some became famous,some comitted suicide etc etc. Karen Dalton was out there early and listening to her as she has songs speak through her you can hear the plaintive uncertainty of her life as it was unfolding....there she is on the back of the cd singing and playing with bob dylanand fred neil and then she fades from the radar while bob becomes bob and fred goes on.Her versions of fred neil and tim hardin songs sure take to a different place than the versions by the writers...much sadder,theres no joy here.I am glad that i bought this cd cuz it fills in some gaps in the history of that melting pot in ny.You cant help but feel sad for karen tho' ... Read more

Amazon.com

Prompted by the success Ken Burns's popular Civil War documentary (which spawned its own soundtrack), Songs of the Civil War presents an eclectic assortment of contemporary performers tackling period pieces that date back to the War Between the States. Here's Sweet Honey in the Rock tackling the slave lament "No More Auction Block for Me," Judy Collins singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and Kate and Anna McGarrigle essaying the lovely (and very suitable) "Hard Times Come Again No More." Between performances by name artists (Kathy Mattea, Waylon Jennings, and Richie Havens among them), instrumentals performed by the U.S. Military Academy Band provide a sense of time and place. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A wonderful evocative collection
As I sit here writing this review the CD 'Songs of the Civil War' is playing in the background. There are two things, which surprise me; firstly that each time I listen to this collection I enjoy it that little bit more and secondly after playing it so much I'm surprised that the disc hasn't wore away to nothing! Ken Burns, the co-producer of this album and of course the producer of the spectacular TV series 'The Civil War' suggests that "Music, songs are a kind of glue that holds our history together and binds the present with the past to form our most important memories." Unlike the soundtrack to the series, which is mainly traditional music and instrumentals 'Songs of the Civil War', offers the listener a whole range of songs that capture the essence of the both the Civil War and the social and political philosophies that gave birth to it. There are songs from the perspective of both North and South, from the position of the soldier, from their families left behind, from the slaves on the auction block, ballads, foot stompers, humour and laments, they are all represented here and then there is Ashokan Farewell which still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

I highly recommend 'Songs of the Civil War' to you and encourage you add not only it but also the soundtrack to the series to your music collection.

Enjoy!

Kids Love It
I purchased this CD as part of an effort to further my 6-year old son's interest in music - following very little luck with more conventional children's songs. What a success story! He loved it from the first, both he and his younger sister play the songs nearly every day. They'll both dance around the house, sing the songs, or strum their air guitars as they listen. His favorites are "Marching through Georgia" and "Lincoln and Liberty Too". His sister prefers "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". But they enjoy them all - the words are very clear, the verses easy to remember, and the melodies have endured the test of time.

My son's interest has even extended to the precise words themselves - there have been many nights that we've read the words to the songs before bedtime. They've helped him to understand the concepts of freedom and courage, as well as the injustice and horrors of slavery, and the realities of war.

But please be advised - the "n" word is included in one of the songs - not in an intentionally derogatory manner, but it is included, none-the-less. And in typical child fashion, he noticed and picked up on it - we've discussed the terrible hurt the word inflicts and the importance of not using it. It is the single fault of an otherwise exceptional collection of songs.

Kate, come back!
I feel like I've owned this since just after Gettysburg. It's simply a wonderful CD, as the other reviewers here all happily attest. But the money track on this disc is Kate McGarrigle singing "Hard Times Come Again No More". This version of one of America's most moving songs is the best ever recorded. It made me cry like an onion salesman. If there's any justice in the world, those McGarrigle women will come out of whatever constitutes "retirement" for folk singers and do a whole CD full of Foster's most moving songs. Come on and sing, Kate. And bring along Anna. There's nothing good on TV anyway.

a great collection of folk music
This album is absolutely wonderful. It's a great history lesson as well as just good music. Kathy Mattea has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, and John Hartford was such a wonderful musician (I say "was" because he passed away in 2001). Sweet Honey in the Rock and Kate & Ann McGarrigle have beautiful harmonies, and the military pieces are great. Music is essential to understanding history, and this album is a history lesson in itself.

SEQUEL, PLEASE!!
This is one of the most moving collections of music I've ever listened to, right up there with the Baez/Dylan collection "Any Day Now," John Stewart's "The Phoenix Concerts," Steve Earle's "The Mountain," the original discovery of the Robert Johnson recordings, and Mark Knopfler's "Ragpicker's Dream." The material is as powerful as the underlying subject, the performers are incredible, and they're perfectly suited to the material. It's impossible to listen to it too often. My kids (ages 11 and 13) can now sing a lot of the songs from beginning to end. I wish there were a sequel. If there were five "Rocky" movies, there should be at least one more volume of this material, by the same producing team.

I wish they could give Pulitzers for compilations like this.

Tim Oksman
Portsmouth, Virginia ... Read more

Album Description

Includes #1's 'Cat's In The Cradle', 'Taxi', I Wanna LearnA Love Song', 'Sequel' and 7 more musical vignettes of life and love, despair and hope in modern America. Digitallyremastered. Elektra. 2002. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Modern Troubadour
Harry Chapin is one of the few artists for which his music will always speak better than any mere review. Harry would have been a minstrel in medieval times. He would have been in vaudeville in the last century. He enjoyed performing before live audiences. His art did not translate as well to recorded media; while good, he was much better live. Harry was a story teller. He enjoyed singing about the irony of life, sometimes with a serious tone, and other times, with a good bit of humor.

As other reviewers have noted, the Gold Medal Collection presents two disks as compared to this one CD. However, the Gold Medal Collection also costs substantially more. So if you are on a budget, this CD is a bargain way to get a good cross-section of Harry's music. Note also that this CD contains nearly 74 minutes worth of music, thus this CD represents a very good bargain.

My personal three favorites are included on this CD: "Taxi," "Sequel," which could be called "Taxi - Part 2," and my all-time Chapin favorite, "Cat's in the Cradle." Had Harry stopped writing music after these three songs, he would have instantly been considered one of the great singer-songwriters of all time. Of course, Harry wrote many more songs, adding more excellent stories and songs to confirm his ability and place in music.

"Sunday Morning Sunshine" reminds me a bit of Harry Nilsson. The music sounds like pop fluff, but the story is Harry's story, that of a wandering performer with the blues, and the love of his life sends rays of sunshine to scatter those blues. Poignant lyrics contrasted by very light music.

"W*O*L*D" was the first Chapin song that caught my attention many years ago. While the song was frequently played on pop stations, the lyrics tell a story of someone who has been in the radio business for a long time, a story of what happens in life. The story is relevant for all times, but was even truer in the 60s and 70s when we seemed to be such a youth-driven society. The story follows what has happened to the singer as he has moved from one job to the next, and how he is perceived by his listeners, and how he longs for the love he once had, and lost.

"I Wanna Learn a Love Song" is a story of true love, and of a boy growing up to be a man. I am unable to do justice to this song with my words. You are better off listening to the song, reading the lyrics, and getting into to the story yourself.

"A Better Place to Be" is a great story, the story of a lonely watchman and either a poignant tale of an incredible night with a beautiful woman, or one of the great pickup lines of all time, or both. The watchman tells this story to a waitress about having a great night with a beautiful woman, and how it ended with her leaving when he went out to get breakfast, and as she wipes away a tear, the song sets up the watchman's next night with the waitress, and the cycle continues.

"Dreams Go By" is a story of opportunities missed, and the realization as we've grown old, that it's too late to realize those dreams. The music is upbeat, with a flavor of music from early in the last century, but the upbeat tone is deceptive, because the song is about loss.

"Sniper" is the story of Charles Whitman, focusing on September 1, 1966, when Charles climbed into the bell tower on the University of Texas, and either killed or wounded 47 people before being shot by police. The song suggests reasons for how Whitman became as he did, and the point of what Whitman did. This song is nearly 10 minutes long, and uses a variety of techniques to tell the story, from the newsy voice Harry uses to represent the media, to the petulant voice of the sniper himself, to the drums that provide the representation of the bullets. While the song may appear to be gimmicky from this description, it is a masterpiece of story telling.

The song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is one of Harry's more humorous songs, and yet it has such a sad ending. A song that would have made a great country song except for its nearly eleven minute length, it tells the story of a truck driver anxious to get home driving a truck full of bananas, losing control of the truck and crashing. The song has three endings in this live version, and though the topic is serious and sad, Harry makes the ending funny.

The final song on this collection is "Remember When the Music - Reprise." Of course the inclusion of this song was intended to be a statement about Harry's life and music, telling of times gone by. In this song, the times gone by include more than just thinking about how things were simpler, it includes beliefs, and truth, and values.

Harry Chapin was a master story teller in song. His songs were of a style sung by artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Arlo Guthrie, and Randy Newman. While it seems easy to say his music was similar to those other artists, Harry let the story go where it needed to go, forsaking time limits and modern song construction. His styling truly harkened back to times gone by. There was, and always will be, only one Harry Chapin.

Everything Harry Chapin Wrote/Sang is 5 STARS.
I agree with the previous people. If you want a great range of Harry Chapin's songs, get the Gold Medal Collection. However, this CD is fabulous - like is every other one of his CD's. He's gentle and powerful and passionate and he is an inspiration to all singers and artists of any kind. He truly loved singing. He's the type of singer who would sing even if there were no money in it. This CD is a good collection of songs, however some are omitted that I wouldn't omit. :) I recommend buying ALL of his albums.

Good but you can do better for a bit more $$
This is a nice cd. But the GOLD MEDAL COLLECTION ( 2 CDs) gives you a much better feel for his music. Better range and some good stories. If 20 years since his death you are looking for a "essential collection" get the GOLD METAL it is a much much better place to be.

