Category Archives: Reissue

Sly & The Family Stone: The Essential 3.0

Leave a reply

Eco-friendly expansion of effective career overview

Several of Legacy’s two-disc Essential releases have been upgraded with a third-disc and plastic-free eco-friendly packaging. Such is the case for the original 35-track 2003 issue of this set, augmented here with eight additional tunes on a third disc. Although the third disc clocks in at only 32 minutes, it adds an additional track from each of Dance to the Music, Life, Stand!, There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Fresh, and Small Talk. Nearly fourteen minutes of the bonus disc is taken up by the funk instrumental “Sex Machine,” but more impressive is the group’s tour de force cover of “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).” The set’s booklet is a straight reproduction from the original release; the third-disc’s extra songs are credited on an inside panel of the quad-fold digipack.

The bulk of the collection as originally issued surveys tracks from the group’s 1967 debut LP A Whole New Thing through Sly Stone’s 1975 solo album High On You. Left out is the 1976 reunion album Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back and later albums recorded for Warner Brothers. The selections weigh more heavily to the group’s peak mid-period albums, with the group’s last first-run album Small Talk represented by only two cuts, and Stone’s solo album only one. For most fans this will be a welcome balance, leaving room for a trio of group-defining hit singles (“Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Everybody is a Star” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”) that turned up on the 1969 Greatest Hits album. What’s missing, and what might have made the bonus disc more attractive to collectors, is material not readily available elsewhere on CD.

The forty-three selections provide a representative sampling of tracks from the group’s seven Epic albums (eight if you include Greatest Hits), creating both a one-stop shop for those who want to get to the core of the band’s legendary blend of soul, funk, jazz, rock and psychedelia, and a roadmap for those who want to explore the original releases. The 12-panel foldout booklet provides cursory discographical and chart details, a personnel listing, a few photos and disappointingly generic liner notes. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

The Mojo Men: Not Too Old To Start Cryin’ – The Lost 1966 Masters

Leave a reply

Superb cache of mid-career garage/pop/folk/psych demos

The San Francisco-based Mojo Men are best remembered for their top-40 hit cover of Stephen Stills’ “Sit Down, I Think I Love You.” By the time that ornate 1967 single was released, the original group had recorded several bravado-filled sides for Tom Donahue’s Autumn label, fallen out with their drummer, picked up former Vejtables drummer/vocalist/songwriter Jan Errico, and recorded these demos before recording for Reprise. To be fair, “demos” is a coarse description given the recordings’ sparkling studio quality and the care lavished on the vocals and overdubs. But even though many of these tracks rival their output on Autumn and Reprise, the sessions were used to work out new material, showcase the band’s songwriting to their new producers, and to suggest outside material that might be suitable. The only aural artifact that really suggests “demo” are hotly mixed vocals that don’t always lay firmly in the instrumental backings.

The addition of Jan Errico had a noticeable impact on the band’s sound, pulling them in more melodic directions and adding a folk-rock vibe to numerous tracks. The macho sentiments of the group’s earlier “She Goes With Me” may not have fit the new lineup (though they did essentially reprise their earlier “Dance With me” on “There Goes My Mind”), but Errico could sing with full-throated force. The vocal attack of “What Kind of Man,” for example, sounds like a midway point between the sharp verbal punctuation of Mary Travers and the snotty garage attitude of Paula Pierce. Errico and bassist/vocalist Jim Alaimo made a solid rhythm section, and their voices blended into winning harmonies. The group could equally well rock a primitive Bo Diddley beat for “’Til I Find You” as they could take it down tempo for the ballad “Don’t Leave Me Crying Like Before.”

