Lying to the Moon & Other Stories

Amazon.com
What do Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine," Patty Loveless's "You Can Feel Bad," and Trisha Yearwood's "XXX's and OOO's" have in common? They were all No. 1 country hits, they all had stories you could visualize and hooks you could hum, and they were all cowritten by Matraca Berg. So why isn't Berg a country star herself? Does she have a froggy voice? No way. A homely face? Hardly. Well, what is it then? It might be the hint of intelligence in her big, confident soprano, the suggestion that she knows more than she's letting on. Country radio hates that. Critics and fellow musicians, on the other hand, love it and have been huge Berg fans for years. RCA is giving the wider public a second chance with this new anthology, which includes a dozen songs found on her out-of-print solo albums. The new disc doesn't include any of the singles she's written for other artists, though a few have been album cuts for Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, and Linda Ronstadt. The collection does includes several gems that would be hits in a fairer world: the eloquent Midwestern evocation of "Calico Plains," the late-night romantic desperation of "Lying to the Moon," and the lovely mountain balladry of "Appalachian Rain." Snap this one up before it, too, goes out of print. --Geoffrey Himes

Lying to the Moon & Other Stories,Matraca Berg,RCA,Contemporary Country,Country,Country & Western,Country-Pop,Pop

Average customer rating:

Not quite there

I Can't Believe I Finally Found This Album

matraca=GREAT MUSIC; LYRICS!!!!!

Matraca should expand beyond Nashville

Haunting Melodies and Excellent Backgrounds

Lying to the Moon & Other Stories
Matraca Berg
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Country | Styles | Music
Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Sunday Morning to Saturday Night

The Speed of Grace

Lying to the Moon

The Secret of Life

That Train Don't Run

ASIN: B00000JMBR
Release Date: 1999-08-10

Tracks:

The Things You Left Undone
I Got It Bad
Lying To The Moon
Calico Plains
Baby, Walk On
Back In The Saddle
Appalachian Rain
Back When We Were Beautiful
Along For The Ride
I Must Have Been Crazy
Alice In The Looking Glass
Eat At Joe's

Amazon.com

What do Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine," Patty Loveless's "You Can Feel Bad," and Trisha Yearwood's "XXX's and OOO's" have in common? They were all No. 1 country hits, they all had stories you could visualize and hooks you could hum, and they were all cowritten by Matraca Berg. So why isn't Berg a country star herself? Does she have a froggy voice? No way. A homely face? Hardly. Well, what is it then? It might be the hint of intelligence in her big, confident soprano, the suggestion that she knows more than she's letting on. Country radio hates that. Critics and fellow musicians, on the other hand, love it and have been huge Berg fans for years. RCA is giving the wider public a second chance with this new anthology, which includes a dozen songs found on her out-of-print solo albums. The new disc doesn't include any of the singles she's written for other artists, though a few have been album cuts for Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, and Linda Ronstadt. The collection does includes several gems that would be hits in a fairer world: the eloquent Midwestern evocation of "Calico Plains," the late-night romantic desperation of "Lying to the Moon," and the lovely mountain balladry of "Appalachian Rain." Snap this one up before it, too, goes out of print. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

Not quite there.......2007-06-07

This album was O.K. Matraca has definitely been a more successful songwriter than performer. I guess I'm kind of caught between 3 stars and 4 stars but I just didn't really feel much of the album so went with 3. Just didn't really grab me. Some noteable songs are:

Things You Left Undone - the singer is struggling to make ends meet and stay above water. Her man left things a mess

Baby Walk On is a nice, lively number

Back in the Saddle - fun and kind of randy

I Must Have been Crazy - good bounce to it. The singer's man drove her crazy and she wound up in asylum. Creative lyrics.

If only more of the rest of the album had matched the quality of the above numbers, this woulda been 4 stars. Too bad.

I Can't Believe I Finally Found This Album.......2005-11-17

I've been coming to Amazon.com to look for this singer and for years they had nothing.

I was looking for a song Matraca Berg did in the early to mid 90s, and even had a video for the song that was shown on the then new CMT. The song was "Walk On." We all used to dance our a$%^# off to it, and that was in the early 90s, yet "conventional" country radio never played the song, only CMT did. ('Course CMT was the only one to ever play several videos by some country singing Black cardiologist from D.C. Gosh, who is he? He was great!) Country music radio is SO knee-jerk locked into the "perceived" ratings system! Some of the best country I've heard has been on CMT, not my local radio station.