70-Plus Minutes of Essential Chapin
Essentials gives you 12 self-penned songs from one of popular musics great storytellers and humanitarians. While Chapin had only four bona fide hits, you get a generous sampling of key album tracks and concert favorites. [The only glaring omission is "Circle."] Unlike other releases in The Essentials series which all limit song selection to 12 tracks and consequently a relatively short playing time, with tracks like "Sniper" (9:57) and "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" (10:58), you get over 70 minutes of music. RECOMMENDED ... Read more

Amazon.com

Elizabeth Mitchell goes with what she knows on You Are My Flower. Here a selection of sturdy, old-fashioned songs are delivered with a clear, clipped voice accompanied by a single guitar. The result is an album most parents would make for their own kids if they possessed Mitchell’s talent. Mitchell delivers unsullied renditions of songs from the oeuvres of Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotten, and the Carter Family, and tosses in a version of "Jingle Bells" that would be welcome in June. Pop the CD in and a lovely, simple, peaceful vibe swells inside. --Tammy La Gorce ... Read more

Reviews (11)

You owe it to your kids
If you don't have children of your own buy this brilliant cd for any child you know--heck, buy it for kids you pass on the street, it might just change their lives. We have a decently well stocked children's music collection filled with stuff we love (and stuff we just like)-- Pete Seeger, Sweet Honey, Woody, Free to Be You and Me. . . we even got a Raffi or two in there. Hands down, this cd is our two year old's favorite. She requests it at least once a day and sings and dances along. The only other one that comes close is Dan Zane's "Family Dance" which you should proceed to buy right after this one. Songs you can fall in love with along with your kids -- Now how much children's music can you say that about?

Wonderful!
This is by far the best Children's CD I've ever heard. The songs are so sweet and sung so beautifully. Elizabeth Mitchell's voice is perfect and she sings the songs just slow enough and clear enough that kids can hear and learn the words. My 26 month old daughter knows the words to most of the songs and loves the CD as much as I do. My husbands only complaint is that we don't hear enough of Dan's voice. At last we have a CD we all love! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel lucky to know about this CD.

Why are you still reading? Buy this CD already!
Not that it hasn't been said by the other reviewers who came before me, but this is my (and my son's) favorite music. He (19 months) has been listening to this CD and the "You Are My Sunshine" CD since he joined us in this world. He is entertained and soothed by them, as am I. One of his first words was "cah-cah", to go with his favorite song on one of the two disks. People should really get both disks, not just one. The songs are simple but their choices of instruments and unique arrangements and extremely clever -- and a bit more intricate than you might realize at first listen. I listen to it even when my son is not around, and often hear something new I hadn't before. I also have to say that I feel much better when I'm caught singing something from this CD under my breath at the grocery store rather than "Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew."

Kids music for keeps
Chances are your kids will not only love this music, but keep on loving it as they grow up. These classics are delivered with such artistry that they're a delight for kids and their parents. Elizabeth Mitchell's voice is simply magnificent.

Also highly, highly recommended: CATCH THE MOON, which Mitchell recorded with Lisa Loeb. Another gem.

Like drugs for toddlers
This is hands down my toddler's favorite thing to listen to. It works like magic on her, so it's my favorite too. It calms her down immediately, lulls her to sleep or inspires glassy-eyed dancing depending on her mood. It's great when your favorite indie artists go on to produce things for children: you don't have to cringe when they pick out what they want to listen to. Go get it now. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Chances are, the most devoted fans of these three musicians have heard these tunes before, thanks to the crafty pizza-delivery boy who filched the tapes from Garcia's kitchen soon after they were recorded in 1993. That said, the warm, intimate performances here are very much worth an official CD release. The sessions came about when Tony Rice was in Northern California to record the delightful duet-collection Tone Poems with David Grisman. Garcia stopped by to hang out and jam with his old buddy Grisman and with Rice, one of his guitar idols. The disc retains all of the joy and spontaneity you'd expect from such an informal setting--Grisman even elected to leave in the between-song banter, which mostly consists of genuine overflowing mutual praise. The music itself, primarily traditional folk songs, is quite engaging thanks to Garcia's affecting, soulful, pained vocals and to the picking of all three. The contrast in flat-picking-guitar styles makes for an interesting combination: while Rice is technically superb, marvelously quick, and of remarkably clarion tone, Garcia is much more emotional and visceral, feeling his way along. There are a handful of exploratory, off-the-cuff jams that add to the impulsive nature of the whole project. Had the threesome actually intended this to be released, it probably wouldn't have the appeal it does, for this is the product of friends and music lovers, not recording artists. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Pizza Tastes Good!
As the story goes, David Grisman invited his old friends Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia over to his place for a little jam session. Thankfully, these sessions were recorded and later stolen by a pizza delivery boy from Garcia's kitchen counter. They later surfaced as bootlegs and Grisman, who was a bit peeved at the whole affair, decided to just go ahead and release the best parts of the sessions on his Acoustic Disc label.

Grisman had the great insight to include snippets of dialog on the release and it is these moments that remind us that not only is this an informal jam-session, but a damn good time as well. The music is mostly made up of older, well-known tunes, but it also includes some jam segments and the Garcia/Grisman tune, "Shady Grove". The songs bear the distinct mark of Garcia's voice as it wavers and sometimes struggles to hold a note. While not perfect, there is intense soul in these performances. Tony Rice's playing is superb and sometimes overshadows Garcia. Grisman is solid as granite, adding Mandolin flourishes throughout.

"Man of Constant Sorrow" sounds nothing like the version that's enjoying success today (it's the song from "O Brother, Where Art Thou") and "Summertime" dances and skirts all around Gershwin's original composition. This is also the only place you'll ever find Garcia singing "Amazing Grace". "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has a similar feel to the versions played by the Jerry Garcia Band in the 70's -- slow and terribly sad. Fans of Garcia and Grisman recordings will probably welcome yet another version of Miles Davis's "So What" and the various "Jam" tracks are sure to please most Grateful Dead fans.

All in all, "The Pizza Tapes" are an essential addition to fans of any of these three artists. They are unique in that they capture the raw energy and excitement of three excellent musicians in the primal setting of acoustic music.

Like your own personal visit to Grisman's basement
Is this an "album" where everything is precise and calculated? No. Is this as good and fun and intimate as a first-and-only-time recorded meeting between friends and acquaintances who just happen to be high-caliber (make that legendary) acoustic-picking musicians can be? Yes.

The music is fun and loose and as is the ACOUSTIC DISC way, the recording quality is absolutely perfect. It's quite interesting to hear the stylistic differences of Rice and Garcia side-by-side like this. Tony is definitely the better rhythm guitarist but both men display great personality and tone during their lead-guitar playing. Tony still had his voice when this was recorded but Jerry does all the singing.

Since some of you may have young children I decided to also say that Grisman left some of the chatting and fooling around that happens between the songs. As anyone who has seen Tony Rice in concert or has read interviews with Jerry Garcia knows, they aren't above using the occasional curse word. I just thought I'd let some of you know that so you can scan the disk for the spots where the "F" word pops up before your kids find it. I hope that doesn't stop anyone from buying this cd. It is an excellent, intimate snapshot of three friends enjoying life and the music they played makes us the true winners! Whether you're a fan of one or of all these guys you'll really find a lot to love about this cd. David Grisman once again releases a winner (and plays beautifully).

FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN! A great slice of Garcianess...
Bless you, David Grisman, for having the foresight to record your impromptu jam sessions with Jerry! This CD, along with the equally exceptional Shady Grove, are, in my opinion, two of the best Jerry Garcia albums out there. Pizza Tapes (and Shady Grove), more than the live Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, or the various live JGB CDs, captures the essence of Garcia. Here, his sense of humor really shines through, as does Jer's pure love of music. Yeah, so he made millions of dollars! So what? It's obvious from this that Garcia made music out of a deep, spiritual love of music -- and the money was just incidental. The banter between Garcia, Grisman and Tony Rice is fun, as are the "spicy" expletives that pop up here and there. This CD brims with fun-filled acoustic music and an obvious shared love of that music between Rice-Grisman-Garcia. Wanna know what Jerry Garcia was like? Check out this CD and you'll have a better idea -- plus it's more fun that plowing through a 400-page biography! C'mon, now, let's play some music!

RICE, GRISMAN, GARCIA - MY HEROES!
How did I miss this CD for so long? I got it as a Christmas gift and have played it constantly ever since! These three guys together are magical - Tony Rice's flawless guitar, Jerry's earthy vocals, and Dave Grisman with his usual perfection on mandolin. What a happy synthesis of talent and soul! The casual exchanges among them between tunes adds to the sense of intimacy and spontanaeity. It's not slick and Jerry's vocals are rough in spots, but it's real talent. My personal favorite is "Man of Constant Sorrow."

Mediocre
This is just a poor, poor album. Jerry Garcia is the most overrated singer in all of Rock 'n' Roll. Try "Stage Fright" by THE BAND instead. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Truly Wonderful Listening Experience
If a person can fall in love with a CD, this is the CD to do it with. One of the best purchases I have ever made! The combination of musical diversity on this recording is great! Everything from "Whistling Dixie" and "Brackenby's Music Box" to "Today" and "Anything Love Can Buy". You won't just find one or two songs to love here, you will love them all!

