Real Americana

Real Americana

ASIN: B000085RRD

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. One Less Fool

2. King of Heartache

3. 1000 Miles Away

4. Shades of Blue

5. Cherry Lips

6. So Tired of Missing You

7. Anna Marie

8. Born Just To Be Blue

9. Sentimental

10. I Will Be With You

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Ballad Of Padre Miguel

2. Three Murders

3. Blue River

4. Ghost Story

5. Rosa Marie

6. La Zapatista

7. The Pale Rider

8. Down by The Winedale

9. Sun Go Down

10. The Water Is Washing Over Me

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Tracks:

Drag Queens In Limousines
Our Lady Of The Shooting Stars
Karla Faye
I Drink
Evangeline
Lucky Stars
Different Kind Of Gone
Slip Of The Tongue
Lifetime
Jackie's Train

Amazon.com

Though she's made a name for herself in Boston as both a songwriter and as a chef, Mary Gauthier has little in common with her more refined New England folk brethren. Her aspirations and influences point toward the twangy lyricism of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and Townes Van Zandt. If the Louisiana native hasn't yet attained their mastery, she's headed in the right direction. Gauthier's first widely available release is filled with striking, unrepentant outcasts--from convicted murderess Karla Faye Tucker to, as she sings in the title song, "drag queens in limousines, nuns in blue jeans, dreamers with big dreams, poets and AWOL marines." Her characters are captured in words that are rarely sentimental, always keen, and often wise. Against a simple but vivid acoustic backdrop, Gauthier's thick drawl rings with the truth of deeply felt emotions. Whether in a peaceful love song or a brutally realistic vignette, Gauthier lends every line great affection, dignity, and respect. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Not pretty, but pretty brilliant!.......2006-03-17

I have not been able to take thus CD out of my deck. I'm not sure that is a healthy thing, as this music is not uplifting, and it's not pretty, it is down right brilliant poetic blues with understated accompaniment. Cut to the bone lines like "The truth is...hard to know so we go with points of view, now I count my lucky stars; (I used to count on you). If you are in the mood for some butt kicking self pity, by proxy of course, this is an album to get and er, enjoy, dark, dark dark.

Spare, stark, visceral, honest, grittyýbrilliant........2004-04-19

Last night I saw Mary Gauthier in concert, opening for John Prine. I'd never heard of her. As soon as she was finished with her set I went to the merchandise stall and bought this CD.

Drag Queens in Limousines is spare, stark, visceral, honest, gritty-all the things an honest folk music excursion is supposed to be. While many compare her style and substance to more contemporary musicians, who she reminds me of is a young, dynamic, angry and eloquent Bob Dylan. Her style is spare in the extreme-usually a guitar and some harmonica riffs make up the sum total of the musical support of these song. Her voice is also Dylan-esque-low and gravelly and charged with emotion. On the other hand, Mary has a knack for developing a light tune that enhances the story without detracting from it.

Charged with emotion would also describe most of these songs. "I Drink" is the unapologetic anthem of a feisty alcoholic who is aware of the disgust and opprobrium her habit and mere presence evince among those she encounter but who clearly doesn't give a hoot. Drag Queens is a tale of a runaway. Karla Faye the tale of a murderer.

This is gritty country-ish folk album. The characters and stories it tells are people on the margins and the woe that befalls them-and the innate spirit they have that keeps them going, head up, fighting to the end, all obstacles in their paths notwithstanding.

One senses that Ms Gauthier is not all that different form those she sings about. This lends an aspect of honesty and angst that permeates the whole exercise. This is a virtuoso performance and an extraordinary album. One can only hope that there are many more to come.

A lifetime ain't no time at all.......2003-03-26

Mary Gauthier writes songs in the vein of Lucinda Williams, and tells tales of life on the dirty boulevard in even rougher terms than Lucinda.
The CD contains songs about broken relationships, topless dancers, junkies, and misfits, and makes you wonder how much of it is autobiographical. Some might consider this subject matter depressing, but as you listen, a yearning for love and redemption emerges, and there's a sad sense of beauty in it all. In reading some of her road diaries on her website, it sounds like she's found at least some of the things she's been looking for, so don't be surprized if by the next CD, we'll hear more uplifting lyrics. Regardless, she's a great storyteller, something which isn't likely to change.