The influence of former Autumn labelmates The Beau Brummels is heard on “Is Our Love Gone,” and a cover of Jay and the Americans’ “She Cried” adds fine group harmonies. Several of Alaimo and Errico’s originals were re-recorded for later albums, but many more are only heard here. These mid-career recordings fit perfectly between the garage rock of the Mojo Men’s Autumn sides and their more polished Reprise recordings, and are sure to enthrall fans of either. Big Beat’s “West Coast Promotion Man” Alec Palao offers up top-quality liners and photos from his personal archives to round out a stellar package. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Tommy James and the Shondells: 40 Years–The Complete Singles Collection (1966-2006)

1 Reply

All the group and solo hits, and more

Tommy James, first with the Shondells and later solo, had a memorable six year run on the singles chart from 1966 through 1971, landing two #1s, sixteen top-40s, and a fistful of top-100s. Disc one encapsulates James’ greatest commercial success, spanning the group’s debut cover of Barry & Greenwich’s “Hanky Panky,” their return to the top of the charts with “Crimson and Clover,” James’ last hit with the Shondells, “She,” and his biggest solo hits, “Draggin’ the Line,” “I’m Comin’ Home.” Filling out the first disc is a wealth of lower-charting singles that includes the galloping pop “Out of the Blue,” the brassy “Somebody Cares,” the funky “Gotta Get Back to You,” the soulful “Come to Me,” the gritty pop-rock “Ball and Chain,” the country-rock “Nothing to Hide,” and the “Horse With No Name” styled “Cat’s Eye in the Window.” James run of hits spanned AM radio’s focus on singles and FM radio’s promotion of longer-form album cuts. The group’s LPs, such as Crimson and Clover, successfully kept a foot in both worlds, selling millions of copies and spinning off multiple hit singles.

What’s most impressive about the variety collected here is that even as James, his writers and his production team took in new influences, they kept a readily identifiable sound and an unwavering bead on the charts. For example, when they added gospel piano, church harmonies and Stax-styled horns to 1970’s “Church Street Soul Revival,” James lead vocal still rings with the youthful quality lent to 1967’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.” James voice fit equally well in the raunchy remake of Goffin & King’s “Hanky Panky” as in the pre-teen bubblegum “It’s Only Love” or flower-power psych of “Crimson and Clover.” The shorthand of a singles anthology might suggest James was a style mercenary or dilettante flitting from trend to trend, but it’s the pull he exerts on his influences that proves otherwise. James wasn’t a chameleon who colored himself with the latest fad; he was a chart artist who adopted new sounds to his own use. It may all be unabashedly commercial, but in retrospect one can hear both craft and art in each and every cut.

In 1970 James split with the Shondells and began writing most of his own material. His solo work found the top-40 again with “Draggin’ the Line” and “I’m Comin’ Home,” as well as more top-100 singles. The latter-third of disc one and the first-half of disc two chronicle James’ most vital period as a solo chart artist. As with his earlier releases, he explored a variety of sounds, including gospel, folk, and soft rock. But unlike his earlier work, the production choices date some of the 1970s sides, intentionally on a heavily processed cover of Gary Glitter’s “I Love You Love me Love,” but more often by absorption of the era’s glistening guitars, echoed drums and artificial keyboards. James reprises his hit song “Tighter and Tighter” (which hit #7 for Alive ‘n Kickin’ in 1970) with a strong ballad vocal outlined in synthesized strings.

James hopped from Roulette to MCA to Fantasy to Millenium where in 1980 he returned to the pop top-40 (after a nine-year absence) with the ballad “Three Times in Love,” topping the adult-contemporary chart in February of that year. Another pair of lower-charting hits followed, “You Got Me” and “You’re So Easy to Love,” and though they’re laced with then-contemporary synthesizers, the melodies are memorable, the guitars have some edge, and James vocals are moving. 1983’s stomping “Say Please” rocks even harder, with a “Louie Louie” guitar riff, a throwback organ solo, and a powerful vocal that ranges from a whisper to a shout. James’ late-80s work is even more influenced by the synthetic sounds of that era than his ‘70s work had been by proto-disco. Where early on he’d used influences to create hits in his own way, he now seemed to be searching for latter-day relevancy, and it didn’t suit him. What finally returned James to radio and the charts were the holiday hit, “I Love Christmas,” and a string of adult contemporary hits sparked by an earthy, gospel cover of his own “Sweet Cherry Wine” and brought to full fruition with the emotional ballad “Love Words.”

