r.m.f's favorite albums of 1991 - raw lists 1 of 4
Ken Josenhans
Taed Nelson, Craig Cockburn, Ellen Eades, Mark Hessman, Jane Wagner,
Gary Martin, Tom Lathrop, Don Wegeng, Pete Young, Steve Goldfield,
Jon Berger, and Martin Merry.
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Date: Sat, 4 Jan 92 09:58:46 PST
From: nel...@berlioz.nsc.com (Taed Nelson)
These are my favorite albums that I _bought_ in '91 that are reasonably
recent. It's possible that some of them are from '90 or '89. They are also
listed from most favorite to merely favorite...
Shawn Colvin, _Steady On_:An excellent first album. At first, I didn't
like it so much, finding it somewhat flat, but these days, it's one of my
favorite albums. Definitely rock-folk.
Two Nice Girls, _2 nice girls_: This was an amazing album in all respects.
It's an Austin group that is made up of three people, "but only two of them
are nice." The tracks range from the country-folk to pop-folk, with the
best being the extremely amusing, "I spent my last 10 dollars on birth
control and beer (life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer)." I
also have their second album, but I don't like it nearly as much.
Laurie Freelove, _Smells Like Truth_:Freelove wass one of the Two Nice
Girls, and this is also an excellent album. Similar to both Melissa
Etheridge and Shawn Colvin, I would call it rock-folk.
Christine Lavin, _Compass_:A disappointing album for Lavin fans, but any
Lavin is good stuff. For those not familiar with her, she's a humorous /
romantic folk singer from NYC. This is her sixth or so album; all of which
are worth getting.
Christine Lavin, Meggan McDonnell, Patty Larkin, et al, _Life According to
Four Bitchin' Babes (live at the Birkshmire)_:I know that there are
spelling errors in the title, but oh well. I bought this album just for the
Lavin stuff, but all of it was good anyway.
Nanci Griffith, _Late Night Grande Hotel_: Although not as good as
_Storms_, it's still in the same vain and worth getting. For those who
don't know, it's kinda a country-folk.
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Date: Sun, 5 Jan 92 23:30:01 GMT-1:00
From: Craig Cockburn 05-Jan-1992 2226 <cock...@system.enet.dec.com>
Here's mine:
Dougie Maclean : Indigenous
Wolfstone: Unleashed
Battlefield Band: New Spring
Sileas: Harpbreakers
Capercaillie: Delerium
Runrig: The Big Wheel
Catherine-Anne MacPhee : Chi mi'n Geamhradh
Craig
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Date: Sat, 04 Jan 92 14:28:21 PST
From: ell...@microsoft.com (Ellen Eades)
1) Mark O'Connor, THE NEW NASHVILLE CATS. O'Connor has brought in some of
the best names in contemporary Nashville music to make this album -- folks
with roots in bluegrass, old-time, jazz, country, and even classical -- and
the diversity of the backup adds depth and variety to the famous O'Connor
sound. Special treats for me included the shuffle-bow on "Restless" and the
absolutely insane improvising on "Orange Blossom Special" (especially the
ascending "Flintstones" theme) but the absolute peak is the fiddle-bass duet
on "Limerock." Every track is a treat (even if my Irish fiddler friend rolled
her eyes and said, "I don't know how he's getting those sounds out of that
fiddle!").
2) Quechua Marcha, QUECHUA MARCHA. I chanced upon these Peruvian musicians
at the Portland, Oregon ArtQuake over Labor Day weekend and bought their CD
on the spot. The seven musicians play guitar, guitarron, charango, drums,
panpipes, fiddle, and various percussion instruments, as well as singing in
Spanish and Inca. The album is simply produced and allows the musicians to
shine. A delightful surprise addition to my collection.
3) Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN VOL. 2. I don't care
what the critics say about this album; *I* really liked it. Like O'Connor's
album, it features some of Nashville's best, including Roy Acuff, Jerry
Douglas, the Carter Sisters, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor, Ricky Skaggs, Johnny
Cash, Randy Scruggs and Emmylou Harris. Some tracks are Dirt Band classics,
such as "Bayou Jubilee" (made new with the driving piano sound of Bruce
Hornsby), and some are old country classics like "Life Is Like A Mountain
Railway" (with the Carter harmonies), and a pleasant surprise to me was how
much I liked John Denver's lead vocal on "So It Goes." I barely recognized
his lowered range, but I liked it very much. This album was made with great
respect and love, and it shows.