If you buy one CD this month..........2002-09-17

try this one. Think Bruce Springsteen "Nebraska" or anything John Prine, or Willie Nelson.... Heard "Drag Queens" on Boston radio WERS and had to own it. The rest of the album is terrific. Great lyrics, haunting melodies.

The Gauthier Way.......2001-02-15

This album was one of my great discoveries of the past year, a really pleasant surprise. For fans of really basic music, boiled down to brilliant traditional songwriting and a voice that hides nothing from you, this is a terrific purchase.

The sound is great: light guitars, stripped-down country backings all force Mary's great voice front and center. Good thing, too, because the words are often stunning, full of honey in their heartbreak. From relationships that appear to wear down like the nub of a pencil, to bleary nights spent holding up bar counters, Gauthier's lyrics plumb the depths of the dark and come up smelling sweetly of either gentle resignation or light laughter. Like Mark Eitzel, but without the near-constant self-flagellation, Gauthier seems to sing her way into self-discovery on each and every song. "Fish swim," she sings, and then, as if shrugging her way casually into her own true talent, "I drink."

The only bad thing I can say about this CD is that some of the songs sound a lot like each other, and that's only partly bad when songs sound that good.

Tracks:

Ways Of The World
I Don't Know Nothin About Love
The Other Side Of Free
Goddamn HIV
Old Love Never Dies
You're All I Wanna Do
Ever Easy
Skeleton Town
Rock And Roll Lies
Mama Louisiana

Customer Reviews:

Incredible first album.......2002-12-20

This first album is incredible. Because it's wild, true and spontaneous. You know, Bob Dylan doesn't write songs like "Hattie Carroll" anymore. Mary does. We feel the raw rebel thing: she's herself from the marginal people, and she sings for them - though it's not conscious: there's not any commercialism here (what's worse than the commercialism of the rebel thing?).
Actually, with many other singer-songwriters not very well known, Mary incarnates what's so human, real and exciting about what we call the "americana" today, a musical world which stands wild and true because the artists are performers on the road who make music by love of music, whatever they sell records much or not. They don't mind of reaching a wide young audience, they don't care of the rock'n'roll circus ("Rock & Roll Lies").
If you love John Prine, Fred Eaglesmith, Slaid Cleaves, Greg Brown... you'll love Mary Gauthier. You're in the same world. I'm not sure this is the one of Ryan Adams.
Let's speak more about this first album: you hear a voice - a provocative, defiant voice (this is how sounded the 60's Dylan); you hear a sound, an immediate feeling - punchy on upbeat songs, with excellent players; the slow ballads are scotching: how can a person sound so right to your heart? "Goddamn HIV" is pure and straight, it's unbelievable. Now just tell me here's not a great singer-songwriter: only the best ones can make that. And how about the music? As a french I can just be moved by the melody of "Ever Easy", without paying attention to the lyrics (though they're excellent). Her tender singing must be for something as well.
There is also light and humorous stuff with "You're All I Wanna Do" ("the way you leave the bathroom gives me a heart attack"...).
That makes of "Dixie Kitchen" an album as unpretentious as involuntarily important, because it keeps the music alive, as long as the music will be done that way.