Featured among the forty-eight tracks are numerous mono single mixes (1-15, 20, 23-26, 48) and the set closes with James previously unreleased first recording, 1962’s garage rock “Long Pony Tail” by Tom and the Tornadoes. This is an A-sides only collection, so you’ll have to hope for a Bear Family box set if you want all the B’s. Ed Osborne’s liner notes provide background on each stage of James’ career, though it would have been nice to get chart and session info for the individual tracks. The tri-fold digipack features collages of vintage photos from James’ personal collection. Casual fans may prefer a collection that focuses more narrowly on 1966-71 (such as Rhino’s Anthology, or its remastered double-disc replacement The Definitive Pop Collection), but those who want to sample James’ entire arc as a recording artist will appreciate the latter day sides on disc two. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Tommy James’ Home Page

Hank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings

Leave a reply

As good as Hank Williams got

It’s rare that an artist who’s been turned into an icon can ever again be seen in mortal form. But such is the case for the Hank Williams heard on these three CDs of transcriptions from 1951. With these fifty-four previously unreleased tracks, the dark saint of country music is delivered from fifty-five years of canonization as a hard-working musician striving to please his audience. Williams’ much anthologized commercial recordings will forever keep his star aloft, but these newly released live-in-the-studio renderings, waxed under the sponsorship of Mother’s Finest for radio broadcast, crackle with a level of intensity and vocal clarity not always captured in MGM’s studios. Best of all, 1951 was a “career year” for Willliams, a year in which his artistry and superstardom hit simultaneous peaks. The crush of fame drew him repeatedly to the road and exacerbated the need to pre-record his 15-minute shows for Mother’s Best, rendering into lacquer a one-of-a-kind portrait of Williams as artist and entertainer.

Williams filled each fifteen minute program with his own classic songs as well as numerous covers. Chestnuts like “On Top of Old Smokey” are lit up with emotional fire, and his soaring solo vocal on “Cool Water” resounds with the drama of thirst and relief. A large helping of hymns are equally impressive as Williams and his Drifiting Cowboys testify in close harmony, and the recitations of alter ego Luke the Drifter are recounted on “Pictures from Life’s Other Side.” The portrait drawn includes details of Williams’ influences, but it’s the picture of a living, breathing performer that’s so breathtakingly compelling. The ephemeral nature of these recordings – they were intended to be aired on the radio with no thought of commercial issue – renders the mood more relaxed than was routinely fostered in a regular studio date. The sheer volume of material Williams performed (this is only the first of several sets that will cover these recordings) creates a looseness that unwinds the fabrications of the recording industry. Williams’ aside, “I like this one,” as he launches into the fourth verse of “Dear John” is a humanizing touch that shows how comfortable he was with other writers’ material, and how easily his charm translated to the stage.

Time-Life has cherry-picked the original shows, rather than providing raw transfers of the transcription discs. Listeners get a taste of the original shows’ continuity through snippets of song introductions, but the bulk of Williams’ patter has been trimmed away in favor of musical selections. The non-chronological ordering also dispels the shows’ original performance arcs, but the producers have sequenced their picks terrifically and the overall result yields a superior experience for most listeners. These choices may displease archivists, completists and old-time radio fans, but Time-Life no doubt figured this approach would have the broadest appeal, helping defray the cost of securing reissue rights and remastering the original discs. Perhaps a full program could be released separately or included as a bonus in one of the upcoming releases of additional Mother’s Best material.