4) Erin Shrader & Edith Farrar, ENRICHEZ VOUS! Fiddler Erin and pianist
Edith have worked long and hard on this release of contradance music. I'm
very impressed with the variety and energy on this album; from the shimmer
and elegance of "Lila's Waltz" to the shimmy and swing of "Old Grey Cat",
Erin and Edith are tight, precise and joyous performers. You won't find
this in stores, but it's available through Sage Arts, Littlefield Farm,
Arlington, WA 98223.
5) Kat Eggleston, FIRST WARM WIND. Kat has recently transplanted herself
from Seattle to Chicago, and we miss her a lot. But this tape, Kat's first
release, does an excellent job of reminding me why I miss her. Kat's voice
is warm and compelling, and her guitar work is delightfully rich and varied.
She plays hammer dulcimer on a couple of tracks, and even adds a background
vocal by Michael Tomlinson. The best of these original songs are the
poignant ones, like "Empty Glass" and "Autumn" or the achingly compassionate
"True Story," but by far and away the best is the soaring title track, which
sums up the course of love lost and life found. Kat is beginning to get the
recognition she's deserved for so long, and I'm cheering her on.
6) Dan Maher, WINTER WHISKY. Dan Maher isn't quite what anyone expects, and
his selections on this album reflect that spontaneity well. He goes easily
from the sweet ("Melanie and Sherie-Lynn") to the silly ("Hamlet"), from the
intensely personal "Love Doesn't Die" to the raucous bar song "Road to
Gundagai". Backed by local Northwest artists Heidi Muller, Lisa Theo, Mark
Graham, Kat Eggleston, Janis Carper, William Pint and Felicia Dale, all of
whom have albums to their credit, Maher merges fiercely individualistic songs
and unique artists. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's
always a great ride.
7) Ranch Romance, BLUE BLAZES. Ranch Romance's first album, WESTERN DREAM,
has been a little private delight for the Western swing fans in the Seattle
area. Now that they're recording on Sugar Hill, everyone should run out
and get the second album. The group has lost mandolin player and vocalist
Lisa Theo but gained, on this album, an accordion player, a multitude of
extremely hot lead guitar pickers and a driving drummer. From covers of
old Bob Wills tunes like "Steel Guitar Rag" to Jo Miller originals like
"Arizona Moon" and the delightful "What's Wrong With You?", Ranch Romance
has gotten, if possible, tighter and more fun than ever.
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Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 01:20:58 -0500
From: mhes...@world.std.com (mark d hessman)
Here's a list that does its best to be diverse. In no particular order:
1. Boiled in Lead, *Orb*. Electric. Kinda like 3 Mustaphas 3 gone metal;
trad tunes played with everything from crunching guitar to a koto-like Thai
instrument called a 'kaen.' Influences from Europe, Morocco, the Far East
and quite possibly outer space. World Music is too confining an appellation.
2. Pentangle, *Sweet Child*. Double-length, nicely mellow and understated,
live and in concert from many years back. Good stuff.
3. Crash Test Dummies, *The Ghosts that Haunt Me*. Irrepressibly folksy
acoustically based tunes with pop sensibilities and decidedly intelligent
lyrics.
4. the Story, *Grace in Gravity*. This twosome does the most intriguing
work with harmonies I've heard since I was in college. (i.e. last year.)
5. Bruce Cockburn, *High Winds White Sky*. Rereleased this year... from
Cockburn's most acoustic and most memorable period.
6. John Wesley Harding, *It Happened One Night*. The guy finally reveals the
coffeehouse roots we all knew he had.
7. Ed's Redeeming Qualities, *More Bad Times.* Released a few years back,
but I finally got the chance to hear it this year. Uncle Bonsai crossed with
They Might Be Giants and a bit of Camper Van Beethoven.
8. tie: John Gorka, *Jack's Crows* and Patty Larkin, *Tango*. Proof that
reasonably authentic singer-songwriter material can hit the major leagues
without being turned into adult-contemporary or MOR sap. High Street is
really on the right track.
9. Richard Thompson, *Rumor and Sigh*. The very appearance of such a wildly
creative and varied collection is enough to put it in this list; the fact
that some of the songs were breathtaking, and the rest merely great, did
the rest.
10. David Wilcox, *Nightshift Watchman*. 1991 was the year Wilcox got dis-
covered, but the radio- and VH-1-friendly past two releases (*How Did You
Find Me Here* and *Home Again*) don't start to match the spontaneous,
unaffected, acoustic magic here. The title track is impressively subtle,
and even the 'bigger' songs ("That's Why I'm Laughing," "It's Almost Time")
are spared the grip of overproduction. Hard to find, but a *real* gem.