A truly delightful listening experience!
I became a NCM admirer when I was in 5th-6th grade. RAMBLIN' was the only album I ever owned until now. I loved the humor of the NCM back then, but I also enjoyed being taken back into the earlier history of our country with songs like "The Drinkin'Gourd" and the "Wagoner's Song". This CD has been true a joy to listen to. In addition to the warmly familiar songs of the RAMBLIN' album and the tender long-remembered song, "Today", I have now found many new favorites among the songs on TODAY album. If you enjoy music that stirs a sense of love for our great country and its remarkable rugged history, you're bound to be captivated by the NCM's TODAY/RAMBLIN' CD. Just wish I could find this on cassette tapes to listen to in my car!

Two Faces of NCM Shine
Ramblin' was the first of many NCM albums I listened to in the early 60s. It captures the early "folk" influences that we heard on the TV show Hootenany; I consider it the quintessential NCM album.

Today, on the other hand , shows the later (and final) years of NCM. As the folk scene evolved NCM moved further away from "folkie" type stuff to more refined - mainstream music (such as a movie score). While NCM could not compete with the likes of Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Joan Baez in the realm of topical folk music, this album contained many excellent songs and of course the beautiful "Today" later recorded by John Denver.

Within a few years of this album NCM entered a rapid decline - I saw them in concert on 1967 and not one member of the original group remained (the concert was lousy).

However, for historical, musical, and sentimental value - this CD is well worth it.

I can't believe both of these albums are on 1 CD!!
When I was growing up in the early 60's I was a little too young to choose my own music to listen to so I heard whatever my sister played. Thank goodness she had the good taste to pick out both "Ramblin'" and "Today". These two albums, along with the Kingston Trio's album "#16" comprise the best of the best of those years. These albums are like a soundtrack to my life in the early 60's and bring back so many good memories. I still have the old scratchy LP's but can't hardly make out the words now! I can't believe that they put both of my favorite New Christy Minstrel albums on one CD! I'm going to get this one myself and relive those wonderful memories again!

Timeless music for every generation
I bought "Ramblin'" as a scratched LP back in the late 60's and have loved it ever since. After all these years it is pure magic to hear it as it was originally recorded. The New Christy Minstrels went beyond just being a folk group; they combined extraordinary musical talents and strong personalities such as Barry McGuire putting together songs of beauty, power, nostalgia and pure fun. Add to the experience the album "Today" (the soundtrack from the Glenn Ford film "Company of Cowards") and you have a truly enjoyable album, with the title track one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs of all time. I only hope now that other NCM albums, such as "Land of Giants" and "In Person" are also going to be made available very soon. ... Read more

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You could have some fun with the title in more suggestive times, but In the Wind refers here to the popular trio's classic recording of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." Interestingly, their recording did as much for Dylan's career as it did for PP&M's, for, while it sealed their image as the troubadours of the '60s civil rights movement, it helped posit the then-little-known Dylan as the voice of a generation. Other highlights here include their gorgeous interpretation of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" as well as spirituals, a lullaby, and even a Civil War ballad. It may all seem quaint now, but when this LP reached No. 1 in 1963, only weeks after John F. Kennedy's assassination, the folk movement was in full throttle...and something was definitely in the air. Or in the wind, so to speak. --Bill Holdship ... Read more

Reviews (9)

PP&M's number one album introduces Dylan to America
"In the Wind" was the third album put out by Peter, Paul & Mary and was so successful that when it hit #1 on the Billboard album charts it dragged their two previous albums back into the Top 10 as well. The album was released in October 1963, which meant is was only a month before the assassination of JFK and a few months before the arrival of the Beatles heralded the British Invasion. But at this point in musical history the folk music revival was in full flower.

The first two singles from this album were also what popularized the music of Bob Dylan. "Blowin' in the Wind" made it to #2 on the charts while "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" made it to #9. PP&M also recorded a third and unreleased Dylan song, "Quit Your Low Down Ways." Their cover of "Stewball" was the third single released and made it to #35. The fourth single from the album, "Tell It on the Mountain" (#33), is an alternative version of the African-American spiritual "Go Tell It on the Mountain," that shifts the meaning from the Nativity of Jesus to the Exodus, with the refrain "Let my people go" easily adaptable to the Civil Rights movement.

Two of the other standout songs are the haunting traditional tune "All My Trials," and the opening track, "Very Last Day," which is a rare original song by the group. The only knock against PP&M is that they are popularizers of folk music rather than musical innovators, but when you listen to their three part harmonies and the earnestness they provide to each performance (in contrast to the peppy sound of groups like the New Christie Minstrels), that hardly seems to be negative idea.

Discover the power of music
This CD brings back all the power and excitement of the PP&M concert that introduced me to their music in the 60's. I bought the first of many guitars right after and I still play their original arrangements. I had all their albums but they got stolen and I hadn't replaced them. So, I just bought all the CD's. "Very Last Day" really shook me. And now, I just can't stop playing it and sharing it with friends. Truly, if you don't know their music or haven't listened for a while, play this track. Then, let the wonderful contrasts of successive tracks on this CD roll right on. Its an absolute treasure. Their best.

Where to Start?
If you are curious about Peter, Paul and Mary this is the place to start. A wondeful album that hits many chords for me personally. The way music was meant to be performed. Acoustically, able to be reproduced around a camp fire with little effort. Have guitar, will travel. And the harmonies are out of this world.

On a more personal note this album has touched many areas of my life, some I did not realize until later in life. My brother turned me on to Peter, Paul and Mary and made me a tape, of which this entire album was on, plus other songs. I did not realize the entire album was included until I bought this album. Then, I realized, that many of these songs we had sung in music class throughout elementary and junior high and I never knew they were Peter, Paul and Mary. And finally, this was the one tape that my dad and I could both enjoy together during a drive.

Trying not too make this review to personal I will turn back to the music. Taken individually the songs are very good. Take as a whole the album is great. A terrific indroduction to the music of Peter, Paul and Mary. One their greatest efforts ever and a contribution to any music collection.

a classic of its kind
I am rather proud to be able to say that this was the first record I ever bought-at the age of 12! Considering I lived in the land of the Beatles that says a lot for the powerful effect that PP&M's music had at the time. It became quite fashionable to write this trio off as urban folkies more in tune with Tin Pan Alley than 'real' folk music. But listen to this beautifully performed album. Despite their reputation for sugary versions, listen to the three Dylan tracks, beautiful renderings all. Stewball is a classic. They produced other fine albums during the 60's-in fact most of them were excellent but I guess this stands out as the perfect example of why PP&M were so popular. There is a freshness that is difficult to define.

Folk classic
Together with their first album this great album represents the best of Peter Paul and Mary's work. The harmonies on the Dylan classics are incomparable, giving the songs the classic stature that Dylan himself could not, but the real strength of the album is its depth, with the exception of Polly Von which is a little sappy, every song here grabs the listener with its great acoustic guitar playing and priceless arrangement, and they cover a range of styles and emotions, from the gritty but tongue in cheek Quit Your Lowdown Ways to the breezy Freight Train to the lament All My Trials to the near spiritual Long Chain On. I cannot imagine three voices ever again blending and weaving in and out the way PP&M do, and theirs was truly the voice of a generation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Under Cold Blue Stars, the third album from native Nebraskan Josh Rouse, is full of elegant, melodic pop songs that are deftly understated but carry hooks as catchy as Coldplay's (whose music the opening song, "Twilight," uncannily evokes). This is music for folk in love with Americana and timeless pop; it's a gentle hinterland of melancholy and hope. The loose concept behind Under Cold Blue Stars is that of a fractious couple in the late 1950s, trying to come to terms with their lives and relationship. "Christmas with Jesus" is an unashamedly beautiful realization of their struggles, as is the upbeat title track, which touches on sources as diverse as Nils Lofgren, the Cure, and even Bruce Springsteen (albeit, a Springsteen shorn of all pride and aggrandizement). All this adds up to make Under Cold Blue Stars rather special. --Everett True ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Sublime
Since his excellent debut "Dressed Up Like Nebraska", Josh Rouse has never disappointed. He knows how to make a song work. With this third album, the synthesizer is present over the first half of the album and though I'm not big on this sound, the quality of the music still wins. Josh has always been influenced by some new wave music, and that's what takes him a bit apart of the alt.country scene. In "Under Cold Blue Stars" you can have U2 in mind on some tracks, as well as Radiohead or R.E.M, bands I personally don't use to like so much, but with Josh Rouse it's different, probably because he's a solo artist with a more intimate approach. The second half of the disc is by far my favorite: from "Ugly Stories" to "The Whole Night Through", it's simply sublime. "Feeling No Pain" is a terrific single that recalls The Jesus & Mary Chain (remember the glorious "April Skies"?). The wonderful "Ears To The Ground" was not written by Josh, but Jason Phelan (from a band called The What Four). "Summer Kitchen Ballad" could make you weep by surprise. "Women & Men" must be one of the highlights of Josh shows. "The Whole Night Through" ends as a beautiful twilight.

All over, a space and solemn emotion in the music, that makes of "Under Cold Blue Stars" one of the records of the year.

The Music of the 'Stars'
As a pop album with a soul, Josh Rouse's Under Cold Blue Stars confronts the beaten boundaries of pop music while comfortably remaining within their confines. Just as his sound is about to dissolve into predictability, Rouse delves confidently into unexplored musical terrain, delivering a collection of 11 songs that embrace a spectrum of musical moods. From the hauntingly spare "Summer Kitchen Ballad" to the jangling "Nothing Gives Me Pleasure" to the frenetic "Feeling No Pain," Rouse's sound is as challenging as it is charming.

Rouse does not necessarily accomplish anything really new here. Rather, he reconfigures standard pop devices, stripping the genre of its fluff and cutting to its bare bones. Thus, while Under Cold Blue Stars is not the work of an innovator, his attempt at acquainting pop music with honesty and substance is, for the most part, an encouraging success.