Down Home As Country's Gonna Get.......2002-07-06

The Fred Eaglesmith discussion list was abuzz with news of Mary Gauthier; so I decided to pick up her disc & see what all the fuss was about. Dixie Kitchen is about the most down home that country's likely to get. Mary didn't go to opera class to learn how to sing country; she doesn't pull any punches; she lays it on the line; and lays it down clean. "When you're 10 years old, it's cute to be a tomboy, but in a couple of years you gotta deal with the ways of the world," she sings on the opener, shouting out, "Sorry, Mom," as her live wire acoustic guitar sails through the song. The breakup song "I Don't Know Nothin' About Love" is a track that went past me the first few times with this CD, but now is one of my favorite tunes. "The Other Side of Free" with its slow mandolin is pretty good. In a most unlikely country setting, Gauthier does a real good job on the anti-AIDS ballad "Goddamn HIV." "I've been a queer since the day I was born," she sings from a gay man's point of view recounting the ravages of that brutal disease. "Old Love Never Dies" is a soft song that she as much moans as sings. "You're All I Wanna Do" is a lustful country tune with a bouncy guitar line, "Sexual satisfaction turned into a chicken fight." Matt Leavenworth's gorgeous fiddle enhances the simple melody of "Ever Easy," "I don't want to leave you; and I don't want to stay; I don't want to keep going on this way." "Skeleton Town" is a peppy little tune about terminal illnesses. In "Rock & Roll Lies" Gauthier references Jack Kerouac, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley & Jim Morrison with a vocal holler straight from Hank Williams, "What's left when the glory consumes you & you can't tell the truth from the lies, while the one thing you still believe in, you must sell to whoever will buy." She nails the contradictions of popularity and commercialism. The CD concludes with country hoedown "Mama Louisiana." Mary Gauthier's music is rustic, rough edged, not perfect pitched -- she won't be doing duets with Celine Dion. But on Dixie Kitchen, she sings with honesty; her music is about something; and the musicianship is first rate. U snooze U lose!

Average customer rating:

Great Road Trip music
country genius.
The Real Deal
Talent that Really Shines
This man has some BIG Cowboy boots!!!

The Real Deal
Billy Joe Shaver
Manufacturer: Compadre Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Restless Wind: The Legendary Billy Joe Shaver: 1973-1987
Come on Back
Tramp on Your Street
Snake Farm
Old Five and Dimers Like Me

ASIN: B000AQKYUU
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Tracks:

Live Forever (with Big and Rich)
Theres No Fool Like an Old Fool
Livin and Lovin Lie
It Just Aint There For Me No More
Jesus Christ is Still The King
Slim Chance and the Cant Hardly Playboys (with Kevin Fowler)
I Changed My Mind
Sweet Melody
Valentine (with Nanci Griffith)
You Ought to be with Me When Im Alone
Down the Road by the Way
West Texas Waltz (with Kimmie Rhodes)
The Real Deal
If the Trailers A Rockin Dont Come Knockin
Try and Try Again
Aunt Jessies Chicken Ranch

Amazon.com

Rough-hewn Texas treasure Billy Joe Shaver is something like that old chunk of coal he once wrote about--except his "diamond" already shines through. On this self-produced effort, his first new studio release in three years, he strips things down to the basics in mostly acoustic arrangements that sometimes recall Hank Williams Sr. at his starkest and most vulnerable. The material--alternately heartbreaking ("Livin' a Lovin' Lie") and outrageously earthy ("If the Trailer's Rockin' Don't Come Knockin'")--cuts a wide path, including two reworked numbers: a hot-wired version of "Live Forever" with Big & Rich, who, led by Big Kenny, sail into an evangelistic romp near the end; and an invigorated solo rendition of "Jesus Christ Is Still the King." Shaver has been to hell and back on a pack horse in the last six years--his wife died after a long bout with cancer; his blazingly talented guitarist son, Eddy, died of a drug overdose; and his own health was threatened. But what a comeback, steeped in his faith in the Almighty and his own power of resurrection. The evidence is here in abundance. "Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys," a vocal collaboration with Kevin Fowler, showcases Shaver's renewed sense of humor, while "Valentine," an affecting duet with Nanci Griffith, does as much as his recent wedding to spotlight his belief in romance as redemption. There's not much to quibble with here, unless you're a grinch who wants to gripe about Shaver's meandering sense of pitch, his way of sometimes circling around a note before he finally lands. But if you are, there's a bonus track here for you--a sprightly accordion-laced version of "Feliz Navidad" with Flaco Jimenez. This is "The Real Deal," all right. And then some. --Alanna Nash

Album Description

It seems like Billy Joe Shaver's experienced everything a musician can--except that he has never self-produced an album. So Shaver hunkered down in a Pedernales, Texas, studio to record 14 out of 16 new tracks for The Real Deal. He explains, "It was great to be able to sing the way I want to sing. I could set up the arrangements how I wanted rather than having to fit someone else's." He was also joined by old and new friends, including the country superstar duo Big & Rich, who co-produced their duet with Shaver on his inspirational masterpiece "Live Forever." According to Big Kenny from the duo, "Shaver is a classic poet and a songsmith...the kind of person you can listen to for hours, with a spirit and soul that grabs your attention." The duet marks the first time the double platinum duo has recorded an outside song. Others who joined Shaver included Nancy Griffith (who sang on the song "Valentine"), Kimmie Rhodes ("West Texas Waltz"), Flaco Jimenez ("Feliz Navidad"), and Kevin Fowler ("Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys"). The album also contains Shaver's fervent reminder about the power of persistence, "Try and Try Again."