Other than minor audio artifacts on a few tracks (e.g., a crackle in the background of “I Dreamed That the Great Judgment Morning”), the sound quality of these recordings is simply astonishing, with Williams’ voice clear and edgy, his band evenly balanced behind him, and steel player Don Helms and fiddler Jerry Rivers prominently featured in the mixes. Though primitive, the direct-to-disc technology used in 1951 captured the live sound with brilliance and clarity. The transfers (by Alan Stoker) and restorations/remasterings (by should-be Grammy-winner Joe Palmaccio) are superb, and Jett Williams’ introductory notes provide a quick history of the original acetates and the lawsuits that have swirled around them. Colin Escott’s liner and song notes are detailed and informative, and the 40-page booklet (which is unfortunately stapled into the folder) is beautifully designed and filled with photos.

These are among the best performances Williams ever laid down on record, and among the truest recordings anyone ever made of him. You could remove “among” and still be right. Given Williams’ acclaim and the scrutiny given to his career, it’s mind-boggling that these discs were bottled up for nearly sixty years. This set is so musically riveting and artistically revealing as to obsolete traditional hit compendiums as the best introduction to Williams’ genius. An emotional veil has been lifted between Williams and his fans; a veil previously unknown to all but those fans who were by their radios in ’51. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Various Artists: Boots, Buckles & Spurs

Leave a reply

Fine collection of Country & Western for your saddle pack

In celebration of the National Finals Rodeo’s fiftieth anniversary, Sony BMG Nashville/Legacy’s gathered together fifty songs of cowboys, their Western lives and the frontier landscapes they roam. Spread across three discs are artists closely associated with cowboy music, including Gene Autry, The Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Red Steagall, Don Walser, Chris LeDoux, Don Edwards, Riders in the Sky, and Michael Martin Murphy, as well as dozens of country artists who reach back to a time before Country & Western split into two genres. Much like rodeo’s sometimes tenuous relationship to the working life of a cowboy, the characters depicted in these songs are often romanticized images of a cinematic West. That’s not particularly surprising given that most of these songs are songs about cowboys rather than by cowboys, written in retrospect decades after the closing of the frontier. Many served as nostalgic soundtracks to baby boomer films and television programs of the 1950s, and some as modern day odes from subsequent generations of misfits and outlaws.

Cowboy and western themes – independence, the fulfillment of work, tranquility and loneliness on the range, the human bond with horses, dangers on the trail, and the rough lives of nomadic societal misfits – have remained remarkably consistent across increasing distance from the mythologized source and seven decades of changing musical tastes. Circling back from Brooks & Dunn’s electric “Cowboy Town” to Gene Autry’s acoustic “Back in the Saddle Again” one finds little instrumental similarity, but the fresh air of hard work and personal freedom creates a link between them. The independence and orneriness of cowboys proved a natural draw for both the original outlaw movement and its revivals, with songs from Waylon Jennings, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Jessi Colter ranging from reflections of fellow travelers to hero worship.

The call of the West stretched beyond country artists to the Irish flutist James Galway, who waxed an early-80s cover of “The Wayward Wind” with vocalist Sylvia, and Canadian folk singer Ian Tyson, who recorded the traditional “Leavin’ Cheyenne.” Tyson’s original “Someday Soon,” memorably recorded by Judy Collins in 1969 is featured here in Suzy Bogguss’ superb 1991 hit cover. Most important to the survival of cowboy music over the decades is the enduring nostalgia for Western archetypes and the music itself, with missionary artists Don Walser, Don Edwards, and Riders in the Sky building careers expressly to keep old songs alive. Contemporary country artists borrow the nostalgia for an occasional remake, such as the Outlaws rock-reworking of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” or for an opportunistic pairing, such as Clint Black and Roy Rogers’ duet, “Hold on Partner.”