Long story, short: I've liked all the songs she wrote. And "Walk On" was such a great video, song, and dance song! Go Matraca!

matraca=GREAT MUSIC; LYRICS!!!!!.......2005-02-23

matraca Berg is one of my favorite ARTIST, she has such a talent. her voice is so plesant to listen to, and the music is so great. and then there's the lyrics, WOWIE, the lyrics just blow my mind. this cd, and the other Albums recorded by MB,are teh kind of CD's one never really tires of. i think i can play them til they will plays no more. i ahve to agree with one of the other rewiers, her music does seem to get better and better over time. and her voice, that voice of a real woman, and the emotions she expresses through it on some of these tracks, her voice REALLY takes you through the motions and it really can grap you (lying to the moon, back when we were beauty ful, both are sung so heart felt, it gives me chills!!!!!). i really love that her own version of eat at joes is on this one. (a song co written by MB, that has also been recorded by Suzy Boggus on her cd; voices in the wind)

[and it's such a shame that she doesn't (as far as i know) have a record deal, cause it is such a waste to let this kinda talent slip away!!!! ]

Matraca should expand beyond Nashville.......2002-10-20

I can't believe I read "she might just have a brain behind those looks. Country music hates that." GET REAL!

Matraca, if the yahoos at RCA have their collective heads up their butts, go to LA like Shelby Lynne did. Let Nashville continue to lose their best and BRIGHTEST and maybe they'll change. Go girl!

Haunting Melodies and Excellent Backgrounds.......2002-04-06

This is a review of the original "Lying to the Moon" CD. I first discovered this CD when it came out in 1990. After listening to snippets of the first three songs and enjoying it at the record store I had to purchase it. Over time the songs just get better and better. Matraca's voice lends a particularly heart rending account to both Calico Plains and Applachian Rain along with extreme enjoyment of the other tracks. "Alice in the Looking Glass" will send chills down your back. This is one of those rare CD's where EVERY track is good. The musical backgrounds also add to the story telling of each selection. Never have I listened to an album where the music hit home from the very beginning. Every person I have turned onto this CD has fallen in love with it. I am glad to see it back in print along with the additional songs. I WILL run out and get this latest version and I suggest you do too. You will not be sorry.

Average customer rating:

This is still my favorite country cd
Unsung Talent
Track it down and buy it
Debut album from prolific songwriter
Another Undiscovered Gem

Lying to the Moon
Matraca Berg
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Styles | Music

Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Speed of Grace
Sunday Morning to Saturday Night
That Train Don't Run
3 of Hearts
Chalee Tennison

ASIN: B000008DDU
Release Date: 1990-09-25

Tracks:

Things You Left Undone
I Got It Bad
Lying to the Moon
I Must Have Been Crazy
You Are the Storm
Calico Plains
Appalachian Rain
Baby, Walk On
Alice in the Looking Glass
Dancin' On the Wire

Customer Reviews:

This is still my favorite country cd.......2007-03-06

I didn't like country music. This cd changed me; now most of the music I buy is alt-country. And it's all because of this wonderful, simple, heartfelt disk, where every single song would be the best song on any other album. It really opened my mind to a whole new range of music.

Unsung Talent.......2004-07-04

I don't recall how I stumbled upon this musical work, but it is among my very favorites in any genre. Though her voice is less gruff than Lucinda William' and writing more polished than Kathleen Edwards', I find this CD by Berg more satisfying than anything by these other fine artists. If you had to categorize the CD, "Country" is probably the closest you could come; but know that it is far more interesting than that. Lying to the Moon is at turns primitive-cowgirl and achingly introspective, and while at times familiar, it is not your standard "Country." This work lassos you in emotionally and holds you tight. I can never hear the CD too much. Matraca is a powerful talent, whose authenticity is nearly poignant. Her physical person is beautiful but unaffected, like her writing and voice. Perhaps that is why she has not captured the wider audience that she deserves.If you respect true talent, whatever the musical nitch,
you must own this CD.

Track it down and buy it.......2004-04-11

This CD hasn't been available in a long time, but find it used and add it to your collection. It's one of my all-time favorites in any genre, and I've never been able to understand why it wasn't a big hit. Matraca's songs in this collection reflect a woman's heart better than anything I'd heard since Carole King's Tapestry. I know the album was re-released several years back as "Lying to the Moon and Other Stories" with some additions and deletions, but in my opinion, it's perfect as it stands.

Debut album from prolific songwriter.......2003-09-07

Matraca has emerged as one of the most important songwriters in country music history, yet her attempts to establish herself as a singer failed utterly for reasons that remain a mystery to me.

Matraca's debut album, Lying to the moon, was released in 1990 and every song on it was co-written by Matraca. The album yielded four hits on the country charts (Baby walk on, The things you left undone, I got it bad, I must have been crazy) which sounds like a terrific start to her career until you realize that none of them got very high in the charts. Even if you haven't heard Matraca's versions of these songs, you may have heard Baby walk on (covered - as Walk on - by Linda Ronstadt on her album Feels like home), Lying to the moon (covered by Trisha Yearwood on her album Song remembers when) or Calico plains (covered by Pam Tillis on her album Sweethearts dance).