The Real Deal follows the well-received Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver: Live, which featured such friends as Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, Todd Snider, Cory Morrow, Bruce Robison, and Kelly Willis, among others. Shaver is truly one of the most respected living figures in American music today. Johnny Cash called him "my favorite songwriter." (He has written for Cash as well as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, the Allman Brothers, and Bobby Bare.) The Washington Post noted that "when the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus."

Customer Reviews:

Great Road Trip music.......2007-06-28

I bought this CD for the "Live Forever" track and wound up loving almost all of the songs. Excellent Ipod music for the airplane and works even better in the car on a long roadtrip. Shaver's lyrics are funny and the music is lively.

country genius........2007-03-26

okay folks, round up all your toby keith, vince gill, and garth brooks cds, take 'em down to the goodwill and leave them there. then get yourself some real country genius. billy joe shaver is about as good a place as any to start your new, more rewarding life.

The Real Deal.......2007-01-09

This is a great C.D. By BIlly Joe Shaver. I like every song on it.

Talent that Really Shines.......2006-10-23

I was introduced to BJS via the Big and Rich song, when I saw the video on CMT. I am embarrassed to say I had not heard of BJS but decided to purchase this CD anyway. Oh My Goodness! This is an awesome CD and has far exceeded my expectations. If you like honky-tonk music, you will not be disappointed. The lyrics are great and the melodies are foot tapping and difficult to forget. I agree with some of the other reviewers-if I could give this CD a "ten" I would.

TB

This man has some BIG Cowboy boots!!!.......2006-07-28

BJS just goes to show that age is just a state of man. Another EXCELLENT cd form the man!! Maybe his best yet!

The songs are sharp. The lyrics are just daggers. The mood they create are stunning. "No Fool Like An Old Fool", "Livin' and Lovin" Lie" and "Just Ain't There For Me" will be classics!! The music and the emotion just make you stop and listen and become one with these songs.

The opener with Big and Rich is a nice step away for BJS. I've heard some complaints. I personally like ""Gonna Live For Ever". Great tune with a cool message. Might bring BJS to the mainstream fame he deserves!

There are even a couple of raunchy-ish songs on this offering. NICE!!!

Really..This is a 10 Star cd.

BJS must have some really BIG Cowboy boots...That much talent has got to have someplace to reside!!

Average customer rating:

Real Time...Real Music...Real Joy
One of my All-Time Favorites
Excellent album
This is an incredible album.
Great CD

Real Time
Tim O'Brien & Darrell Scott
Manufacturer: Full Light Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Fiddler's Green
Live In NC
The Invisible Man
Cornbread Nation
Traveler

ASIN: B0007GADWC
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

Walk Beside Me
With A Memory Like Mine
Weary Blues From Waiting
A House Of Gold
More Love
There Ain't No Easy Way
Little Sadie
Helen Of Troy, Pennsylvania
Five Rooms
Long Time Gone
I'm Not Gonna Forget You
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burnin'
The Second Mouse

Amazon.com

The fruit of an ever-blossoming musical friendship, O'Brien and Scott's first co-billed collaboration recalls classic outings by Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice, or the O'Kanes. Handling all of the various stringed instruments, the two lean into assorted originals, classic Hank Williams (including a stunning a cappella "A House of Gold"), and hill-country traditionals as if looking to move mountains. O'Brien has become a household name for acoustic aficionados, but Scott's dirty tenor and clever songwriting should win him new fans. Lines such as "When I was a young boy, I learned to play the guitar / It was me and ol' Jimmy Beam down at the local bar / I lost my childhood but I earned me a trade / There ain't no easy way" help explain why Scott has graduated from sideman to full-fledged partner. For his part, O'Brien plays like a wizard and sings like one of the elect. Spare and old-timey as a woodshed, driving as a steam-powered train, Real Time is as real as folk music gets. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Real Time...Real Music...Real Joy.......2007-03-11