Though the bulk of this set is collected from the 1960s and 1970s, disc three is peppered with some some hard-charging modern country. As the program moves through tracks by Tracy Byrd, George Strait, Lonestar and Brooks & Dunn, it becomes evident that this collection is both a document of songs about the west and the soundtrack to modern-day rodeo events. Montgomery Gentry’s cover of “Wanted Dead or Alive” probably fires up the crowds, but as an historical document it harkens back more to Bon Jovi’s 1986 original than the Old West. Given the set’s dual identity, one can note that the omission of works by Tex Ritter and Jimmy Wakely (not to mention Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” though perhaps it was too ironic or simply not available for cross-licensing), but there are plenty of rodeo-themed songs here, including works from actual cowboys Rod Steagall and Chris LeDoux. In contrast to compilations that cover cowboy music as a cherished historical artifact, Legacy’s set shows the music still earning its daily keep at the rodeo. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Evie Sands: Any Way That You Want Me

Leave a reply

Soul-singer-songwriter’s 1970 LP debut

The Brooklyn-born Sands had been in the music industry for nearly a decade before her bad luck lifted for this 1970 LP. She broke in in the early ‘60s with a pair of forgettable singles before having the good fortune to sign with Leiber & Stoller’s Blue Cat label. Unfortunately, her original recording of “Take Me for a Little While” was spirited off to Chicago where it was quickly covered by Jackie Ross. Ross had the hit. Sands’ follow-up “I Can’t Let Go,” much loved by Brill Building and girl-group aficionados met a similar, though less cloak-and-dagger fate, with her version covered more successfully by the Hollies. Her next potential hit, “Angel of the Morning,” was lost amid the bankruptcy of Cameo-Parkway, and the now familiar version by Merilee Rush became a top-10 hit. Fans can find Sands’ version of “Angel of the Morning” can be found on the superb Cameo-Parkway box set.

In 1969 Sands signed with A&M and was finally in a position to cash in on her deep soul voice and longstanding partnership with songwriter Chip Taylor (who’d penned both “I Can’t Let Go” and “Angel of the Morning”). Their initial collaboration was the superb power-soul ballad “Any Way That You Want Me,” with Sands beseeching vocal backed by a dynamic arrangement of acoustic guitars, chugging drums, strings and a deft piano figure lifted from the bass riff of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Though the single only climbed to #53, it was enough to anchor this 1970 LP of pop and soul, with seven songs by Taylor, an original by Sands and a terrific cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Until It’s Time For You to Go.” Sands’ voice is often compared to Dusty Springfield’s, as on the tour de force slow-burn remake of “Take Me for a Little While” heard here. But on the Memphis soul “Close Your Eyes, Cross Your Finger,” Sands finds an original vocal tone that marries southern gospel with an urban soul sound. That same urban vocal sound, reminiscent of Marilyn McCoo at times, is even more prominent on the ballad “I’ll Never Be Along Again.”

As memorable as was Sands’ upbeat soul belting, she was equally convincing on emotional ballads like “Shadow of the Evening” and “Until It’s Time for You to Go.” The latter will be a revelation to those who know the song via MOR covers by Vikki Carr, Helen Reddy, Andy Williams and others. Sands could sing with both delicacy and power at the same time, expressing the deep pain of a heart about to be broken. Her wheelhouse, though, is mid-tempo power-soul such as a powerful cover of “I’ll Hold Out My Hand” that easily bests The Clique’s overwrought interpretation, and gives the Box Tops (with Memphis soul icon Alex Chilton on lead vocal) a run for their money. There are numerous tracks here that should have been singles, and a handful that should have become soul icons in the company of Dusty, Aretha and the rest. With Rev-Ola’s reissue (including the bonus track “Maybe Tomorrow”), at least these songs can be icons in your own collection. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Listen to “Any Way That You Want Me”
Rev-Ola’s Home Page