-- Mark
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Date: Mon Jan 6 08:23:00 1992
From: Jane Wagner <jw...@watt.acc.Virginia.EDU>
I'll vote for Garnet Rogers _Small Victories_. After a very
disappointing _Speaking Softly in the Dark_, this album is vintage good
stuff. There were a couple of cuts I didn't like, but mostly the album
is one of the "play often" ones.
Jane Wagner, Computer Systems and Publications Assistant
The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library| INTERNET: jw...@virginia.edu
Box 234, UVA Health Sciences Center | PHONE: 804-924-0188
Charlottesville, VA 22908 | BITNET: jw...@virginia.bitnet
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Date: Mon, 6 Jan 92 20:47:16 -0500
From: mar...@lyra.cis.umassd.edu (Gary Martin)
Here's my top 10+ list. The top 8 are roughly in order of preference -
the rest alphabetical and still recommended (almost) without
reservation. Sorry (glad, actually) it's so long. WUMB-FM Boston is
currently revealing their top 10 (as voted on by staff and listeners who
contributed over $91.90 last year) one per day until Jan. 17 - I'll send
you the results.
1. Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen 'Live in Concert'
Compass Rose Music CRM 2CD CD/Tape (contents differ)
Compass Rose Music, PO Box 1501, Bennington, VT 05201
Traditional, contemporary, and original songs with acoustic guitar,
banjo and concertina. Great singing, great songs, recorded on DAT live
at the Ark Coffeehouse, Ann Arbor, MI.
2. William Pint & Felicia Dale 'Port of Dreams'
Self Released Record #1EZ 734-CD CD/Tape
William Pint & Felicia Dale, 3816 Burke Ave. North, Seattle, WA 98103
Songs with a nautical theme. Five shanties, two other traditional
songs, four contemporary sea songs, and two instrumentals. Arrangements
range from sparse to full, including acoustic and electric guitar,
mandola, keyboards, hurdy-gurdy, penny whistles, bodhran, synthesizer,
dumbek, snare drum, and clarinet. Despite all these instruments, I
wouldn't call this album heavily produced.
3. Sarah Bauhan 'Chasing the New Moon'
Whistler's Music CDWM 9859 CD/Tape
Whistler's Music, Old County Road (PO Box 443), Dublin, NH 03444
Delightfully played instrumental medleys of traditional, contemporary,
and original Celtic-style tunes. Flute, whistles, bouzouki, guitar,
mandolin, fiddle, piano, keyboards, harp, bodhran, dumbek (but not more
than about four at a time!)
4. Ed Miller 'Border Background'
Folk-Legacy C-115 Tape/LP?
Folk-Legacy Records, Sharon, CT 06069
Ok, it came out in 1989, but I just got it. Great singing of old and
new Scottish songs (and one from Texas). Acoustic guitar, mandolin,
bass, cuatro, harmonium, charango, fiddle, flute, bagpipes, and
accordion (but generally sparse arrangements).
5. Dan Maher 'Winter Whisky'
Songfinder CD/Tape?
Songfinder, PO Box 2184-CS, Pullman, WA 99165-2184
Contemporary and traditional songs (with a slight Scottish bias) nicely
arranged and sung. Good harmony and backup vocals. Various
instruments, but all acoustic, I think.
6. Victory Music 'Victory Sings at Sea'
Victory Music CD/Tape?
Victory Music, PO Box 7515, Bonney Lake, WA 98390
Again 1989, but another new one for me. The only 'sampler' that I've
ever really enjoyed listening to repeatedly. Contemporary and
traditional chanties and sea songs performed by 15 Seattle-area
musicians in various combinations. Banjo, bodhran, concertina, guitar,
mandolin, and whistle (accompaniment varies greatly from song to song).
7. Susie Burke 'Lucky Stars'
Madrina Music MM #101 CD/Tape?
Madrina Music, PO Box 4225, Portsmouth, NH 03802
Contemporary and original songs sung with great spirit. Acoustic
guitar, piano, fretless bass, congas, violins, bass, mandolin, upright
bass, bouzouki, soprano sax, flute, alto sax, drums, dobro (most cuts
have guitar, bass of some variety, and one or two other instruments).
8. Cosy Sheridan 'Late Bloomer'
CoSong Music FTC #526 CD/Tape
CoSong Music, PO Box 1334, Portsmouth, NH 03802
Very well written original songs about relationships, women and public
safety, Arizona, PMS, etc. Acoustic guitar, electric bass, acoustic
bass, drums, percussion, cello, dobro, piano, oboe.
The best of the rest:
Rory Block 'Mama's Blues'
Rounder Records CD 3117 CD/Tape
Rounder Records, One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
Comes closer than her other albums to capturing the intensity of her
live performances. Includes old blues and some originals, some with
electric guitar, piano, synthesizer, drums.
