Exposed Roots: Best of Alt. Country

Amazon.com
Whatever you say about alternative country, don't call it "underground"--not since the "movement" has now received K-Tel's (mixed) blessing. Hard-core fans will find Exposed Roots redundant, but for those curious about alt country, this compilation is not a bad buffet to sample. The two-disc set is most interesting for the particular vision it presents of the wanna-be genre, though many of the choices seem questionable. The inclusion of lesser-known acts like the Handsome Family and Lambchop is adventurous--and rewarding--but does anyone really think Marlee MacLeod is more important to the development of the scene than Uncle Tupelo? There's nothing here from Tupelo, or any of their St. Louis kin. And the token nods to Gram Parsons ("In My Hour of Darkness") and Johnny Cash (does anyone need another recording of "Folsom Prison Blues"?) should've been omitted, because their inclusion only makes the absence of other forerunners painfully obvious. But most offensive is "See Right Through" from Tangletown--a band that nobody knows, included presumably because their 1999 debut album is also distributed by K-Tel. Buy the compilation if only for the liner notes by No Depression editors Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden, who provide a serviceable map to the dozens of albums by the bands heard here. --Anders Smith-Lindall

New York Post, June 9, 1999
A terrific album that uncovers the twisted roots of country music. (3 1/2 stars) - Dan Aquilante

Exposed Roots: Best of Alt. Country

Tracks:

Passionate Kisses - Lucinda Williams
Blue Canoe - Blue Mountain
My Morphine - Gillian Welch
Nervous Breakdown - Whiskeytown
Looking Forward To Seeing You - Golden Smog
Dallas - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Picture In My Mind - Freakwater
Lost - Meat Puppets
I Like Drinking - Gourds
Bettie Bettie - BR5-49
See Right Through - Tangletown
Black Eyed Susie - Cheri Knight

Tracks:

Waitng For The Sun - The Jayhawks
Talk Like That - Kelly Willis
Guitar Town - Steve Earle
Too Much Pork For Just One Fork - Southern Culture On The Skids
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Weightless Again - The Handsome Family
Gravity Of The Situation - Vic Chesnutt
Your Blue Door - Honeydogs
Baby's Got New Plans - Alejandro Escovedo
Mata Hari Dress - Marlee MacLeod
The Saturday Option - Lambchop
In My Hour Of Darkness - Gram Parsons

Amazon.com

Whatever you say about alternative country, don't call it "underground"--not since the "movement" has now received K-Tel's (mixed) blessing. Hard-core fans will find Exposed Roots redundant, but for those curious about alt country, this compilation is not a bad buffet to sample. The two-disc set is most interesting for the particular vision it presents of the wanna-be genre, though many of the choices seem questionable. The inclusion of lesser-known acts like the Handsome Family and Lambchop is adventurous--and rewarding--but does anyone really think Marlee MacLeod is more important to the development of the scene than Uncle Tupelo? There's nothing here from Tupelo, or any of their St. Louis kin. And the token nods to Gram Parsons ("In My Hour of Darkness") and Johnny Cash (does anyone need another recording of "Folsom Prison Blues"?) should've been omitted, because their inclusion only makes the absence of other forerunners painfully obvious. But most offensive is "See Right Through" from Tangletown--a band that nobody knows, included presumably because their 1999 debut album is also distributed by K-Tel. Buy the compilation if only for the liner notes by No Depression editors Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden, who provide a serviceable map to the dozens of albums by the bands heard here. --Anders Smith-Lindall

Customer Reviews:

Guitar Town.......2007-03-26

Ah the genre compilation. One of the thornier concepts in popular music. It's hard enough to provide an accurate sampling of a single artist's "greatest hits." Now multiply that difficulty level by 5,000 or so (or some other arbitrary large number of your choosing) and you have the task that confronts the poor compiler faced with the onerous task of summarizing a genre on two CDs. I'm surprised anyone even tries. Add to that the reality that "alt-country" isn't even a proper genre. It's really just a random agglomeration of unrelated artists spanning across multiple decades who share a somewhat similar sound. So you have to give K-tel props for trying here.