Blue Ash: No More, No Less

Leave a reply

Power-pop classic finally on CD after thirty-five years

At the time of its 1973 release, No More, No Less, received glowing reviews from Rolling Stone, Creem and Bomp, and the band was on their way with opening slots for Aerosmith, Bob Seger and Nazareth, and even Dick Clark gave them a spin on American Bandstand. By the following year, however, a lack of sales led to the dissolution of their contract with Mercury. The band managed one more album in 1979, but essentially disappeared without making a lasting popular mark. Further, unlike fellow cult pop heroes such as the Rubinoos, Blue Ash’s unreissued catalog left their legacy in the hands of a small but influential cadre of fans: Chicago columnist Bob Greene mentioned Blue Ash in an end-of-the-70s best-of column, the Records covered “Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?),” and Scram’s Lost in the Grooves highlighted the No More, No Less as a lost treasure. While the band’s debut continued to languish in the vault, a 2004 two-CD set Around Again served up demos and outtakes that suggested what we were all missing.

Apparently the haggling over rights and the location of master tapes appears to have been settled, because thirty-five years after its initial release, the original dozen tracks are finally on CD. Best of all, this is a rarity that lives up to its hype, delivering on all the promises of early-70s power pop. Blue Ash, like Big Star, The Raspberries, Badfinger and less commercially successful peers such as the Flamin’ Groovies and Hot Dogs, melded the best of mid-60s harmony with the beefier guitar and drum sounds of the early-70s. They then pressed this combination into the compositionally economic mold that commercial FM borrowed from its AM cousins and used to dethrone its free-form older brothers. The results are effervescent three-minute radio gems that pack musical adventure into a tightly scripted form: guitar solos that sting with energy rather than drag with excess showmanship, Keith Moon-inspired full-kit drumming that serves as a motor rather than an gaudy accessory, melodies that lay their barbed hooks in the first verse, and choruses that lend themselves to immediate sing-a-longs.

As much as the band set out to make pop music that reflected the Beatles, Kinks and Beau Brummels, they did so in a new context. The album’s two covers are instructive: Dylan’s then-unreleased acoustic-and-harmonica travelogue “Dusty Old Fairgrounds” was rearranged into a blazing Who-styled drums-and-guitar rocker, and the Beatles’ “Any Time at All” mimics the original’s gentler verses, but lays down heavier rock for the choruses. That stretching between the sweet pop and rock dynamic characterizes much of the album, as the group employed Byrdsian jangle, Left Banke harmonics and even Brewer & Shipley styled country folk-rock, and then turned around to lay on guitar and rhythm section muscle. The opening “Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?),” the wishful “All I Want” and the closing “Let There Be Rock” offer the glam-guitar energy of Mott the Hoople and Slade, and though “Smash My Guitar” never attains Who-like ferocity, it still manages to play out its angst with a one-take real-life smashup.

The traditional hard-luck broken hearts of power-pop turn up on “Plain to See,” and the nostalgic tone of the Flamin’ Groovies is heard on “I Remember a Time” and “Wasting My Time.” There are country influences on “Just Another Game,” bubblegum on “Here We Go Again” and West Coast folk rock (with wonderful accents of volume-pedal guitar) on “What Can I Do for You.” It’s easy to tag all these influences and fellow-travelers in retrospect, but in 1973 these sounds were simply part of the atmosphere, rather than icons already ripened for imitation. Blue Ash interpreted their ‘60s influences in the context and conventions of their times. What’s surprising is how undated it still sounds, particularly compared to the radio pop of just a few years later. By sticking to the basics of guitar, bass, drums and a hint of piano, by relying on classic pop melody and craft, Blue Ash minted a timeless classic. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash’s America

Leave a reply

Superb Johnny Cash biographical documentary DVD and CD

Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon’s Johnny Cash documentary premiered on the U.S. Bio channel in late October, accompanied by this DVD/CD package, Johnny Cash’s America. The DVD includes the full 90-minute documentary alongside several video extras. The CD collects eighteen full-length performances of songs heard in the documentary, five of which were previously unreleased. The core documentary strings together archival footage of Cash in performance, television specials and documentaries, supplemented by interviews with family and musical associates, authoritatively answering the questions posed by the film’s narrator: “How did events shape Cash? And what did he reflect back on to the country? How can one speak his mind, without losing his voice?” Cash’s story is told in chronological order, starting with the hardscrabble Arkansas roots at the very core of his character. Cash’s earliest years are described by childhood friends and remembered by Cash in a filmed return to his first home.