In a recent NPR [National Public Radio] interview, Rouse recalled the FM radio of his Nebraska childhood, saturated with Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac. Rouse knows his influences rather well, it seems, as Under Cold Blue Stars plays like a reconciliation between the dreamy levity of Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy" with the dour minimalism of Neil Young's "Albuquerque." However, while Young, Fleetwood Mac and comparable contemporaries such as Radiohead nail themselves to a definitive sound -- Radiohead's unremitting gloom, for example -- Rouse frolics somewhat drastically from one temperament to the next, defying category at every turn.

Interestingly, this schizophrenic approach renders his triumphs just as visible as his failures, yielding a rather didactic statement on the dos and don'ts of pop songwriting. For a younger artist, Rouse often exhibits a notable restraint of his powers, while occasionally letting his abundant energy obfuscate his capacity for melody and pathos. A healthy dose of bleakly spare tracks instills the album with a memorable immediacy and poise, whereas other tracks, such as "Women and Men," embark towards the same kind of promise only to descend into the distasteful pop arrangements that Rouse spends much of his time eluding. Fortunately, such descents occur rarely on Under Cold Blue Stars and the power of other, simpler songs keeps the album confidently afloat.

Similarly, Rouse's lyrics are as manic-depressive as his music is restless. At once innocent and bitter, Rouse's narrative of love and loss leaves nothing unsaid, documenting the spectrum of the heart from glory to grief and back again. "Nothing gives me pleasure like you do, I've always been the one to follow you" he croons on his way to requited love, only to confess his broken heart just a few songs later, in the vulnerably tender "Ugly Stories:" "Farewell, bye bye, sad look in your eye doesn't mean a thing." Despite his subject, Rouse's language consistently avoids mawkishness and doggerel, articulating desire in words as blunt and raw as Bob Dylan's on his equally forlorn Time Out of Mind.

Rouse's best songs do not reveal themselves entirely in the first listen, settling into the consciousness like silt at the floor of still waters. "Christmas With Jesus," the album's best song, slowly peels and pierces the heart, while raw, folkish ballads such as "The Whole Night Through" or "Summer Kitchen Ballad" awaken the mind like sudden rushes of nostalgia. Undoubtedly, Under Cold Blue Stars is the work of an emerging artist, and if Rouse slips into an occasional burst of production overkill, it only serves as a more vivid illustration that a good song invites the listener to participate in its experience, rather than doing all the work itself.

Triumphs such as "Christmas With Jesus" and "Summer Kitchen Ballad" demonstrate a kind of courage and honesty that surface only on those rare achievements such as The Bends or Blood on the Tracks. Those masterpieces execute their power more consistently and stylishly than Rouse, but, in the end, the comparisons are not as lofty as they may seem.

Excellent Album by an amazing performer...
This is one of the most hypnotic alternative albums of the decade! I love this cd. There really are no words to describe how great the music is. The songs are all beautifully performed and the melodies are all intoxicating and catchy. I'm not usually a fan of male vocals but I love this album. Definetly one of the best cds I have ever owned.

No question, one of the best
If you like heartfelt acoustic rock, this is the album for you. Josh's laid back, matter of fact voice blends perfectly with the funk rhythm on Under the Cold Blue Stars (think almost Remy Shand) and the moving Nothing Gives Me Pleasure. I can shut my eyes and imagine myself walking through Manhattan late in a January evening with the wind nipping at my face. Despite that, no matter what my mood is, there is something on this album that speaks to me each time I play it and the complex layers always keep me coming back to this album, time and again. You won't go wrong with this album, there's not a weak song on it.

Not what I expected
I first heard Josh Rousse on a Various Artists album, and this was the first Josh Rousse album I've purchased. I was dissipointed to find out that it wasn't much like the song of his that I heard (Laughter). The album itself is not bad, it has a easy-going, laid back feel, similar artists would be Jack Johnson and Duncan Sheik. The tracks mold together, giving it a somwhat bland feel to it, but overall worth the money. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In Texas troubadour circles, the songwriting of the late Townes Van Zandt has long elicited the reverence that the rest of the world reserves for Bob Dylan. This 17-song collection justifies such devotion, while providing newcomers with an expansive introduction to the bluesy bard whose lyrics illuminate the soul's darkest recesses. Using the simplest language to explore the deepest truths, Van Zandt mines a bittersweet vein of metaphysical bleakness on "Flyin' Shoes," "Tower Song," "Waiting Around to Die," the tragic "Tecumseh Valley," and the transcendent "To Live Is to Fly." Those who worship at the altar of "For the Sake of the Song" will know all of these by heart, though country fans will be more familiar with "Pancho and Lefty" (from Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard's chart-topping duet) and "If I Needed You" (a hit for Don Williams and Emmylou Harris).While early studio recordings dominate the set, later live performances are more revelatory, with the boyish warmth of Van Zandt's vocals giving way to a world-weary resignation and his spare guitar accompaniment stripping the song to the bone. His deadpan club rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" is the best of the set's three cover songs. --Don McLeese ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Does it get any prettier or sadder?
Thankfully there's a streak of joy thru these or else they'd just be breaking hearts.

If anyone knows of prettier songs I'd like to hear about it. Yet of course they're gravelly at the same time. Everything on this CD is amazing and continues to grow on me. We've listened to this one steadily for the past year. I didn't know TVZ's music when he was alive, so count me among the newcomers. I sure am appreciative. The generations can pass things to each other after all.

I particularly have to stand up for his duet with Willie at the end, "No Place to Fall." It's just over the top lovely. --And a touch humorous, too, what with the country music conceit of both guys singing how much they love each other, that is, the girl in the song. Of course there are deeper depths to all these things. There's a mutual love of music and life in this song, coming at the highest level from both these guys---along with the inevitable pain, thanks to TVZ. A treasure.

I suppose we'll have to get the other CDs mentioned as "must haves," but this one just keeps giving up more and more with every listen.

By the way, I don't know the bio's about TVZ, but Richard Dobson's "Gulf Coast Boys," about his years on the road with TVZ is a fine thing and is really what got me into TVZ, Guy Clarke and Dobson to start. Great tales of rough riding, playing, RVing, oil rigs and shrimping, from the wild ones when they were young in the 70's.

The Second Townes van Zandt album you should buy...
If you haven't got, or can't get a hold of, Townes' "Live at the Old Quarter" set, pick this up soon. I came to Townes through Steve Earle's cover of Tecumseh Valley, and I've been consistently stunned by the power of his songs. I hope he's smiling down from the Heavanly Houseboat...

I'd also recommend "Live At the Bluebird Cafe", a three-handed benefit gig with Steve Earle and Guy Clarke.

solid townes cd
i have been a fan of townes' music for the last couple of years. this cd is the best single album of his that i have come across. it is solid all the way through. it has a couple of my favorite songs by him such as "flyin shoes","only him or me," and "no place to fall" which he sings with willie nelson. if you are a seasoned fan of townes' music or just getting into it, this cd is a must have. they did a great job choosing which songs to include on this best of album and it must have been tough making the call. the order of songs is also very good. townes was one of a kind. enjoy.
yours truly,
wes ... Read more

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The misfit, prodigal lives that scrape and struggle through this Louisiana-born singer-songwriter's third album are all "looking for the grace from which they fell." They find it in unlikely images and places: a freeway phone booth, a stolen Christmas tree, a flaming field of sugar cane, a motel tryst, a sunset "the color of everything." Producer Gurf Morlix's signature sound--churning Hammond organ, bubbling vintage guitars, swampy grooves--isn't just well suited to Gauthier's vision--it toughens the moral grit and turns up the emotional heat. If Gauthier remains obsessed with the darker side of life, she also knows of the human truths hidden there. Like Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town or Lucinda Williams's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Filth & Fire is an immediately convincing work of personal, poetic realism. --Roy Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Mary's best so far
Although I'm not a country music devotee, I've been a big fan of Mary's since she started out playing tiny coffeehouse venues in the Boston area. Her clear, open honesty and astonishing talent shine like bright beacons to anyone within sight or hearing when she starts to play. Without question "Filth and Fire" is her best and most polished album to date. Mary's started to hit her creative stride and her voice now effortlessly spans the range from sweet and wistful to snarling and growling. "Sugar Cane" has become an earworm that I can't get enough of, and conjures the very best of Neil Young in his prime. Likewise, I find myself humming bars from "Walk through the Fire", "Merry-Go-Round" and "Christmas in Paradise" during the course of my day. If you think you "don't like country music", listen to this CD. Mary Gauthier (say "GoShay", y'all!!) will change your mind, or at least force you to make an exception.

Mary is a rare treasure, and I'm betting that "Filth and Fire" is just the first disc of a transcendant phase of musicianship and songwriting from her. She's *that* good.

Mary Gauthier's Country/Noir
Mary Gauthier (GO-shay) is a former sucessful Boston resterauntuer hailing from New Orleans. She made a mid-life decision to become a singer/songrwritter, and with little musical training was performing at open mikes within a year. I am hoping that "Filth and Fire" is a breakthrough CD for Mary. She should be placed in the elite of country/noir songwritters like Lucinda Williams and John Hiatt. "Christmas In Paradise" is a hard luck story of two beautiful losers spending the holidays under the stars in Key West. The songs are like Raymond Carver stories set to music. One of the great CD releases of 2002, or any year for that matter.

Great but demanding album
"Filth & Fire" is a great album. I don't know whether Gauthier's previous albums are as good as this one, but, if so,
I wonder why she isn't as famous as the other gal coming from Louisiana (that is, Lucinda Williams).