Compass Rose 'On Course'
Harborview Songs Tape
Harborview Songs, PO Box 6064, Gloucester, MA 01930
Traditional and original songs about land and sea. All acoustic, male-
female duo vocals.
Anne Dodson 'In Its Own Sweet Time'
Beech Hill Music BH101d CD/Tape
Mostly contemporary songs. All acoustic.
Dennis Dougherty 'Pony Ride'
Thinking Dog Records TD-1002 Tape
Thinking Dog Records, PO Box 591, Montclair, NJ 07042
Originals with a country flavor. No musician credits, but there's
fiddle, guitar, bass, mandolin, and drums for sure.
Frank Ferrel 'Yankee Dreams'
Flying Fish FF 70572 CD/Tape
Flying Fish Records, 1304 West Schubert, Chicago, IL 60614
As the subtitle says, "Wicked Good Fiddling from New England". Dance
tunes with guitar, mandolin, and keyboard accompaniment.
Peter Fischman & Deb O'Hanlon 'Far East Kitchen'
FishPeople Music FP 001 Tape
Peter Fischman, 16 Damon St., Concord, MA 01742
Original and contemporary songs, including two clever parodies. All
acoustic (except perhaps the bass).
John Gorka 'Jack's Crows'
High Street Records 72902 10309 2 CD/Tape
High Street Records, PO Box 9388, Stanford, CA 94309
Surely no details needed here.
Barbara Kessler '...reckless world'
(no label) Tape
PO Box 2094, Cotuit, MA 02635
Four-song cassette - looks kind of like a demo, but it's produced by
Darleen Wilson and has acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, trap
conga, oboe, harmonica, and backup vocals. Some excellent singing and
songwriting from a newcomer.
Tom Lewis 'Sea-Dog, See Dog!'
Flying Fish FF 70547 CD/Tape
Flying Fish Records, 1034 West Schubert, Chicago, IL 60614
10 songs, 1 story, and one 17-minute song/story from the best of the
contemporary writers/singers of sea songs. Would be higher on the list,
but the song/story gets tedious about the fourth time. All acoustic.
Ed Miller 'Home and Away'
Wellfield Records C-010 Tape
Wellfield Records, 2501 Rae Dell, Austin, TX 78704
Traditional, contemporary, and original Scottish songs with various
acoustic accompaniment.
October Mountain Band 'From the Hillside'
Forest Edge Records FP D302 CD/Tape?
Forest Edge Records, Star Route 62, Box 27, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Anson Olds with Alice, Larry, and Greg Spatz play and sing contemporary,
traditional, and original songs, many with a western/cowboy flavor.
Olds yodels a bit (learned from Staines), and there's fine guitar, bass,
mandolin, autoharp, banjo, and fiddle playing. This has a nice version
of Waltzing With Bears including the verse about Aunt Matilda, and a
first verse not often heard.
Paul Sanchez 'Home by Morning'
Promotional pre-release cassette Tape
Paul Sanchez, 337 North Third Street, Port Hueneme, CA 93041
Fine songwriting, ok singing. Lots of backup musicians, mostly
acoustic, quite varied.
Carla Sciaky 'The Undertow'
Green Linnet Records GLCD 2103 CD/Tape
Green Linnet Records, 43 Beaver Brook Rd., Danbury, CT 06810
Contemporary, original, and traditional songs from a fine songwriter
with a strange but wonderful voice. Mostly acoustic, but some
synthesizer and more production than in her previous albums, yet very
tastefully done.
Mike Seeger 'Solo'
Rounder Records CD 0278 CD/Tape?
Rounder Records, One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
"Oldtime Country Music". "16 true-traditional style southern rural
ballads, songs, and instrumentals plus 2 newly made tunes. Sung and
played with banjo, gourd banjer, fiddle, guitar, autoharp, lap dulcimer,
mandola, banjo ukelele, trump (jawharp), quills and harmonica. 100%
natural home-recorded solo music; no overdubs, splices or electronic
effects."
Short Sisters 'Planet Dancing Slow'
Black Socks CD/Tape
Black Socks Press, Box 208, Harrisvill, NH 03450
I don't own this yet - the CD was due out Oct. 1 and we're still
waiting. The cassette's been out since April or May, and judging from
radio airplay and live performance, it's great. Trio harmonies with
guitar, banjo, autoharp, and harmonica. Original, traditional, and
contemporary songs, including bizarre rounds.
Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin 'Blue Lightning'
Rounder Records CD 0284 CD/Tape
Rounder Records, One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
"Blues to bluegrass, old-time to hoedown, honky-tonk to gospel." Not
flashy, just understated, intense interpretations. The only bluegrass
album I can honestly say I like. All acoustic.
