Artist: Various Artists
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #65 Sep-Oct 2006
Various Artists – My Old Man: A Tribute To Steve Goodman
Like his beloved and tragicomic Cubs, Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman has never quite gotten the acclaim he deserves. The reasons certainly differ: The Cubs don’t because they’ve been the doormat of the National League for nearly a century, while Goodman enjoys the much less damning legacy of being known more for winking numbers like “You [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #65 Sep-Oct 2006
Various Artists – Soul Gospel Vol. 2
The Soul Gospel series from the always-inventive folks at London’s Soul Jazz doesn’t carry the end-to-end religious weight of most gospel collections. Instead, the criteria include a certain emotional and spiritual depth that, in the liner-note words of Chris Menist, “comes from a vocal schooling in the environment of the church, against a background of [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #65 Sep-Oct 2006
Various Artists – Feel Like My Time Ain’t Long
There’s something about a cappella gospel music that reminds me of death. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I sang Blue Highway’s poignant “Some Day” at my own grandmother’s funeral. I’ve tapped the Country Gentlemen’s “Calling My Children Home” as a fitting tribute for an aunt or uncle. And I have Ralph Stanley’s “Gloryland” [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – Rockin’ Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly
Rockin’ Bones offers a first-rate look into the wild, wondrous, sometimes wacky world of rockabilly in all its raw, mangy glory. In typically thorough Rhino fashion, the four discs in this set cover territory both expected and unexpected, with extensive liner notes included. Obvious classics such as Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues”, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Fair Grounds Race Course (New Orleans, LA)
It wasn’t mentioned much onstage, but the “K” word was in the air — literally — at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival after the flood. During sets the first weekend in late April, planes flew overhead, streaming two banners. The first advertised high-rise condos. The other said, “Impeach Bush.” Guess which got [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon
Lovingly researched and annotated, Wayfaring Strangers collects fourteen performances from the late ’60s and early ’70s by women folksingers. All were inspired by Joni Mitchell, if not stylistically then at least by her independence and inter-genre sensibilities. Only one was issued by an established label (it’s also the set’s only cover, Ellen Warshaw’s version of [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – Harlan County USA: Songs Of The Coal Miner’s Struggle
What’s remarkable about this set of 22 songs is how their subjects and themes have remained relatively unchanged since most were written in the first half of the 20th century. The deaths of coal miners in a series of accidents over the past year remind us that no matter how sophisticated technological advances may be, [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – Big Star, Small World
Big Star was the ultimate cult band, one whose music was “lost” for years before it was rediscovered and became part of the DNA of the Replacements, R.E.M., and other stars of the 1980s American rock underground. So it’s fitting that this Big Star tribute comes with a similarly checkered history. Some of these eleven [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – A Prairie Home Companion Soundtrack
The soundtrack to Robert Altman’s fictionalized document of Garrison Keillor’s radio show is an oddball collection of comic bits, Hollywood cameos and jazzy folk music. With accompaniment from Keillor’s crackerjack crew (Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, featuring Pat Donohue on guitar), cast members including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly and Lindsay Lohan [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #64 July-Aug 2006
Various Artists – The Pilgrim: A Celebration Of Kris Kristofferson
There are some first-rate songwriters of whom it’s said that their songs show up can’t-miss and singer-proof. There may be a handful of Kristofferson songs that turned out to be as simple and straightforward as that, but for the most part, the man’s writings –lyrics and tunes — are as subtle and packed and potentially [...]
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