The standout here is "Sugar Cane": a narrative about the environmental pollution caused by (guess what?) a sugar cane factory in the Mississippi Delta. Because of its social commentary, this song is steeped in the best tradition of folk music, but it's also a plain good country song with harmonica and fiddle providing a nice texture. After just one listening, you'll know the chorus by heart ("From Thibodaux to Raceland, there's fire in the fields...").

"Sugar Cane" also epitomizes the double nature of this album: committed, social-conscious lyrics, often verging on bleakness and hopelessness, wrapped up in upbeat layers of sounds supplied by harmonica, fiddle, lap steel, mandolin and slide guitar.

For instance, you'll love the mandolin that introduces the refrain in "Good-bye", even though the words are anything but joyful: "Born a bastard child in New Orleans to a woman I've never seen...". Or, in "Merry-go-round": "From the milky white of heroin as it bubbles and sooths, the dirty sheets you lie on with nothing left to lose". To complete this journey to hell, give also a listening to "Christmas in Paradise" and "Camelot Motel". I spare you the grim details here.

But beware, she's not striking a pose. She sounds honest even when she describes her homeless Christmas under a bridge with her vagabond companion (as in "Christmas in Paradise").

So, don't be intimidated by this album. There are also a couple of love songs; for instance, "After you're gone" is
pure vintage country, a nice duet with Gurf Morlix. Even though all players are top-notch, this guy deserves the
highest praise, because he plays most of the instruments and produces the album.

"Filth and Fire" ends in a calm tone. "The sun fades" is basically just her voice and an acoustic guitar. Her attitude is serene and makes me hope her next album will be a little bit brighter lyrically and the same musically.

One of The Best Albums I Have Ever Heard!!!!!!
I've been in radio for 38 years. Yeah I'm getting older. Part of the problem with loving music and having to work with it everyday is that you get jaded. You get cynical. Then along comes Mary Gauthier. Her 3rd album. Her first for me. It is dark. It is brilliant. She has made me remember what I felt like when I first heard Bob Dylan. When I first heard The Band. When I first heard John Prine. When I first heard Leonard Cohen. Thank you Mary Gauthier and thank you God for giving her this amazing talent. I can only give 5 stars. I would have given it 10!

Downright home spun fire and brimstone
Mary Gauthier is a prophet of country folk. She tales a dark tale of Johnny Cash spirituality and down on your luck grittiness. She is authentic and Louisianian. She is apocalypse coming to a bayou. She is real and a damn fine listen at that.

The authentic life she portrays is refreshing in a neuvo biblical Revelations sort of way. Her accent isn't a put-on. She knows of stories of hard times and falls and fires. Her music is stripped down unpretentiousness. Old country pure and black.

She summons ghost of Neil Young (if he were dead...God forbid), Cowboy Junkies, Nancy Apple, Roseanne Cash, Robert Earle Keene,and many many more. The songs, though sometimes painful and dark, invite repeated listens. You will get the real deal and turn heads listening this with windows rolled down, a hound dawg panting in your ear, '67 chevy truck at a stop-light in a one-horse town.

Gauthier is darkness on the edge of town and harvest and oh so much in addition. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

She had the public persona of a saint, and a face and voice that captured all the idealism, innocence, and optimism of the '60s folk revival. She wasn't the movement's greatest talent, but her work helped shape all women balladeers who followed.Baez's best youthful work is here, including a host of Dylan songs: "Don't Think Twice," "Gates of Eden," "Farewell Angelina," and "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word," one of the best songs Dylan wrote but never recorded. Her version of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" is her finest vocal interpretation, a political song that never ceases to move. --Roy Francis Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (13)

One of the best sixties folk singers
This compilation covers the ten years that Joan spent recording for Vanguard. She had some success after she left, but the Vanguard recordings remain the most important of her career.

She occasionally wrote her own songs (represented here by Sweet Sir Galahad) but mostly she recorded the songs of others. Her biggest influence was Bob Dylan, who wrote six of the songs here. Apparently, Bob never recorded Love is just a four letter word, but it is a lovely song. I first heard With God on our side by Manfred Mann, a sixties group who also recorded several Bob Dylan songs. Many people have recorded Don't think twice it's all right, including Johnny Cash - another singer who has made several raids on the Bob Dylan songbook. You ain't going nowhere, Farewell Angelina and A hard rain's gonna fall are his other songs here.

Other covers by Joan here include There but for fortune (Phil Ochs), No expectations (Rolling stones), Turquoise (Donovan) and the often covered If I were a carpenter. There are also some traditional folk songs - Mary Hamilton, Geordie and Te ador - so old that their writers are unknown.

Joan recorded so many great songs that eighteen tracks cannot possibly include everything worth having, but this is a good sampling of Joan's music. If you only want one of Joan's albums, this is a good one to choose.

Beyond a greatest hits album
This one is a "must buy" for people intoxicated by Joan Baez's gorgeous voice: the perfect vibrato, the stunning range, the sweet notes and the soulful notes. What's wonderful about this particular album is that it contains songs that even die-hard fans may not have already, yet none of them are fillers.

Joan's version of Hard-Rains-A-Gonna-Fall brings out the power and the beauty of the lyrics in a way that even Bob Dylan must have cheered at. "Mary Hamilton" is an understated ballad, sung in the sweetest, highest voice that gets more powerful with every listen. Don't be scared off by the un-Joan-like "Ghetto" as the opening number of this album. It's just a little introduction. Soon, you'll be swept away into greater magnificence like "Sweet Sir Gallahad" which is almost tearful in its romance. And of course, "With God on our Side" is one of the great anti-war ballads. It goes on and on ... but not for long enough! Pacifists will be laughing and cheering by midway through the song.

In some ways, this is a subtle folk album, aside from her powerful singing voice, which lends something elaborate to even the simplest songs. But it's subtle in the sense that it doesn't have a whole lot of "oh, yeah, I remember that one" songs on it. Yet it is a MUST for fans. You do not want to be a Joan Baez fan without songs like "John Riley", which will tear out your heart in the hands of her exquisite rendition.

Her voice is exquisite like no other
What I have always love about Joan Baez is her exquisite and crystal clear voice. She is a dream to listen to and her songs fit her vocal range just perfect. This album is excellent all the way through and the songs included on the CD is the best of her repertoire from 1960 to 1970, which is why the album is called THE FIRST TEN YEARS. All of the songs on this collection are great but there are six tracks that are truly wonderful and is why I bought this album aside from the fact that she has a beautiful voice. The songs that I love from this great recording are "Ghetto", "If I Were A Carpenter", "If I Knew", "No Expectations" (which is a cover of the Stones original and she sounds far better than Mick on this one.) "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word". They are all excellent and as I said before perfect for her glorious soprano voice. This is a great album to have and enjoy for many years to come and if you're a Joan Baez fan than this one is a must for your collection. GREAT and EXHILIRATING.

Joan Baez at her best
My record album is 33 years old, and I bought the CD to listen to at work. Her renditions of Bob Dylan's songs bring them to life, infusing them with passion. Her singing of older folk songs illustrate her crystalline voice. I learned to play guitar to her "Farwell Angelina." More recently, I've played "With God on Our Side" when I am troubled by our current status in Iraq. If you want to try one Joan Baez album, this is the one.

Great retrospective
This is a great collection of her Vanguard years, except Blessed Are which was released after this.

Starting off with Ghetto, a prickly number with wicked electric sitar and brushes ..., it then calms down with If I Were A Carpenter. Most of the classics are here, only sad thing is that 5 or so songs are lopped off from the original vinyl version.

Well recommeded.... ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Two early #1 albums with the Kingston Trio (in Stereo!)
This CD brings together to albums by the Kingston Trio (Bob Shane, Dave Guard, and Nick Reynolds) from 1959. "The Kingston Trio at Large" and "Here We Go Again" were their fourth and fifth albums overall, but the first two to be recorded in stereo, which means these have the "traditional" sound you associate with the group's recordings versus their earlier efforts (things like multi-track recordings and overdubs). "The Kingston Trio at Large" held the top spot on the charts for 15 weeks because of hits like "Scarlet Ribbons" and the story of poor old Charlie, "the man who never returned," on the "M.T.A." The non-hits include such gems as "All My Sorrows," "Blow Ye Winds," "Corey, Corey," and "Early in the Mornin'," which amply justifies the fact this was the only album by the group to win them a Grammy.

"Here We Go Again!" spent eight weeks atop the charts and has the last hit single for the original Kingston Trio lineup, "A Worried Man." The tracks here are mostly traditional songs such as "Across the Wide Missouri" and "Goober Peas." As always with the Kingston Trio, the attraction is the high energy they bring to songs like "Molly Dee" and "Haul Away." There are also attempts at more serious songs such as "San Miguel." The idea of reissuing albums by the Kingston Trio two to a CD is a good move and should encourage their fans to add several of these to their music library. A hits collection by the group is a requirement for any such collection, but there is a lot more to the Kingston Trio in terms of folk music than what you will have from just that one CD. These are both above-average Kingston Trio albums, which ups the rating when you put them together on a single disc and throw in a trio of bonus tracks, including the alternate single version of "A Worried Man."

A great collection of Kingston Trio songs
My dad always used to sing these songs to me, and I thought he made them up, but I found this album, and was amazed that all the songs I knew from my childhood were on this disk. It's heavy on sea shanties like Blow Ye Winds and Haul Away. They're very catchy tunes, and more refined than some of the more folksy ones like 'Round About the Mountain and Goober Peas (which I think is the song Michelle Pheiffer sings in the movie with the Bridges brothers). If you like harmonized, vocal songs with really memorable tunes and good lyrics, you'll like them. Some of the songs are covers, but they have a nice way of arranging them.