David Surette 'David Surette'
Boilerplate Records BP #101C Tape
Boilerplate Records, PO Box 34, Portsmouth, NH 03802
Mostly solo guitar, some ensemble playing. Excellent tonal and rhythmic
subtlety. Music is mostly Irish, Shetland, Appalachian dance tunes,
some originals, one by Doc Watson, and one delta blues.
Aileen Vance 'After the Night'
Avenida Music AM002CD CD/Tape
Avenida Music, PO Box 1282, Santa Cruz, CA 96061-1282 or
Canadian River Music, 4106 Tyler Street, Amarillo, TX 79110
Beautiful voice, well-written songs, political but not strident, nice
arrangements, all acoustic, mostly guitars, some bass, fiddles,
mandolin, cello, and celtic harp.
David Wilcox 'Home Again'
A&M Records 75021 5357 2 CD/Tape
A&M Records, PO Box 118, Hollywood, CA 90078
Excellent songwriting, of course, but too heavily produced for my taste.
Some cuts have as many as 9 instruments, and many have 6 or 7.
Erica Wheeler 'Strong Heart'
Blue Pie Music 0100bp Tape
Blue Pie Music, 121 Pine Street, Florence, MA 01060
Strong songwriting, strong performance. Solo acoustic guitar and voice.
Lavin, Larkin, McDonnough, Fingerett
'Buy Me Bring Me Take Me: Don't Mess My Hair!!! Life According to Four
Bitchin' Babes...'
Philo/Rounder PH 1140 CD/Tape?
Rounder Records, One Camp Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
The award for longest title goes to this one. Live, mostly humorous,
sometimes serious, great the first few times, then ...a cut here, a cut
there - the fate of most 'sampler' type albums in my collection.
Sorry about the formatting problems.
Gary Martin
mar...@cis.umassd.edu
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From: t...@ssd.kodak.com (Tom Lathrop))
My favorite 2 recent folk albums, both 1990:
[Priscilla] Herdman, [Anne] Hills, and [Cindy] Mangsen: "Voices"
Female trio, with acoustic guitar. Each of the performers is a very
good solo folk artist, and the 3 together are terrific. Particulary
good selection of high-quality songs by (relatively unknown)
songwriters other than the 3 performers. Flying Fish.
Schooner Fare: "Signs of Home"
Male trio, acoustic guitars. Mostly upbeat, fun music, particularly
sea shanties, etc. If you like Gordon Bok, you'll probably also like
Schooner Fare. Apparently available from: Silo, Inc., P.O. Box 429,
Waterbury, VT 05676. Available on CD, probably also tape, don't know
about LP.
I also like (from 1991):
Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen: "Live in Concert"
Steve and his wife Cindy are good solo performers, and I believe this
is their first album together. It's mostly songs written by Steve.
Compass Rose Music, P.O. Box 1501, Bennington, VT 05201. Available
on CD, don't know about tape or LP.
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 06:20:14 PST
Sender: Donald_L._We...@xerox.com
From: wegeng....@xerox.com
I didn`t buy a lot of music this year, but here is some input for your poll.
All releases are available on CD (I don`t know about other formats).
1. The Best of Mountan Stage - Volume 1 (Blue Plate Music).
This CD has some wonderful performances by the likes of
Dr. John, Loudon Wainwright III, Clive Gregson & Christine
Collister, Richard Thompson, etc. Best of all most of the
cuts are acoustic, and the recordings are amazingly clean! Definitely
my favorite of 1991. (Volume 2 is also good, but a bit too electric
to make my list of the *best*).
2. Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh (Capital).
3. John Prine - The Missing Years (Oh Boy).
It's about time that John Prine released some new material,
and it was worth the wait. Arguably his best release since
his very first album.
4. Eileen McGann - Turn It Around (Dragonwing Music DRGN 112CD).
When I grow up I want to write songs like these. A nice
mix of traditional tunes and originals, with a heavy dose
of social commentary (the plight of the homeless, immigration,
ecology, etc), all sung by a wonderfully pure voice. The
production is rather poor, but I can forgive that
if the music is good, and this music definitely is. Eileen has an
earlier release (titled Elements, I think) that I need to
obtain.
5. Rory Block - Mama's Blues (Rounder).
Honorable mention releases (each contains a couple gems, but overall
not worthy to be called on of the *best*).
Newport Folk Festival - Turn of the Decade 1989 & 1990 (Red House).
There are a couple gems on this release, such as _Delirious_
(Luka Bloom) and _American Tune_ (Indigo Girls). Michelle
Shocked does a moving version of Steve Goodmans`s _The Ballad
of Penny Evans_, but don`t buy this CD just for that (she has an even
better version on one of her CD singles).