This collection provides ample proof of Matraca's ability as both singer and songwriter. So the contrast between her success as a songwriter and her failure as a singer remains a mystery.

All the tracks from this album and its follow-up were released on the British compilation The masters. As I write this, that compilation is still available in the UK.

Another Undiscovered Gem.......2003-07-27

Matraca Berg is yet another in a long list of relatively undiscovered artists. This album showcases her wonderful voice and songwriting talents. Lying to the Moon is one of my favorite songs ever, and Calico Plains is a close second.

Tracks:

The Mikado: Overture
The Mikado: A Wandering Minstrel I
The Mikado: Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man
The Mikado: Young Man, Despair
The Mikado: Behold The Lord High Executioner!...Taken From The County Jail
The Mikado: As Some Day It May Happen
The Mikado: Three Little Maids From School Are We
The Mikado: Were You Not To Ko-Ko Plighted
The Mikado: I Am So Proud
The Mikado: The Sun, Whose Rays
The Mikado: Here's A How-De-Do!
The Mikado: Miya Sama (Entrance Of The Mikado)
The Mikado: A More Humane Mikado Never
The Mikado: The Criminal Cried
The Mikado: See How The Fates Their Gifts Allot
The Mikado: The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring
The Mikado: Alone, And Yet Alive!...Hearts Do Not Break!
The Mikado: On A Tree By A River
The Mikado: There Is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast
The Mikado: For He's Gone And Married Yum-Yum
Trail By Jury: The Learned Jungle
H.M.S. Pinafore: I'm Called Litttle Buttercup
H.M.S. Pinafore: My Gallant Crew...I Am The Captain Of The Pinafore
Sorry Her Lot Who Loves Too Well
H.M.S. Pinafore: When I Was A Lad I Served A Term

Tracks:

H.M.S. Pinafore: Fair Moon, To Thee I Sing
H.M.S. Pinafore: Things Are Seldom What They Seem
H.M.S. Pinafore: The Hours Creep On Apace
H.M.S. Pinafore: Never Mind The Why And Wherefore
The Pirates Of Penzance: Oh, Better Far To Live And Die
The Pirates Of Penzance: Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast
The Pirates Of Penzance: Poor Wandering One!
The Pirates Of Penzance: I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General
The Pirates Of Penzance: When The Foeman Bears His Steel
The Pirates Of Penzance: Ah, Leave Me Not To Pine
The Pirates Of Penzance: When A Felon's Not Engaged In His Employment
The Pirates Of Penzance: With Cat-Like Tread
Patience: The Soldiers Of Our Queen...If You Want A Receipt For That Popular Mystery
Patience: Am I Alone And Unobserved...If You're Anxious For To Shine
Patience: Sad Is That Woman's Lot...Silvered Is The Raven Hair
Patience: A Magnet Hung In A Hardware Shop
Patience: Love Is A Plaintive Song
Patience: So Go To Him And Say To Him
Patience: When I Go Out Of Door
Patience: After Much Debate (Finale Act 2)
Iolanthe: When I Went To The Bar As A Very Young Man
The Lady Of My Love...(Finale Act 1)

Tracks:

When All Night Long A Chap Remains
When Britain Really Ruled The Waves
When You're Lying Awake With A Dismal Headache
If You Go In, You're Sure To Win
Ruddigore: My Boy, May Take It From Me
Ruddigore: The Battle's Roar Is Over
Ruddigore: In Sailing O'er Life's Ocean Wide
Ruddigore: You Understand?
Ruddigore: When The Night Wind Howls
Ruddigore: My Eyes Are Fully Open
Ruddigore: There Grew A Little Flower
The Gondoliers: We're Called Gondolieri
The Gondoliers: From The Sunny Spanish Shore...In Enterprise Of Martial Kind
The Gondoliers: I Stole The Prince
The Gondoliers: When A Merry Maiden Marries
The Gondoliers: Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes
The Gondoliers: Dance A Cachucha, Fandango, Bolero
The Gondoliers: There Lived A King, As I've Been Told
The Gondoliers: I Am A Courtier Grave And Serious
The Yeoman Of The Guard: I Have A Song To Sing, O!
The Yeoman Of The Guard: How You Say Maiden, Will You Wed
The Yeoman Of The Guard: Where I Thy Bride
The Yeoman Of The Guard: Oh! A Private Buffoon Is A Light Hearted Loon
The Yeoman Of The Guard: Comes The Pretty Young Bride

Average customer rating:

Balkan Rhapsody

Manufacturer: Oehms
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00092ZB7G
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Music Album:

Music Album