Collector's Choice makes a hit.
The combination of one great and one good album by the Trio is well worth the money and more. "At Large" is a great combination of authentic folk and new material. M.T.A. is one of the Trio's few original "protest" songs; "The Seine" if not authentic should be, with its haunting sound. And they do "Scarlet Ribbons" as well as Belafonte (and before he did it). "Here We Go Again" is not as good overall, but still good. Their version of "Shenandoah" ("Across The Wide Missouri") is far better than average. The authentic "San Miguel" is superb. Add to the two albums the added track of "Tiajuana Jail" and the combo is well worth the money. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Dream Cafe
Insightful and inspirational. Quit reading this and buy it!

Greg lets his finest come to your ears....
If you are familiar with Greg Brown, you probably are familiar with this release. If you don't have it, get it and treat yourself to an experience that take you on a journey of loves lost and loves to come. For those who are curious about Greg's work, this is an excellent place to start. There is not a bad cut here, and in particular, "Dream Cafe", "Spring Wind" and "Laughing River" are a trio of songs that somehow work some sort of magic into allowing me to see into life a bit deeper for a period of time. Two other releases that go along well with this are "Further In" and "The Poet Game."

The best of Greg Brown
Very simply, this is Brown's greatest cd. And one of Folk's milestones in the 90's. So, if you have any interrest in this guy start here.

One of my most-played albums
Here's a miracle: the best damn song cycle about love since Blood On The Tracks, without a trace of sentimentality; soul-baring without being confessional or embarassing. But then, Greg Brown fans must be getting used to miracles. Greg's songs about old love, the ups and downs of marriages, and the vagaries of romance are shot full of self-deprecating humour, insights and beautiful images (I can't get that old couple 'burning their love letters so their children won't be shocked' in Spring Wind out of my head). This is the least precious, most life-affirming 'folk' record you'll ever hear.

Gotta love Greg
Dream Cafe has to be one of Greg's best works. With tunes like Spring Wind, Dream Cafe, and I Don't Know That Guy how could it not? I have to say this, you haven't really heard Greg until you hear him live. Especially live with Bo. The two mesh so well it is almost scary. The tunes are different every time you hear them with a little improv by both artists mixed in throughout. I highly recommend this album. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

One Song
I love this album, and that is based on one song- "I Used To Be A Sailor". I'm not a sailor, and honestly there has been little in my life to cause the frustration this piece speaks about- but this song spoke to me. I enjoy the rest of the album, but when choosing a Tracy Chapman CD to travel with- I choose this one because of that one song.

THE CHAPMAN CD TO HAVE
If you are a Chapman fan, take the time to get and listen to this maserpiece that unfortunately did not get the acclaim it deserved. The work on this CD is touching and will give you the same critically social meanings that we have come to know and love in Tracy's work. Get this for your collection.

One of her best
Tracy Chapman is whitout doubt one of ours best songwriter and singer. The first time I played Tracy Chapman in my class, they all thought she was a man, because of her deep vocal but they liked her really much. This album takes you on a journey, to your soul you'll be touch by Bang bang bang, being cying over So, and being moved by I Used to be a sailor. While this album wasn't a big hit I was deep chocked over the way the media purchased this album. I still think this is one of her best albums to date.

Escape to another place.
I first became aquainted with Tracy Chapman while listening to "New Beginnings". I was instantly captivated by her voice and the mood of the music. I have since bought every CD she's come out with including "Matters of the Heart". This CD is quite different from her earlier work but yet still very much Tracy Chapman. "Bang,Bang,Bang" takes your mind's eye to the hopelessness of a boy that had his opportunities taken from him due to our cultural fear and ignorance. One cannot listen to this song without being deeply touched. My favorite track on this CD is "I Used To Be A Sailor". The melody instantly transports the listener to a place outside the realms of this world. While not my favorite Tracy Chapman CD, it is certainly a "must have" for anyone who wants music that touches their heart and soul.

An overlooked gem
Critics and fans tend to treat Matters of the Heart as a creative misstep, but the album is rewarding to the serious Chapman listener. This is a quiet, contemplative album free of songs with pop hooks for airplay. There is no artifice to songs like "I Used to Be a Sailor," where she captures the frustration of a sailor trapped on dry land. The rhythm of the song is like the waves of the sea; the structure of the song itself expresss why the sailor is seduced my motion. The listener's mind, like his, is on the sea.

The album ends with the thoughtful and literate title track and you realize that you've arrived at the end without the artist pandering to her audience for even a moment. This is a strong and brave album which deserves a second look from any serious Chapman fan, whether they prefer her earlier "Fast Car" days or her later "comeback" phase. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

History's ear hasn't been kind to Joan Baez: in retrospect, setagainst the traditional voices whose material she interpreted, her ownversions seem painfully pretty, her soprano icy and removed. But it'shard to gauge now the force of her first record, a folk-revivallandmark. Released in 1960 after a triumphant Newport Festivalappearance, the record had deep material and emotion that few of herurban folk contemporaries possessed. Her version of "John Riley" iscompelling, "East Virginia" glowing, and "Silver Dagger" concentrated,while "Preso Numero Nueve" showed her future political turn. (This 2001reissue offers two previously unreleased tracks plus an expandedversion of "John Riley.") --Roy Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Neither "too pretty" nor "icely remote" - a beautiful voice
Like another of your reviewers, A music fan, I too cannot accept Amazon's Roy Kasten's view on Joan Baez' voice. Any singer who could sing such songs as "Silver Dagger" or "Mary Hamilton" with the strength and emotion she then displayed could never properly be said to have a voice that was "too pretty" and more particularly, "icely remote."

True, her voice was then much purer and cleaner than most of her generation, which some would equate to being not as "authentic" as such entertainers as John Jacob Niles, the Seegars etc Query: Does an poor voice mean that a folk song is more authentic?

Also, many would object to her somewhat shallow politics (perhaps not as bad as Doonesbury implied with "Phonie Jonie"), but no one can take away the force of her early records, including the (rare) couple before she joined Vanguard in 1960. Her later pop years were a waste of talent in my view, despite some songs being pleasant.

I also agree with reviewer starmoth that Joan Baez remains the best ever recorded interpreter of the classic Child ballads in terms or sheer listenability.

Icy soprano? No!
Ray Kasten, for Amazon, describes the youthful Joan Baez's voice as "painfully pretty" -- a strange phrase, though I think I know what he is trying to say -- perhaps that folk songs should be more roughly presented? But how can he describe her "soprano [as] icy and removed"?-- it is the most moving, most heartrending voice voice in the history of folk singing, perhaps of all popular singing. An extraordinary voice, an extraordinary, talent, and and extraordinary recording.

Great ballads, beautifully sung
The original release date for this album (her second) was October, 1960, but no-one has since surpassed Joan Baez as a singer of Anglo-American ballads, most especially (in my opinion) those collected by Francis J. Child in his five volume work, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads"(1882-1898). If you've never heard her sing, this album would be a good place to start. "Joan Baez Vol. 2" and "Joan Baez 5" also have some great ballads.

Joan Baez is a very admirable person. Her life and voice have been inseparable from the public events that have shaped the last four decades. However, I wish she could have sung more ballads and less soft pop (is that anything like soft porn?) and political ephemera. That's why I can't recommend any of her other, more recent albums (except "Noel"). She was gifted with a lyrical soprano that pierces like a flute and trembles like moonlit water. It is the perfect instrument to express the pathos and unrequited love of the minor keys. When she attempts a more robust C Major or G Major, she sounds jokey rather than robust--like someone in the manic phase of her bipolar disorder. I tend to disagree with the liner notes that suggest Joan has an effective snarl in her lower register in the song "Silver Dagger". She sings this Appalachian ballad in a way that will haunt you for decades, until you break down and purchase a CD remastering of the old vinyl recording that got loved to death. No snarl, though.

This CD contains two new songs that weren't on the original issue: "Girl of Constant Sorrow"; and "I know You Rider." You also get to hear Joan singing "John Riley" on two different tracks, the second time with an added verse. Note to Vanguard: that's a rather clunky way to fill an extra track.

My favorite song is from Child, "Vol. 6, Border Minstrelsy (Ballad #173)," more commonly known as "Mary Hamilton" or "The Four Marys." This ballad has almost the largest number of variants on record, an indication of its antiquity. Joan's arrangement is mercifully purged of most of the original Gaelic, and tells the story of Mary Hamilton, a lady-in-waiting at the Queen's court, who dies on the gallows because she killed her 'own wee babe' nine months after a tryst with the King.

Child relates the tune to the execution of Mary Hamilton in Russia on March 14, 1719. She was a maid of honor to Empress Catherine and was hung for the murder of her child. However, according to the "Viking Book of Folk Ballads," the song existed before the tragedy in Russia and therefore could not be related to it.

Another possibility for the scandal occurred in Mary Stewart's court in Scotland (which is the location mentioned in Joan's version of the song). A French maid had an affair with the Queen's apothecary and was hung for the murder of her child. There is speculation that the "apothecary" was actually Lord Darnley (the Queen's husband) in disguise. Legend has it that David Rizzio, the Queen's Chamberlain and close confidante found out about the affair and composed the tune and wrote the words. Lord Darnley's anger at Rizzio over the tune then contributed to his decision to murder Rizzio.

In Joan's rendition, the King attempts to rescue Mary Hamilton from the gallows, but she will have none of his belated sympathy. And so "Yestreen the queen had four Maries/, The night she'll hae but three/; There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaten/, And Marie Carmichael, and me." (the text from Scott's edition of 1833).

This is a great ballad, beautifully sung, and well worth the price of this CD even if it didn't also have "Silver Dagger," "East Virginia," "House of the Rising Sun (Joan recorded this lament before Bob Dylan)," and "All My Trials."