Cash’s recording career, from Sun Records to Columbia to his last works with Rick Rubin provide the soundtrack to a life that’s both a product of America and an influence woven into the tapestry of the country he so vocally loved. Cash is shown as an artist who stuck resolutely to his vision, such as when he lampoons the notion he’d replace Elvis as the King departed to RCA. Clips of Cash communing with Bob Dylan in the studio recording Nashville Skyline and a roll call of non-Country artists featured on his primetime television show further demonstrate the breadth of his musical vision. As far as Cash managed to stretch the ears of his fans, he stretched their minds even further. In lending his voice to the plight of Native Americans and prisoners, and in offering forthright discussions of his own drug use (“I was taking the pills for awhile, and then the pills started taking me”), he repeatedly showed a willingness to challenge the status quo. His performances of “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” and his own “What is Truth” at the Nixon White House (in lieu of Nixon’s request for “Welfare Cadillac”) found him speaking truth to the ultimate American power. Cash’s unabashed patriotism played out in both flag waving and a stern criticism, as he saw fit.

hough music was clearly one of Cash’s saviors, there were several human agents whose strength helped him wrestle with his demons. June Carter Cash is shown as the rock upon which Cash’s initial rescue from drugs was founded, Billy Graham helps him along in his rebirth as a Christian, and producer Rick Rubin revives his career with an introduction to a new youth audience. At each turn, it’s Cash himself who summons the strength to change and move on, but over and over there’s a catalyst setting him in motion. Neville and Gordon’s timeline is augmented with numerous clips and comments that provide viewpoint beyond mere facts, explaining what events and people meant within the context of Cash’s life, and what Cash’s life meant within the context of the times in which he lived. The directors expose the roots of Cash’s broad empathy, and create a story that may be less of a drama than the biopic Walk the Line, but is no less dramatic.

Interview subjects include Cash’s sister Joanne, daughters Cindy and Rosanne, son John Carter, and friends, associates and fans that include Al Gore, Snoop Dog, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Marshall Grant, Senator Lamar Alexander, Jack Clement, John Mellencamp, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, Jon Langford and John Mellancamp. The CD’s previously unreleased tracks are a pair of tunes recorded in Hendersonville (1969’s “Come Along and Ride This Train” and 1974’s “I Am the Nation”), and a trio of live recordings (1970’s “What is Truth” from the White House, 1971’s “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” from Denmark, and “This Land is Your Land” from Cash’s television show). The DVD’s twenty-three minutes of extras include additional interview clips, a 1961 television performance of “Five Feet High and Rising” from Star Route USA, color home movies from Cash’s 1972 performance at the White House, television outtakes of Cash delivering his trademark “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” over and over and over, and documentary footage of the Cash family visiting Johnny’s childhood home. Buy this to watch the documentary, keep it to enjoy the fine selection of Cash classics and rarities. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Brad Paisley: Who Needs Pictures / Part II

Leave a reply

New traditionalist’s first two albums in one package

Sony BMG’s Legacy division has created a two-fer series titled “x2” (“times two”) that bundles pairs of previously released CDs into a slipcase at a discount price. Neither album is changed from its original release, so these aren’t meant to attract an artist’s long-time fans, but by focusing on catalog perennials (e.g., Boston’s first two albums), or the early works of artists who found greater acclaim mid-catalog, they provide newer fans a quick way to catch up. In Paisley’s case Legacy’s put together his first two albums, 1999’s Who Needs Pictures and 2001’s Part II, giving those who latched onto his work with the breakthroughs of Mud on the Tires and Time Well Wasted an opportunity to see how he got there. What you’ll find is that from the start Paisley was a matinee idol with a new traditionalist’s ear, and the two-year arc of these initial albums show just how quickly he capitalized on his writing, singing and guitar playing gifts.

