American Roulette

American Roulette

ASIN: B000063ELQ

Track Listings

1. You've Got the Bluest Eyes In Texas

2. I Won't Give Up Til You Give In

3. The Music Lives In Me

4. Golden Wings

5. I Never Will Forget

6. It's A Matter Of Loving You

7. One Step

8. I See Stars

Editorial Reviews
Record Gazzette Newspaper Banning. February, 8, 2002
"It's A Hit! Local musical group 'inside Straight' releases long awaited great new album.

Product Description
Album insert is drawing of roulette wheel with money chips stacked around it. Contains the song titles and the various names of musicians in the group and the executive producers name.

American Roulette

Tracks:

The Runaway
Islands
On Discovering A Missing Person
The Hereafter
You Look Just Like A Girl Again
All My Friends
Plastic Saddle
In Northern California (Where The Palm Tree Meets The Pine
American Roulette
Just Jones

Album Description

Danny O'Keefe was a singer/songwriter who issed numerous critically acclaimed albums throughout the 1970's, four of which have never been issed on CD anywhere in the world. "American Roulette" was orginally issed in 1977 on Warner Brothers Records. It features David Lindley.

Customer Reviews:

AT LAST!!.......2006-04-25

Five stars are not enough for this lost classic.

If you like John Sebastian, Jesse Colin Young, Gordon Lightfoot, or Neil Young, you have to hear this album. Equal or exceeds 70's classics like Blood on the Tracks and After The Goldrush but more intensely emotional and personal, poetic, and melodic. Strains of jazz, folk, pop and even country are present in O'keefe's songs. O'keefe provides a window into his soul and the regrets borne of living, ruminations on lost loves, friendships and time are universal and deeply felt.

The gorgeous melodies and O'keefe's distinct lyrical poetry have haunted me for 30 years, since I first heard this masterwork. Roger Kellaway and David Lindley are just two of the great muscians assembled for this album. Some songs are tightly and slickly PRODUCED, in the best sense of the word, with orchestration. But the intimacy and deeply felt emotion of Okeefe's lyrics are never lost.

4 or 5 of these songs are all time favorites but one song alone is worth the price of the CD: the title track "American Roulette". In this 7 minute classic O'keefe examines lost love, lost dreams, and the price of fame. It is an existential masterpiece in the tradition of movies like "Sunset Boulevard" but with an achingly beautiful melody, humour and pathos.

I cannot say enough about, or recommend this album strongly enough.

Sophisticated Performances Of Should Be Standards.......2006-04-23

Danny O'Keefe released this album in 1977 and I remember seeing him in a club opening for Henry Gross of all people. No one else I know owns it or knows Danny beyond Good Time Charlie. What a pity because they are missing a truly unique writer that sings with a penetratingly sad voice.

American Roulette first 5 songs flow magically - they made up side 1 on vinyl. "Runaway" is the story of a young girl who flees an abusive father only to find herself sinking in a life of prostitution. The Spanish Harlem musical arrangement of strings, fretless bass and guitar pulls us into this sad story that Danny sings sadly but with clear-eyed observation. "Islands" is a beautiful love song that is seductively rhythmic. "On Discovering A Missing Person" is broken hearted blues with especially strong lyrics. The magic of O'Keefe's writing, arranging and singing is that you can feel O'Keefe's pain and share the strong desire to fall in love again. "The Hereafter" is a rocking shuffle with clever wordplay riding atop jazzy guitar, bass piano and organ. "You Look Just Like A Girl Again" is the best love song for older lvers that I have ever heard. It should be a standard for every saloon and cabaret singer. Mature but sultry. If you ever wondered what the sound of experienced love sounnd like - cue up yhis track. So ends side 1.

The reason I docked the album a star is because the middle of side 2 sags against the brilliance of the opening quintet of songs. "All My Friends" is another good song that sets O'Keefe's folk song against a Hotel California Eagles-like arrangement. The next 3 cuts, "Plastic Saddle", "In Northern California" and "American Roulette" pale against the artistry that comes before but then you get to the closer "Just Jones". How can the lyric about a man staring down at his dead lovers body in a coffin be turned into a beautiful reminisence of a the love of a lifetime. "Just Jones" is another should be standard for a singer that can convey the heartbreak without sinking into pathos. O'Keefe is the rare artist that sings songs of everyday loss imbued with the dignity and emotion they deserve.

Average customer rating:

American Roulette

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000063ELQ
Release Date: 1990-01-20

Tracks:

You've Got the Bluest Eyes In Texas
I Won't Give Up Til You Give In
The Music Lives In Me
Golden Wings
I Never Will Forget
It's A Matter Of Loving You
One Step
I See Stars

Album Description

Album insert is drawing of roulette wheel with money chips stacked around it. Contains the song titles and the various names of musicians in the group and the executive producers name.

Album Review:

Album Review

Album Review