Long, Long Ago, Before the Beatles or even Bob Dylan...
Before the Great Folk Scare of the 1960s, there was traditional music, songs that have triumphantly withstood the test of time and interpretation by thousands of singers both famous and of the back-porch variety. Folks have been singing these songs since before "music" was synonymous with "entertainment; they've been sung by mothers lulling their babies to sleep, and around campfires and kitchen tables, and as men (and a few women too!) went off to battle and to sea; they've been used to spread the news of palace doings and pirates and adventurers, and to tell the stories of regular folks going about their daily business. That's where these songs, sung so beautifully and cleanly by Joan Baez on her first album, come from, and the fact that these songs are still being sung and loved and passed on to the next generation is due in large part to Joan and Judy and Pete and even old Bob Dylan himself. They knew a good song, one that rings true to both the ear and the heart, when they heard one, and I remain perennially thankful that they saved them for us and our children and our children's children in such beautiful recordings as this.

This album has been dubbed "essential" by the wise folks here at Amazon.com, and rightly so. It was first released way, way back in the very early '60s, before my generation of Baby Boomers had become world-weary and relentlessly politically correct. All of the songs on this album predate our 20th-century woes and wars, and most of them have their origins in "the old country", whether that be England or Africa or Spain or deepest Apalachia. But that doesn't mean that these are sweet, wimpy, wispy little ditties, and don't let the spine-tingling purity of Joan Baez's voice lull you into overlooking the power and substance of the material here!

In the songs that Joan gives us on this album, we have the stuff of life itself: loneliness ("10,000 Miles), love ("Wildwood Flower"), adultery, rape, and betrayal ("Mary Hamilton") and revenge ("Silver Dagger"), prostitution and gambling ("House of the Rising Sun"), and the deep suffering of slavery and oppression. Bastard babies, wronged women, pirates on the high sea, heedless rounders, murderous lovers, even baby Moses and the pharoahs - they're all here, and they've got a lot to say!

These songs were among the first I learned to play over 40 years ago on my old Montgomery Ward guitar with the hot pink "flower power" decals stuck all over it, and I'm still singing them today. My kids, now grown, know them from me & my friends singing them in the living room and the kitchen all of their lives, although I'd bet they've never heard this recording. In fact, I had forgotten about this album until I recently rediscovered it, and therein lies the incredible power of great "folk music": it is the song itself, more than any individual singer, that lives in the minds and voices throughout the years, decades, centuries. With this and the other earliest Joan Baez recordings, though, we have it all - enduring songs of the human condition and a singer whose simplicity and clarity of voice bring them to us in heartstoppingly beautiful form.

It would be easy enough, from our perspective of the wearying decades since the '60s, to lump Joan Baez in with our memories of love beads and protest marches and "girls' dorm music" and even our own foolish younger selves. After all, it was she who brought us the now-dreaded "Kumbayah" that we've all sung at countless campfire singalongs, and who perhaps gave voice to the earliest seeds of our "political correctness". Easy, perhaps, but a gross underestimation (or, as our current president has said "mis-underestimation" - but don't get me started!). The songs, the voice, the symbol of an era, and the woman who brought them to us are all right here in this first of her many albums. Buy it for the hauntingly beautiful traditional songs Joan brings us, or for the pure clear voice that will lift the hairs on the back of your neck, or for the incredibly and appropriate simple guitar accompaniment she gives us; buy it to expand your own and your kids' grounding in traditional folk music - heck, you can buy it for nostalgia and the sweet pangs over your innocent or misspent youth for all I care, but buy it. This is an album that should be in every American's collection, for once it is in your collection, the music will be in your ears and your heart your mind, where it belongs.

The story world of these songs comes alive . . .
. . . humming in your chest, and in your eyes . . .

I didn't become aware of Joan Baez until the spring of 1970, when I moved into a communal house where several of the women my age played Joan, Judy and Joni a lot. Initially, I didn't like her all that much . . . the albums they had were 'Farewell Angelina', and 'Any Day Now', which are both collections of Bob Dylan songs. At the time, I much preferred the way Bob sang his own songs. I mean, these Baez albums were great mood enhancers, a/k/a background music, but I never considered buying them for myself way back then.

This situation changed in the mid-90's when I bought and read the book 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down: the Illustrated Story of the Cambridge Folk Years'. The author, Eric von Schmidt, was one of the very folksingers whom he was writing about, and boy, did he ever do a job of transporting me back in time, as it were. I began hunting for some of the older material, from where the urban folk revival started. One of my first acquisitions was Joan's first album. I absolutely fell in love with it.

Sure, Ms. Baez took a lot of flak for being in the habit of singing old traditional songs rather than the new topical protest material; and she didn't even write any of her own stuff. Then again, the artistry she summons when just singing is far more astounding than what many of the singer-songwriters were able to tap into while writing their own new tunes.

Her voice is pure, and her dynamics (ability to go from soft to loud and back again) is unmatched in the pop world. And there is quite a large acreage of feeling that inheres in, adheres to, and rustles in the deep undergrowth of her softer passages, then dances in the powerful frescos of her soaring soprano.

It's such that you don't dare listen to this on headphones--the alterations in volume are too great. It needs a relatively large, airy room to allow the attitude and ambience to emerge, for the delicately powerful sounds to swirl, grow into the strong, knowing organisms they are, then later to die away somewhere around the cornices (and other places).

[Or at the edge of space where time begins to steal the music away . . . until the whispered beginnings of the next phrase, or the next song.]

The person who recorded and engineered this did great work, by the way, not succumbing to the urge to compress the dickens out of the sound of this beautiful, amazing voice.

Be sure to check out her first two live albums. When she has the audience sing along with her on "We Shall Overcome", tears well up in me every time I hear it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

There are few music fans who are not familiar with a Tom Paxton song--whether they know it or not. Paxton emerged from the folk movement of the 1960s and went on to pen a remarkable body of work that has been covered by literally hundreds of singers. Indeed, the songs on this collection, culled from the seven albums he cut from his start on through 1971, include what are now unarguably American standards in the rarefied tradition of Stephen Foster and Woody Guthrie. His lyrical charm and simplicity of melody informs children's songs ("Going to the Zoo," "Marvelous Toy") and hilarious social satires ("What Did You Learn in School Today," "Forest Lawn"). His most memorable songs, though, are the romantic ballads such as the title track, "Ramblin' Boy," and his signature apologia "The Last Thing on My Mind." This album is a perfect Paxton primer, the only quibble being over the songs left off. The breadth of Paxton's early work surely merits a double CD. --John Sutton-Smith ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Can't help but notice whence we came.
This treasure is one of three I have recently purchased. The other two being Tim Hardin, "Person to Person," and Taj Mahal's, "Natch'l Blues." For three entirely different reasons I have been powerfully reminded of the fertile ground out of which the most poignant and profound integrity of the sixties grew. I must confess that I bought this CD for the sake of "Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues," one of the most amusing and sardonic protest songs of the era, only to rediscover a wealth of vital contributions that Paxton has made to the world of music. The soulful and romantic refrains of "The last thing on my Mind" brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it, in sharp contrast with the rally cry of "What did you learn in school today" this album explores the multi-faceted depths of Paxton's versatile and thought provoking poetry. And what a voice! Paxton is one of the most significant and enchanting mintrels of the 20th century. Hey, oldtimers, this CD will make you feel young again without making the 60's seem trite. It is nice to have such a dynamic and lasting reminder of the influences that made that era such a seminal part of who we are and whence we came. This CD is a very rich repository of human nature and a must for every seeker and collector.

Visiting an Old Friend
After not listening to Tom Paxton for awhile, I purchased this album and have enjoyed both the music and the memories I've been given the chance to examine once more. I live in Texas right now, but I grew up in California, with Tom Paxton and other 60's folk music. Paxton's music has held up wonderfully through the years, and I still think "Jimmy Newman" is one of the most heartbreaking anti-war songs I've ever heard. I cherish this CD and recommend it to everyone. It has given me back something I had lost.

Excellent sampler-but need more
This is a long overdue release and contains some of the best performances from Tom Paxton during his early, formative years on the Elektra label. As others have stated, there are omissions in this collection-thus begging the question-when will these be released on cd?
Tracks like "Morning Again", "Crazy John", "Saturday Night" are only available by hunting down the original vinyl.
At the very least, "Tom Paxton 6", his best record, deserves a cd release. The tracks on this anthology from this record sound wonderful on cd.
Also deserving a cd release is his Reprise label record "Peace Will Come"- an album right up there with "Tom Paxton 6".

This is the collection to get
This disc has all of the "hits," if one may use such a term with this sort of music, from Paxton's phenomenal first three accoustic albums. If this is what you're looking for - and it is certainly something worth looking for -- this disc is the disc to get, clearly preferable to the Vanguard best-of collection. (For most of Paxton's best material on Vanguard, just get the Newport Folk Festival albums, which have so very much to recommend them in addition to Paxton's presence.)

The surprise here was the lesser known and harder to fine material from 68-71. Although his voice sounds a bit strained or hoarse at few points, some of the songs are astonishingly beautiful. Really. I even generally enjoyed the plush arrangements, which typically detract from singer-songwriter types. Perhaps that's due to another surprise: some real heavy hitters play on these sessions, including David Grisman, Richard Davis (!), and Hubert Laws.

Twenty-six tracks make this an attractive value, too. A good compromise between LP era collections that omit too much good material and expensive box sets that are overkill for casual fans.