I have been a fan of Tim O'Brien since his days with Hot Rize. This duet album with like-minded multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott only reaffirms my opinion of O'Brien as one of the greatest folk artists performing today. While Scott may not be a household name (he appeared on both of O'Brien's two solo Howdy Skies outtings: 1999's "The Crossing" and 2001's "Two Journeys"), he complements O'Brien nicely playing mandolin, banjo and guitar. O'Brien plays mandola, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki and banjo. The two share lead vocals on the Hank Williams tune "Weary Blues from Waiting"; otherwise, they alternate between lead and harmony vocals, including a lovely acapella reading of Hank Williams' "A House of Gold." The rest of album consists of O'Brien and Scott originals, along with two traditional tunes ("Little Sadie" and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning"). The album closes with the playful "The Second Mouse" including kazoo, toy trombone, slide whistle, harmonica and toy guitar accompaniment--it's a hoot! The album title is explained in the liner notes: "We sat across from each other and played these songs in real time in Darrell's living room." Real time. Real Music. Real Joy. [Running Time - 51:04] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

One of my All-Time Favorites.......2006-12-04

I enjoy all genres of music, and this CD ranks in my top 10 favorites. I too saw Scott and O'Brien play at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival and agree that it was absolutely amazing. In fact, we went just to see these two perform, and were delighted when they joined each other on stage.

This is one CD I will always recommend to friends and coworkers. I love it.

Excellent album.......2006-06-23

I own some of Tim O'briens work and some of Darrell Scott's work, and I enjoy this album more than either of them. The collection of songs, and the collaboration of these 2 musicians makes this the kind of album you can sit and listen to straight through...then listen again and again for years. As one of the other reviewers said, its hard to believe these were recorded in a living room. Unless you just can't stand banjos, guitars and mandolins, you'll enjoy this album.
The tunes are mostly what I'd describe as "lively". Some might fall into the "heartfelt" category as well.

This is an incredible album........2005-11-15

I have long been a Tim O'Brien fan, but it was just this September that I was introduced to Darrell Scott at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion. It was one of the few musical moments in my life that left me sitting in the audience with my mouth wide open. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon I heard Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott play a number of the tunes from this album as they played together during their respective sets. It was, simply, magical.

Perhaps my favorite tune on this album is "With a Memory Like Mine." Scott told the story of his dad (also a songwriter) writing the lyrics to this tune back in the 60s when it seemed that some of the Scott boys might be drafted to fight in Vietnam. This is one powerful tune.

If you like great pickin' and great songwriting, this is an album for you. The chemistry between O'Brien and Scott is otherworldly - you have to hear it to believe it.

Great CD.......2005-09-01

If you are a fan of Tim Obrien and are interested in Darryl Scott, this is a woderful continuation and introduction. The songs have a rawness that only live recording can provide, but an inate drive that makes it hard to believe that the songs came from a living room. the songs are passionate and the musicianship is wonderful. Enjoy

Average customer rating:

tom T
Fantastic but not obvious
Mercy...
A fine tribute to a great Country singer-songwriter
A good but inconsistent introduction to Tom T. Hall's music.

Real: The Tom T. Hall Project
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Sire / London/Rhino
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]

ASIN: B00000DCTB
Release Date: 1998-12-08

Tracks:

I Washed My Face In The Mornig Dew - Johnny Cash
That's How I Got To Memphis - Kelly Willis
When Love Is Gone - Richard Buckner
Don't Forget The Coffee Billy Joe - R.B. Morris
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee - Freedy Johnston
Old Enough To Want To (Fool Enough To Try) - Jonny Polonsky
Ships Go Out - Ron Sexsmith
I Miss A Lot Of Trains - Iris DeMent
Tulsa Telephone Book - Calexico
Harper Valley P.T.A. - Syd Straw & The Skeletons
Spokane Motel Blues - Joel R.L. Phelps
Homecoming - Joe Henry
The Water Lily - Ralph Stanley featuring Ralph Stanley II
I'm Not Ready Yet - The Mary Janes
Candy In The Window - Mary Cutrufello
I Hope It Rains At My Funeral - Whiskeytown
It Sure Can Get Cold In Des Moines - Mark Olson with Victoria Williams