Carla Sciaky - The Undertow (Green Linnet).
Some more nice stuff from Carla, including _I'm A Wimp_, which
may become a classic.
Tim O'Brien - Odd Man In (Sugar Hill).
Tim is a wonderful song writer. Unfortunately I bought this
CD at one of his concerts, and the studio versions of the songs
lack the energy and spirit of the live performances.
/Don
wegeng....@xerox.com
================================================================================
From: Pete Young <pyo...@axion.bt.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 92 09:37:15 GMT
Ken,
Thanks for the reminder, but the sad fact is that there haven't
been any albums this year that I've enjoyed.
The Richard Thompson release was a great disappointment.
Perhaps this year will prove to be more fruitful.
regards
Pete
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Date: Mon, 13 Jan 92 09:14:27 -0800
From: st...@work.berkeley.edu (Steve Goldfield)
First of all, I apologize for the length of my list. I bought a CD player
a year ago, and last year seems to have had an unusually large number of
fine releases in the broader folk field. Not all on my list are
new; but they're all albums I bought last year. My comments are
necessarily brief. Sometimes titles are self-explanatory. I could
easily have listed another 25 if I'd been willing to take the
time.
Steve Goldfield
Altamont: Black String Band Music from the Library of Congress
Fiddle-tune style music from the 1940s. Very listenable,
especially if you like old-time string band music.
Appalachian Trail "Time to Cry"
Virginia bluegrass band (not to be confused with Appalachian
Express, which is also excellent) with a great female lead
singer.
Mike Auldridge "Treasures Untold"--Excellent solo album.
The Big Dogs "Live at the Birchmere"--a great, now defunct
band, featuring Tony Trischka actually playing traditional
bluegrass-style banjo, Andrea Zonn on fiddle and vocals,
Harley Allen (I think he's Red's son) on mandolin and
vocals, Debbi Nims on bass and vocals, and David Grier
on guitar. All fine musicians, and an excellent album.
Norman Blake and Tony Rice 2--You even get a few trios
with Doc Watson. As good as the first one.
Ralph Blizard "Blizard Train"--one of my absolute favorite
old-time fiddlers.
Rory Block "Mama's Blues"--excellent compilation of original
and traditional blues.
Bluegrass Patriots "When You and I Were Young Maggie"--excellent
band from Colorado
La Bottine Souriante "Je Vordrais ... can't read my own
handwriting"--String band music from Quebec. One of the
liveliest albums and most fun I bought last year.
Alison Brown "Simple Pleasures" (grammy nominee)
California Cajun Orchestra "Not Lonesome Anymore"
Dixie Chicks "Thank Heavens for Dale Evans"--all women's band
from Austin, very good fiddle, banjo and vocals
Rev. Gary Davis "Pure Religion and Bad Company"--it's rare to
hear so much of Davis' secular music. Considered one of the
greatest to ever play blues guitar.
David Doucet "Quand J'ai Parti"--guitarist from Beausolait (I'm
sure I spelled that wrong) produces excellent cajun album,
much more traditional than the band's latest, almost
rock-cajun album. Josh Graves plays dobro.
Fiddle Fever "Best of Fiddle Fever"--the original recording
of "Ashokan Farewell" (theme of "The Civil War" series on
PBS) and a lot of other fine material.
Front Porch String Band "Lines and Tracks"--first album in
ten years from Clare Lynch's band. Her voice is tremendous.
Ed Haley "Parkersburg Landing"--recorded in 1946, one of
the all-time great old-time fiddlers.
Barbara Higbie "Signs of Life"--the only album I own from
Windham Hill. Hard to characterize as a style, but
excellent songs performed in a lively way.
Flaco Jimenez "Flaco's Amigos"--Flaco with various friends,
Peter Rowan, Ry Cooder, etc.
Kentucky Colonels "Long Journey Home"--recorded in 1964 at
Newport but just released. Recording quality varies but
material (which includes guitar duets by Clarence White
and Doc Watson and a workshop by banjo great Bill Keith)
is wonderful.
Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick "Together"--two of the best
lead singers in contemporary bluegrass combine for an album.
Lonesome River Band "Looking for Yourself"--Rising bluegrass
band's latest album.
Lost and Found "New Day"--ditto.
Jimmy Martin "You Don't Know My Mind"--Martin's most classic
bluegrass recordings on one CD.
Mountain Music: Bluegrass Style--I had it on tape and was
glad to have a chance to get it on CD. The first bluegrass
LP ever issued. (I also got the 5-string banjo CD from
Smithsonian/Folkways even though I had the LP. It was
worth it for 8 additional tracks by Snuffy Jenkins.)