HOWEVER, if you claim your product to be a "best-of," it has to be evaluated as such and what we have here falls short. First, as others have pointed out, a best-of this "genre" (note the quotations around the word "genre") must absolutely include something by Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, or preferably both together. The closest thing we have here is a fantastic Golden Smog track (probably the best song on either CD) that does not even feature Tweedy except maybe playing bass. C'mon K-tel, you can do better than that (unless the copyrights to said catalog are unobtainable, in which case POINT THAT OUT SOMEWHERE if you can't get your lawyers on it pronto!). There are other artists missing too but none quite compare to the omission I am pointing out here. That alone should be enough to rest my case.

Second, what we have on these discs doesn't even really represent the best of the artists included! I could substitute better songs in a number of cases, such as "Crooked Frame" by Alejandro Escovedo or "Take Me Down" by Kelly Willis, both of which happen to appear on Rykodisc's brilliant 20th Anniversary compilation. Maybe Ryko rather than K-tel should be responsible for this compilation.

Nonetheless, I don't want to downplay the enjoyability of this compilation, which has been getting a number of spins over in Wolfland (aka my humble home). I particularly enjoy having some of the more obvious picks in one place (Steve Earle's "Guitar Town" for example, or Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"), and hearing some of the more daring inclusions from the likes of Vic Chesnutt and Lambchop. The first disc caused me to go out and buy Tangletown's only CD, which is a fun listen. Plus, any compilation that features the Honeydogs is a friend of mine.

So on the whole, 3 stars means a fun listen but it cannot accurately be labelled the "best of" anything. It's just another fun compilation from a record label which at the time mistakenly thought it had a genre or scene on its hands.

-HW

Great compilation to get into whatever they call this music.......2004-05-14

Bought this not long after it came out. I was just getting into alt-country, americana, no depression, insurgent country, or whatever you want to call it. This is an excellent starting point. Standout tracks are The Handsome Family's suicide song "Weightless Again", Whiskeytown's cover of the Black Flag classic "Nervous Breakdown", Johnny Cash, Freakwater, Gram Parsons, Steve Earle and the list goes on. If you are curious about this style of music, get this. If you can't find something on here you like - then alt. country (country-rock?) isn't for you.

A little bit of everything........2003-08-14

This collection of 24 cuts by different artists gives the listener an idea of how varied and interesting the roots of alt. country are. (Is it just me or is alt. country a truly dumb name. Just checking.)Songs from many artists; vets like Johnny Cash,(The true father of this style of music and so much more)and Steve Earle ("Guitar Town")to "newer" bands like BRS-49 (With their wonderful tribute to Bettie Page, a pin-up queen of the 50's)are mixed together with no real concept behind it. (Typical K-Tel) But as another reviewer explained it, this is not for fans of the genre, it's for new entrants, like me, who want to check out what this sound is about. I've definitely heard a few things here that make me want to pursue some of these artists'other recordings. A nice sampler and while maybe there are omissions, for an overview this one is not bad, a nice mix of songs and styles.

Good, but..........2001-12-30

Lest we forget the creator of Alt country and the "No Depression" era: Jay Farrar. How could the be the "roots" without any recordings from Unclce Tupleo, Son Volt and Wilco (jeff Tweedy).

A good glimpse of a great genre.......1999-08-10

In my humble opinion, country rock is THE best music out there, so naturally when I heard this was coming out I got it. Overall it's a very good collection for both the newbies and the veterans. Although some of the songs beg to be skipped (a couple of the artists have better stuff that could have been used) there are a few standouts. Blue Mountain, Golden Smog, and Johnny Cash all have GREAT songs. Personal favorite would have to be "Dallas" by Jimmie Gilmore: alt country done to perfection. Give these 2 discs a spin: it's a good deal for the money.

Music Album:

Music Album