Amazon.com

This celebration of one of country's most prolific and engaging songwriters is a long-time-coming labor of love for producers Mark Linn and Justin Bass. If it works, chalk it up to the range of performers and the imagination lent to sterling songs. Linn and Bass juxtapose legends like Johnny Cash--who offers a pared-down American Recordings-style take on "I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew"--and Ralph Stanley with alternative country upstarts like Kelly Willis, Syd Straw, and Calexico. Whiskeytown reinvents "I Hope It Rains at My Funeral" through Ryan Adams's scrappy vagabond's voice and winds up with a wholly faithful, wholly new classic. Joe Henry turns "Homecoming" into a trip-country dance mix á la Beck--the result is eerie, unveiling the song's most secret emotions. Only a few interpretations miss the mark: Joel R. L. Phelps's tortured vocal beats down the subtle humor of "Spokane Motel Blues," and Jonny Polonsky simply sounds lost with "Old Enough to Want (Fool Enough to Try)." Some of the best versions are the most spare and vulnerable: Mark Olson and Victoria Williams harmonize mildly on "It Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines," and Richard Buckner is alone with just guitar on "When Love Is Gone." Few tribute albums are this rewarding, start to finish: if you're not yet a fan of Tom T. Hall's songwriting, you will be. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

tom T .......2005-09-02

tom t. hall is one of the great american artist of our time. although i've never felt he has been justly recognized. perhaps that situation has changed a bit with this cd. this is a must have cd for any serious collector of american music. kelly willis' performance on 'that's how i got to memphis' is worth the price of admission. (and could be subtitled 'that's how i got to heaven'...lol)

Fantastic but not obvious.......2003-11-08

When I first got this CD, I was very disappointed. I wrote it off. But after a couple of years, gave it another try. It has grown on me so much that if I could only have 1 CD, this would be the one. Tom T. Hall's genius is his songwriting. Many of these interpretations exceed his performance of the songs. Give this CD a chance. It is a true gem.

Mercy..........2003-10-19

I'm not a huge country music fan, but the tracks on this CD are breathtaking. Johnny Cash's cover will give you goose bumps; Whiskeytown's cover will make you just want to get drunk and cry all night. This CD has lead to me buying several other Tom T Hall records and enjoying them all.

A fine tribute to a great Country singer-songwriter.......1999-07-25

Country music's great lost missing link gets the tribute cd that's been long overdue. Instead of a toothless Nashville only tribute (i.e. Arista's Haggard tribute a few years back), we get a lot of other singer-songwriters covering chestnut's from Hall's catalog. The best tracks are easily from Kelly Willis and Iris DeMent. And while a few of these 17 interpretations don't work, for the most part this is a fine tribute.

A good but inconsistent introduction to Tom T. Hall's music........1999-07-24

"Real: The Tom T. Hall Project" brings together some of the finest country and popular music artists in the industry today, and provides an excellent cross-section of the songwriter's best work. Unfortunately, some of the performances fail to do justice to the quality of the material at hand. Highlights include Johnny Cash on "I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew," Kelly Willis covering "That's How I Got to Memphis," Calexico's version of "Tulsa Telephone Book," Syd Straw's biting rendition of "Harper Valley PTA," and the haunting, almost otherworldly sound of Mark Olson and Victoria Williams singing "It Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines." Hall's classic "I Hope it Rains at My Funeral" also stands out as a winner. However, Iris DeMent, Joe Henry and Freedy Johnston seemed to have more difficulty in mastering the intimacy of the stories that these songs tell. The rockabilly bounce of "Don't Forget the Coffee, Billy Joe" falls flat, and "When Love Is Gone" just comes across as maudlin. Perhaps the most accurate way to describe this album is that it serves as an interesting, often brilliant, but erratic introduction to Tom T. Hall's impressive skills as a composer, which are worth hearing more extensively on his own recordings.