Silly enough.
Comedy ages, but as things change, the ability to laugh can only become more necessary. The ultimate laugh ought to be at the song "Forest Lawn," which is full of great ideas for a funeral that would never be forgotten, with the chorus, "I want to go simply when I go." There might be something funny about "Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues," but those who know shouldn't be telling anyone who doesn't. I like "Bottle of Wine" for being a hugging kind of song; I never heard a bottle of wine complain about being hugged. People can still get serious about some of the things in "What did you Learn in School Today?" but it isn't really cool to notice.

I know the song "Daily News" (full of right wing paranoia) was too true for it to be funny, but it still seems like a silly song to me now. As the fourth song, it follows some that must be a lot more famous, but daring to be this political called forth its own kind of greatness. If only people could realize what a complex web is always being spun around the simple stupidities so that only popular songs could challenge them in a way that people might feel, things might not be at a point where hardly anything matters as much as the wish that this stuff could have been more popular. I like this enough to own it, but I'm not laughing at it very much anymore.

Tom Paxton wrote some other songs that were great enough for me to wish that they were on this CD (they aren't), but there are a lot of songs. The one that I am most glad is on this CD is "Cindy's Cryin'". Nothing else has ever aroused my sympathy in quite that way, and I have read about a lot of addictions. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Consider the curious fate of singer-songwriter Laura Nyro's 1968 big-label bow: though it contained no less than three songs ("Stoned Soul Picnic," "Sweet Blindness," and "Eli's Coming") that became hits (the first two for Fifth Dimension, the last for Three Dog Night), Nyro's own endlessly influential collection barely dented the Top 200. And in an era of supposed pop emancipation and enlightenment, Nyro was booed off the stage at the vaunted Monterey Pop Festival a year earlier. Those facts merely hint at the true gifts and stubborn instincts of an artist who took her cue for hook writing from the Brill Building's prime, then seamlessly fused it to her far-ranging passions for soul, jazz, gospel, and no small amount of personal drama. Carole King was seldom this exotic and compelling, nor Joni Mitchell so pop perfect. "Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)" even recalls Brian Wilson's most ambitious musical gambits, its suite format playfully interspersing three different tunes and styles, standing the standard verse-chorus-verse form on its head in the bargain. Long a treasured musical touchstone for other artists (Nyro influenced everyone from Phoebe Snow to Tori Amos), this reissued edition now contains beautiful, spare solo demos for "Lu," "Stoned Soul Picnic," and "Emmie" as bonus tacks, along with newly penned liner notes. --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Surry On Down To This One: A Classic Release
Laura Nyro (1947-1997) originally made her name as the author of a host of tightly written pop songs that hit big when covered by other artists--but she quickly evolved into an uncompromising artist who wrote without significant concern for popular taste. The result was a series of albums that proved too advanced for most listeners, and although she received tremendous critical attention and developed a powerful cult following, she would never be a commercial pop star in any sense of the phrase.

1968's ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION was her second release, and it shattered virtually every convention imaginable. Heard today, it is almost impossible to imagine this recording as a product of that decade; there is nothing of the still-popular do-wop, no trace of guitar-heavy baroque, not even the barest hint of psychedelia. And even now it remains a very, very difficult work to describe.

Essentially, Nyro fused several elements--pop, jazz, soul, folk, and show music--into a completely original sound. The opening track, "Luckie," is indicative: the first few bars set a fast pace in an almost do-wop style, but no sooner is this clearly established than Nyro suddenly shifts the entire tone of the piece, and no sooner do we adjust to the shift than she shifts again, playing with our ideas of tempo and style, stretching the music to see what she can make it do. It is a remarkable feat, and one that she will repeat in unexpected variations and to great success with virtually every cut.

This is one of those rare recording where absolutely everything in the collection works perfectly in both an individual sense and collectively in terms of the whole. You may think you know titles like "Sweet Blindness," "Eli's Comin'," and "Stone Soul Picnic" from covers by other artists, but once you've heard Nyro's originals the later versions simply blow away as if they never were. The original tracks have been beautifully remastered and the package includes three bonuses, demo cuts of "Lu," "Stone Soul Picnic," and "Emmie"--all of them very interesting to compare to the final versions.

This is really the beginning of what would become "alternative"--and even today, most "alternative" pales in comparison with what Nyro could do when working at the height of her skills. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Unique then and now, Eli triumphs.
Three great singer-songwriters of the late 1960's are Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Laura Nyro. At a time when Joni's music was acoustic guitar-based and before Carole King's Tapestry, there was Laura Nyro's recording of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. Unlike any music during its time(and even today), it is a complex, wild journey through thirteen songs. Each song builds upon the child to adulthood themes of anticipation, teen anguish, reflection and conscience, and eventually triumph over one's own fears.

Laura Nyro simply heard music differently than most people, combining eclectic styles and instruments into a unified whole. She orchestrated a screaming electric guitar, soulful flute, and drums to convey the sorrow of "Poverty Train", then just her piano and an airy scratchy sax begins and ends "Lonely Women". In "Lonely Women" Zoot Sims' blues saxophone intertwines and breaks free from Nyro's voice like a conversation of despair between the two.

As Nyro intuitively knew which instruments would create the blues, she also used piano, electric bass, trombones, cymbals, and trumpets to create upbeat songs of sheer joy, "Luckie", "Lu", and "Sweet Blindness". When listening to "Luckie", you can actually visualize a young teen walking down a street. She captured the rhythm of a person's footsteps perfectly through the music.

What really holds this song cycle together is Nyro's voice. It is honest, soulful and of great range and expression. When joined together with lyrics which are ebullient, disturbing, and mesmerizing, the human voice is the greatest instrument of all. This brings us to the pivotal song in this cycle, "Emmie". It celebrates the eternal feminine, as Nyro herself has commented. Songs previous to it are the expressions of a teen. Songs after "Emmie" are those of a young adult, each leading to the brilliant, searing, conclusive, "The Confession".

Laura Nyro was courageous in a time when women rarely published their own lyrics and music. She revealed like never before, the ecstatic and turbulent truthful experiences of a young woman. Some say this is the perfect recording; it is regarded by many as the outstanding artistic creation from Laura Nyro.

Her best album
This album was my first introduction to Laura Nyro, and it is still my favorite. The Beads of Sweat album is a close second. Of course, she had very few albums and a major gap in her career. There are few of her remaining albums that work for me. But this one does. Now I'm a guy (OK an old guy) and I'm willing to bet most of her fans are women. That's understandable, since many of her songs were about women or related. So be it. Music in the end is a personal thing. It either hits your inner note or doesn't. I can think of no singer over the last 30 years with such a beautiful, soulful, yet powerful voice. Unique for sure, and I can see why she never had major commercial success. Not a voice for the masses, especially in this day and age. But that's another story. In my view, Nyro was an exceptional singer and unique talent, and this album shows her at her best. She will be missed.

Remarkably fresh.
It may be a travesty of justice that someone with such original songwriting talent should have remained a cult figure throughout her lifetime. She remains so today, a number of years after her death, but her popularity is steadily rising.

At the infamous 1967 Monterey Pop Festival she was booed off stage, her tightly harmonic song structures must have stood in stark contrast to Jimi Hendrix's wildly loose improvisations. While her summer of love sentiments were pure (e.g. 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and 'The Confession' where "Love is surely gospel"), grand pianos would always be out of step with the hobo, outlaw acoustic guitar or the violent excess of the electric one.

What may have contributed to Laura'a lack of commercial success during her career was her unique talent to harness surprise and unexpectancy. Each individual song she wrote was more melodically mobile than most other artists' entire albums. The breathless tempo changes of 'Luckie', the extraordinary vocal diversity of 'Lonely Women', the constant reinvention of 'Eli's Comin' where, like the rest of her work, you don't know from bar to bar where she's goning to take the song. She may have taken influence from Motown, but as a songwriter she had more in common with Captain Beefheart, totally disregarding any sense of conventional song structure.

It's a sad testiment to today's music that over 35 years later 'Eli and the 13th Confession' still sounds remarkably original. It's a pity that groups like Coldplay obviously haven't listened to this album, they might learn something about developing a dynamic melody.

First hint of Nyro's greatness: brilliant pop
After the rather basic soul-rock of the thinly produced but still dramatic "More Than A New Discovery", Laura Nyro, as a result of her songs being in demand by professional hitmakers, was signed to Columbia which she remained associated with for the rest of her short life.

The initial result of this collaboration is nothing short of surprising. Whilst the songs were still catchy and accessible, they showed an amazing complexity and power for someone barely out of her teens. This is most evident on the despairing but still uplifting "Poverty Train", which describes in stark detail the life of drug addicts without being as inaccessible as her later "Been On A Train" (note the similarity in title!), and on the following "Lonely Women" and "Eli's Coming", which offers a fearful warning to girls of the dangers of romantic relation.

"Luckie", "Lu" and "Stoned Soul Picnic" offer a more accessible, even impressionistic side to Nyro's work that has a mystical undertone akin to Mellow Candle's obscure masterpiece "Swaddling Songs" or Kate Bush's "The Dreaming". Yet, these songs retain a base in soul and jazz, evidenced by the prominent horns and touches of acoustic guitar that fit in with contemporary rather than traditional folk music.

The later songs on the record like the near-folk of "The Confession" and the complex but extremely catchy "Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)" show the avant-garde side that Nyro would explore on her following two masterpieces. These songs can be quite difficult to listen to because of the dramatic changes in mood, yet they still stand as pop music owing to Laura's amazing ear for hooks.

Whilst not quite in the same class as Laura Nyro's following two masterpieces, "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" should still be heard if you are a serious music listener, especially with the beautiful piano-only demos added as bonus tracks - plus a much sharper sound than available on the original CD. ... Read more