Paisley’s debut features a dozen originals and a cover of the traditional “In the Garden,” with generous doses of two-step beats, fiddle and Paisley’s twangy guitar. There’s no forgetting this is a Nashville recording, as producer Frank Rogers gives everything a tight polish, but Paisley’s unabashedly country with his vocals and heart-plucking lyrics. The album produced two chart-topping singles, the touching tribute to step-fathers, “He Didn’t Have to Be” and the serendipitous love song “We Danced.” Album tracks include the boot-scooting “Me Neither,” western swing “It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway,” Mexicali-flavored “I’ve Been Better,” two-stepping “Sleepin’ on the Foldout,” and the hot-picked instrumental “The Nervous Breakdown.” Paisley’s lyrics split time between emotion and humor, but his earnest delivery keeps things from descending into treacle or country corn.

The sophomore release, Part II, was dead on in its title, as it continued all the elements of Paisley’s debut. Among the most noticeable changes are the inclusion of two covers: Darrell Scott’s harrowing tale of an Appalachian mining town “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” (covered to even greater effect the same year by Patty Loveless on her back-the-roots Mountain Soul release), and “Too Country,” on which Buck Owens, George Jones and Bill Anderson guest for the latter’s idyllic vision of a simple American life. Paisley’s originals again range from serious to comic, with both digging a bit deeper than on his debut. The chart-topping “I’m Gonna Miss Her” is both funny and home-spun, as an angler weighs another hour on the lake against the impending departure of his mate. The song’s lazy beat provides a perfect complement to the fisherman’s half-hearted contemplation of shortening his trip. The upbeat fiddle-and-steel tune “All You Really Need is Love” is comic in its catalog of a wedding’s endless expenses, but there’s a great deal of painful truth here for anyone who’s put together (or paid for) a wedding. The album’s other three hit singles include the heartbroken letting-go ballad “I Wish You’d Stay,” the philosophical interconnectedness of “Two People Fell in Love,” and the twangy two-step shuffle into marriage and adulthood, “Wrapped Around.”

As on Paisley’s debut, there’s a barn-burning instrumental, “Munster Rag,” featuring incredible guitar runs, and the album closes, as did the debut, with a traditional tune of faith, the gospel “The Old Rugged Cross,” recorded live with just voice-and-guitar at the Grand Old Opry. Part II is a more sophisticated and deeper album than Paisley’s debut, and paired with its predecessor, fans get a chance to hear the speed with which potential (Paisley’s, his producer’s, his band’s, and his cowriter’s) developed into music that launched a country superstar. If you only know Paisley from his more recent albums, you owe it to yourself to check out the quality of his early works. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Margie Joseph: Ready for the Night

Leave a reply

‘70s soul singer returns to Atlantic for mid-80s dance

After six years away, Joseph returned to Atlantic for this keyboard-heavy 1984 dance release. Those who enjoyed the funkier soul sounds of her early works on Stax, and her Arif Marden-produced albums for Atlantic will be surprised to hear her powerful voice singing throwaway lyrics to the sort of hackneyed production into which disco morphed. However, if you enjoyed the direction Joseph was heading on the Johnny Bristol-produced 1978 release Feeling My Way, and you have fond memories of dancing to drum machines in the mid-80s, you may very well enjoy this. Joseph herself sounds great, and the presence of Narada Michael Walden and Randy Jackson insures that the album was produced and performed with great care. But while Joseph had plenty of vocal power (ala Narada’s later stars, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey), her warm, soulful sound simply doesn’t connect with these synthetic backings. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]