The Last Real Texas Blues Band Feat. Doug Sahm

Average customer rating:

one of the best of a long line of texas greats
Ahhhhh Yeah!!!
Lives Up to its Name
musthave for any blues afficianado or dougie fan
Best new Blues Album in years

The Last Real Texas Blues Band Feat. Doug Sahm
Last Real Texas Blues Band featuring Doug Sahm
Manufacturer: Texas Music Group
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975
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Doug Sahm and Band

ASIN: B00000DOKX
Release Date: 1995-02-21

Tracks:

Reconsider Baby [Live]
My Dearest Darling [Live]
Bad Boy
My Girl Josephine [Live]
I'm a Fool to Care [Live]
Something to Remember You By [Live]
Home at Last
Do Something for Me
Intro by Clifford Antone
Blessed Are These Tears
Loan a Helping Hand
When I Fall in Love
Honky Tonk [Live]
Tell Me the Truth
Round of Drinks
T-Bone Shuffle [Live]

Customer Reviews:

one of the best of a long line of texas greats.......2006-08-03

saw dougie easily 100 times-was always on top of his game-for a while he lived in a house in the woods in front of the original soapcreek saloon on beecaves road in austin and he would shuffle up and plug in without notice-doug played all kinds of different music with alot of different players but always kept close to a core that he was with until his death in 1999. i grew up in houston but moved to austin in 1972 right around the time he was coming back from san fran-he couldnt let go of his real ol texas me-i left texas in the mid 80's and was returning to austin for a 2000 ny eve party and to see doug while there-he died 5 wks b4

Ahhhhh Yeah!!!.......2002-01-26

Doug recorded an outstanding Blues album which pays tribute to Louis Armstrong, Guitar Slim and Fats Domino among others. There is a raw energy here and Doug is in top form; there is not a bad song in the set. This is the CD I listen to on the way to work in the morning to get myself revved up for the day. This gem is a must for every Blues fan. This along with DOUG SAHM and BAND are my favorite recordings. Raw and Powerful

Lives Up to its Name.......2000-07-04

I've listened to this CD over 100 times and still haven't gotten tired of it. If you like blues with a full horn section and good arrangements, you'll love "The Last Real Texas Blues Band." While a few of the tunes (e.g., "When I Fall In Love") are too schmaltzy for me, there are enough great blues tunes on this CD to more than compensate. This CD contains by far the best version of the "T-Bone Shuffle" ever recorded (including the original), and is well worth owning for this cut alone. But there's so much more. . . .

musthave for any blues afficianado or dougie fan.......1999-01-16

over an hour of great music. no throw aways. every song is as good or better than the next. highly recommended!!

Best new Blues Album in years.......1998-08-07

This CD was nominated for a Grammy in 1995, it should have won, but that's politics... This is Doug Sahm and Rocky Morales at their Bluezy Best. A must have. The Doug-Heads

Average customer rating:

one of the best of a long line of texas greats
Ahhhhh Yeah!!!
Lives Up to its Name
musthave for any blues afficianado or dougie fan
Best new Blues Album in years

The Last Real Texas Blues Band Feat. Doug Sahm
Last Real Texas Blues Band featuring Doug Sahm
Manufacturer: Discovery / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Styles | Music

Outlaw & Progressive Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

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General | Rock | Styles | Music

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Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
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The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975
The Return of Wayne Douglas
Groover's Paradise
Hell of a Spell
Doug Sahm and Band

ASIN: B000003MUK
Release Date: 1997-02-11

Tracks:

Reconsider Baby
My Dearest Darling
Bad Boy
My Girl Josephine
I'm A Fool To Care
Something To Remember You By
Home At Last
Do Something For Me
Intro by Clifford Antone
Blessed Are These Tears
Loan A Helping Hand
When I Fall In Love
Honky Tonk
Tell Me The Truth
Round of Drinks
T-Bone Shuffle

Customer Reviews:

one of the best of a long line of texas greats.......2006-08-03

Ahhhhh Yeah!!!.......2002-01-26

Lives Up to its Name.......2000-07-04

musthave for any blues afficianado or dougie fan.......1999-01-16

over an hour of great music. no throw aways. every song is as good or better than the next. highly recommended!!