Maura O'Connell "Helpless Heart"--I like this one, produced
by Bela Fleck, much better than her more recent overproduced
album
Parmley & McCoury--two of the best lead singers in contemporary
bluegrass and their families combine for an album. But lots
of luck in finding it unless you see them live.
New Coon Creek Girls "So I'll Ride"--Yes, I do like all-female
bluegrass bands, but this is another very good album.
Tim O'Brien "Odd Man In"--I didn't expect to like this one
as much as I did because I had heard Tim's material when
he was trying to be more mainstream country.
Mark O'Connor "The Championship Years"--40 tunes (some played
as many as three times) from O'Connor's contest playing at
the Wieser, Idaho fiddle championships. Recorded over an
almost ten-year period.
Osborne Brothers "Hillbilly Fever"--Their latest and very good.
Bonnie Raitt "Luck of the Draw"--not much needs to be said, a
grammy nominee.
Ranch Romance "Western Dream"--excellent western swing plus,
mostly women's band. Great fiddling by Barbara Lamb.
Leon Rosselson "Rosselsongs" and "Wo Sind die Elefanten?"--The
first is a sort of greatest hits, the second, his latest.
I've been playing both of them a lot. The premier songwriter
in British folk music today.
Savoy-Doucet Band "Two-Step d'Amede"--fiddler Michael Doucet
combines with Ann and Marc Savoy in a very good, traditional
cajun band.
Mike Seeger "Solo--Old-Time Music"--His first solo album and
also very good.
Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin "Blue Lightning"--their second
album is as good as their first.
Texas Tornados "Zone of Our Own"--I got both CDs by this
combination of Flaco Jimenez, Doug Sahm, Freddy Fender,
et al. Both are great.
Eric and Suzy Thompson "Adam and Eve Had the Blues"--Suzy has
a great voice for blues and plays excellent fiddle and Eric
is one of the better guitarists playing these days.
Sally van Meter "All in Good Time"--Sally's first solo dobro
album (produced by Jerry Douglas) is wonderful.
Rhonda Vincent "A Dream Came True"--I like this one much better
than her latest one. Excellent choice of songs for her voice.
Cliff Waldron "One More Step"--This is my favorite Cliff Waldron
album. I had it on tape and had a chance to buy it cheap in
one of the close-out LP sales.
================================================================================
From: jo...@ingres.com (Jon Berger)
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1992 10:32:11 PST
Thanks for the reminder. I spent most of 1991 remodeling my house and getting
married, which for the most part precluded buying any recordings, alas. (In
fact, during the remodeling part my audio equipment was packed away in boxes
out of harm's way.) I'll just mention my favorite album any my biggest
disappointment.
Favorite: Boiled in Lead's "Orb". I don't remember if it's officially a
1991 or a 1990 release, but anyway I bought it last year. I had some
trepidation after seeing them in concert, where I feel they're playing to
their punk/rebel/RockIdol image at the expense of their music (their
"acoustic" concert at the Freight and Salvage, a Berkeley folk venue, damn
near vaporized the sound system), but their recordings just keep getting
better and better. It might be because they have a different fiddle
player in the studio than they do on the road -- a fiddle player can make
or break a band, I always say. (Guess what I play?) Anyway, "Orb" is the
wonderfully eclectic pastiche we expect from BiL, with top-notch
production values and a lot of highly imaginative arrangements of the
usual Irish/Balkan/American mix.
Biggest disappointment: Danny Carnahan and Robin Petrie's "A Victorian
Christmas." There are so many hammer-dulcimer Christmas records around
now that it's become virtually an industry, and they all seem to blend
seamlessly into each other, which may account for their popularity. It
was kind of pleasant at first, but at this point a day's Christmas
shopping generally fills me with a strong desire to play a hammer dulcimer
with a pair of 28-ounce splitting mauls. The only thing I really have
against Carnahan/Petrie's contribution to the genre is that I expected so
much more from them. Danny is one of the most versatile arrangers working
today, the Oxford Book of Carols (from which all the material is taken) is
one of the richest sources available anywhere, and their previous
recordings have ranged from interesting to wonderful. This time, they've
come up with yet another piece of background music for stores that sell
little ceramic sculptures of endangered species.
-- Jon
================================================================================
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 13:58:00 GMT
From: Martin Merry <m...@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
Well, it's been quite a good year. No new Tabor (sigh!), no new Albion
Band (ditto) but some interesting new stuff and some old favourites
re-issued after a number of years absence.
The ones that stand out are, in no particular order:
CHRISTINE LAVIN, PATTY LARKIN, MEGON McDONOUGH, SALLY FINGERETT:
"Buy me Bring Me Take Me: Don't Mess my Hair" (Philo)
Well, yes. This is a totally wonderful album. I bought it to hear
Christine Lavin live; I like her studio recordings, but everyone keeps
telling me she's much better live - after hearing the album I agree,
However, Christine's only there for three tracks - I was somewhat
nervous about what the rest of this 75-minute CD would be like.
I needn't have been. About half the songs are funny; about half are
ballads or love songs. Almost all are excellent. Highspots are Patty
Larkin doing ``Dave's Holiday'' (her impression of a Winibego(sp?)
reversing into a small wall is worth the price of the album by itself),
Megan McDonough on ``Every living thing'' (a disgustingly slushy ballad
about SavingTheWorld which is nevertheless wonderful) and Christine
Lavin's ``Sensitive New Age Guys''.
No electric music. Almost no traditional music. Lots of fun.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: "Circle Dance" (Green Linnet)
It's probably cheating to recommend a compilation, but almost all the
stuff on this isn't available anywhere else - most of the tracks were
recorded particularly for this compilation. It's a charity project -
profits from the sales go to help disabled children - and it was put
together by Hokey Pokey (a.k.a. friends of Richard Thompson). So the
lineup is somewhat impressive.
The remarkable thing about this album is that there's really very little
dross - 18 tracks by 17 artists and you don't have to skip any of them.
And there's lots of highspots: Fairport doing ``Who knows where the time
goes'' from Cropredy 1989 with Julianne Regan on vocals; Iain Matthews
doing ``Reno Nevada''; a new June Tabor track; Sandy Denny doing ``The
King and Queen of England'' (a demo from 1976); and sundry Thompsons (an
unreleased track from Linda, and new songs from Danny and
RichardAndDanny). And more.
Every home should have one.
FAIRPORT CONVENTION: "The Five Seasons" (Rough Trade)(if they still
exist..)
"Farewell, Farewell" (The Road Goes on Forever)
One new Fairport Album this year (well actually "The Five Seasons" was
released at the end of 1990) - and a number of CD reissues. I hadn't
actually heard "Farewell Farewell" since my vinyl copy died around 10
years ago so it's sort of new-ish.
Neither of these albums are great by Fairport standards - but they're
pretty good by anyone else's.
"The Five Seasons" is similar to "Red and Gold" - but there isn't a
track on "The Five Seasons" as strong as the title track of "Red and
Gold". But it's all very solid and very competent.
"Farewell Farewell" was recorded on Fairport's AbsolutelyLastTour,
before they split up in 1979. The sleeve notes refer to it as ``This
final album...'' So it's mostly old favourites: the obligatory ``Matty
Groves'' (trivia question: has *any* group issued more different
legitimate versions of the same song than Fairport have done with "Matty
Groves" (6?)); "Walk Awhile"; "Meet on the Ledge"; etc. But they're all
done well, and it's all great fun.
If you only want to buy one Fairport Live album this isn't it (get "In
Real Time" or "House Full" instead). But it's not just for people who
want to own all Fairport albums.
MARTIN CARTHY AND DAVE SWARBRICK: "Life and Limb" (Green Linnet)
It's been a long time since the last Carthy/Swarbrick album (1969?).
Carthy's voice quivers a bit more than it used to. Perhaps they're
taking things a bit easier. There's nothing fancy: Carthy plays
acoustic guitar and sings; Swarb plays fiddle.
But this is a remarkable reunion album. It's hard to pull out highspots
- all the album is good; there aren't any tracks which dominate.
Everything just works.
And finally.... most of it isn't folk, it isn't new, but:
BOB DYLAN: "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3" (Sony)
I've never heard any Dylan bootlegs, and I'd always sort of assumed that
bootleg Dylan material would be like bootlegs I've owned in the past
(typically bad live recordings of indifferent concerts).
So this boxed set came as quite a shock. Volume 1 and the first bit of
volume 2 is almost all solo acoustic Dylan (or at least with minimal
accompaniment): publishers' demos, outtakes from Freewheelin' etc. For
those of us who haven't heard any of this this is an hour and a half's
worth of new Dylan folk songs from the 1961-63 period.
Gosh.
By the time one's about a third of the way into volume 2 one runs out of
folk music - but not the quality. When I played this for the first time
I just sat there quietly muttering. Occasionally I'd say ``but these are
the tracks he *rejected*''.
4 hours of new Dylan. What more could you ask for?
--
--Ken Josenhans
BITNET: 13020KRJ@MSU Internet: 1302...@msu.edu