Best new Blues Album in years.......1998-08-07

This CD was nominated for a Grammy in 1995, it should have won, but that's politics... This is Doug Sahm and Rocky Morales at their Bluezy Best. A must have. The Doug-Heads

Average customer rating:

The Stories I Write
Bob Cheevers
Manufacturer: Hayden's Ferry
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Texas to Tennessee

ASIN: B00002SSOK
Release Date: 1999-12-14

Tracks:

Delta Gold
Watermelon Jim
Stories I Write
Le Bleu Lapearle
Thats What I'll Do Tomorrow
Blue Moon Cafe
Harp Intro
Bottom Line
Violin Intro
Put on My Love
Rose Hips
Heroes
Hold Me
Old Soul

Average customer rating:

Harmony Man
Billy Yates
Manufacturer: M.O.D. Record Label
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Anywhere But Nashville
Billy Yates
These Days

ASIN: B0009YWDY8
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Average customer rating:

Listen and you will love..
A favorite from the first play
Maggie is AWESOME
From her Monday Night Family
Shades of Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams on strong debut

Maggie Brown
Maggie Brown
Manufacturer: Riverwide Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

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Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

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General | R&B | Styles | Music

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4-for-3 Classic Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 R&B | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Pictures From Life's Other Side
Last Days of Wonder
Balls
40 Days
Pay the Devil

ASIN: B0002EXKJC
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Tracks:

Forty Dollars
I Like It
Full Moon Over Dallas
Used Cars
Jacob's Eyes
Black River Blues
Nowhere To Go But Crazy
Wasted
Mosquito Net
Shame
Hush
Looking Back

Album Description

"A solid guitarist, singer and songwriter, Brown's debut is mind-blowingly fantastic—a singular achievement from an artist who has been practicing her craft for the last 20 years. Her release is an honest record that is equal parts Southern rock and country, with blues and folk flavoring. While comparisons to Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Allison Moorer, Susan Tedeschi and Lucinda Williams are just a few inevitable musical touchstones for comparison, Maggie has her own incomparable style. Add a dash of Tom Petty and Delbert McClinton… and you've got a sense of Brown's musical range.

Customer Reviews:

Listen and you will love.........2005-10-29

Rarely do I love an album on first listen, but this one I did. "Nowhere to Go But Crazy" was the first song I heard on a local Americana radio program and fell head over heels immediately. It is still a favorite. I only wish she would come back to Texas!!

A favorite from the first play.......2004-10-03

I've listened to a lot of wonderful (and underappreciated) women singers recently--Lucy Kaplansky, Rosie Thomas, Mindy Smith, Kasey Chambers. I've enjoyed all of their CDs. Maggie Brown easily ranks among them. Her debut CD is simply amazing. Comparisons to Bonnie Raitt and Toni Price come to mind. Maggie Brown holds her own with everyone that I've mentioned. And she is a truly gifted songwriter. Buy this CD!

Maggie is AWESOME.......2004-07-18

Any music enthusiast will really love this album.

From her Monday Night Family.......2004-07-17

The best yet! Every song is a winner. Beautifully written. As a local, I can't get enough. Also, a wonderful performer. Catch her live show and you'll be hooked too!

Shades of Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams on strong debut.......2004-07-17

It's the rare musician who takes time off, lives a "normal" life, and actually returns to write about it. But that's exactly what the thirty-something Brown has done. As a teenager she earned the family's keep in roadhouses and honky-tonks throughout Texas, but when her mother passed away, she dropped out, married and started a family. Years later, the siren's call of music proved too strong, and as she gradually re-entered the industry, she found that the life she'd been living provided ample material.

Her songs (she wrote eleven of these twelve) knit together the bluesy work of Bonnie Raitt and Joan Osborne (those who've never listened past Osborne's "One of Us" should take her album "Relish" out for a spin) with the twangy fusion Lucinda Williams brought to her self-titled album in 1988. There's even an occasional spark of Janis Joplin to be heard. Brown is equally at home singing confessionals with her acoustic guitar as she is belting it out in front of an electric band.

Though technically a debut album, these are the songs and performances of a seasoned artist. Brown writes with a voice full of experience, fleshing out women on the move from failed relationships to those that should have been and never can seem to be. She contemplates the contradictions of being both a mother and a daughter, and finds both dreams and nightmares on the road. Producer Jeff Ford mixes up full-band backings with acoustic singer-songwriter settings that frame Brown perfectly to create a tremendously accomplished CD.

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Album Review

Album Review