| Disc: 1 |
| 1. You Don't Know Love |
| 2. Goodbye Broken Heart |
| 3. Do Me With Love |
| 4. Faithless Love |
| 5. He's a Heartache |
| 6. Please Help Me, I'm Falling (In Love With You |
| 7. She's Single Again |
| 8. I'll Need Someone to Hold Me (When I Cry) |
| 9. Down to My Last Broken Heart |
| 10. Tell Me a Lie |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. You Don't Know Love [DVD] [Music Video] |
| 2. Interview With Janie Fricke [DVD] |
The Bluegrass Sessions],Janie Fricke,D.M. Records,Bluegrass,Contemporary Country,Country,New Traditionalist,Pop,United States of America
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The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2
Béla Fleck Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000JC6D Release Date: 1999-06-22 |
Tracks:
- Blue Mountain Hop
- Buffalo Nickel
- When Joy Kills Sorrow
- Spanish Point
- Polka On The Banjo
- Clarinet Polka
- The Over Grown Waltz
- Ode To Earl
- Home Sweet Home
- Valley Of The Rogue
- Plunkey's Lament
- Maura On A Bicycle, Stout And Molasses, Way Back When
- Dark Circles
- Old Jellico, Puddle Jumper, Dead Man's Hill
- Katmandu
- Do You Have Room?
- Foggy Mountain Special
- Major Honker
Amazon.com's Best of 1999
In a jaw-dropping return to his roots, banjoist Béla Fleck led a stellar lineup (Jerry Douglas, Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, and Sam Bush, to name a few) through one of his finest albums. With incredible musicianship and a smidgen of Fleck's genre-hopping personality ("Polka On The Banjo"), The Bluegrass Sessions is fun, nostalgic, and inspiring. --Jason VerlindeAmazon.com essential recording
Béla Fleck, the banjo-wizard leader of the fringe-jazz quartet the Flecktones, returns to more-bluegrass-oriented concerns with this 18-song outing, a complement to 1988's Drive and a more-traditional follow-up to 1995's fusion-leaning Tales from the Acoustic Planet. Most of these songs are instrumentals boasting Drive's core group of Sam Bush on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Tony Rice on guitar, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, and bassist Mark Schatz; they're augmented in spots by fine guest players such as Vassar Clements, John Hartford, and the incomparable banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs. Fleck's spidery, tasteful plucking style lends originals like "Major Honker" and "Katmandu" an ever-so-slightly offbeat air, while he gives classics like Scruggs's "Foggy Mountain Special" and "Polka on the Banjo" traditional readings that wouldn't be out of place at the Opry. Flecktones fans will find much to like in Fleck's rootsy playing, and so will bluegrass purists. --Gregory McNameeCustomer Reviews:
This is one of my favorit Bela Fleck records!.......2007-01-10
A Rarity..........2006-07-19
Why? Well, the playing is better technically, if you can believe that. And the energy and drive is stronger here than in Acoustic Planet 1.
You also get treated to a greater number of original compositions on this CD. I've come to appreciate this dimension of Fleck's artistic gifts even more as time has passed. While he does do a lot of variations on derivative music, his original compositions are memorable, too.
Hair Raising.......2006-04-12
Outstanding CD!.......2006-02-25
If you enjoy Americana/Bluegrass/Country, then you'll love this CD!
If I could recommend only one CD to anyone, this would be it........2005-11-20
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Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions
The Avett Brothers Manufacturer: Ramseur Rec. ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000E0IDJ6 Release Date: 2006-02-07 |
Tracks:
- Talk on Indolence
- Pretty Girl from Feltre
- Colorshow
- Distraction #74
- Sixteen in July
- Left on Laura, Left on Lisa
- A Lover Like You
- Pretend Love
- Matrimony
- The Lowering (A Sad Day In Greenvilletown)
- The Fall
- Dancing Daze
- Famous Flower of Manhattan
- 40 East
- Gimmeakiss
- Denouncing November Blue (Uneasy Writer)
- Four Thieves Gone
Customer Reviews:
Unamused..........2007-06-24
Take an old moldy garage and throw in Chrissy Hynde, Rammstein, George Strait, and the Ramones all at their worst and you have these guys. They sound like Clash wannabees with a banjo.
An Instant Classic.......2007-06-11
The kind of music I've been waiting to find..........2007-05-20
not so hot.......2007-05-12
Not What I Expected.......2007-05-11
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The Telluride Sessions
Strength in Numbers Manufacturer: Mca Nashville ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000006EJJ Release Date: 1998-03-24 |
Tracks:
- Future Man
- Texas Red
- Pink Flamingos
- Duke And Cookie
- One Winter's Night
- Macedonia
- The Lochs Of Dread
- No Apologies
- Slopes
- Blue Men Of The Sahara
Amazon.com essential recording
This acoustic supergroup joined forces in the summer of 1988, and the result was a true landmark in "new acoustic" music. As if bluegrass (and even "newgrass") was too constricting, the quintet--Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Bela Fleck (banjo), Mark O'Connor (violin), and Edgar Meyer (bass)--incorporates classical-style themes and arrangements within the context of bluegrass instrumentation. Their unbelievable technique and musical ability was never in question; however, what makes the album special is the uncanny blend of precision and freedom, of improvisation and structure. Each of the 10 compositions were written by a different twosome (do the math permutations). Playful bluesy lopes ("Pink Flamingo") accompany tinges of reggae ("The Locks of Dread"), Celtic ("Macedonia"), and Middle Eastern ("Blue Men of the Sahara") music. There are urgent burners, somber mood pieces, and tender ballads, all delivered with grace. --Marc GreilsamerCustomer Reviews:
One of the best crossover albums of all time.......2007-03-08
The Telluride Sessions (Strength In Numbers).......2007-01-12
Bluegrass a little less blue.......2006-12-13
As fresh as ever.......2006-09-07
Acoustic fire!.......2005-12-25
No matter what you think of bluegrass or banjos, anyone who takes delight in music that is intricate, brilliant, sensuous and evocative, will find much to love about this album. Jazz fans will appreciate the Pat Metheny undertones and harmonies in tracks like "One Winter's Night." I would be first in line for any new project by this line-up of virtuoso musicians. What a joy to listen to flawless musical jamming!
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Black Bear Sessions
Railroad Earth Manufacturer: Bos Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000066AT1 Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
Tracks:
- Head
- Lordy Lordy
- Seven Story Mountain
- Chains
- Black Bear
- Colorado
- Real Love
- Stillwater Getaway
- Cold Weather
- Railroad Earth
Customer Reviews:
SIMPLY AWESOME BAND.......2005-09-02
Be Amazed. Be VERY Amazed.......2003-05-25
I owned the second Railroad Earth CD, "Bird in a House" for three months before ordering "The Black Bear Sessions." I was waiting to grow tired of the former before sending for reinforcements. Then I realized I might never get tired of it.(I haven't).
I'm writing a review of this two year old album to explain what I believe makes Railroad Earth unique and worthy. I know CDs are expensive, and buying anything unfamiliar is a risk. Many with limited budgets stay with the tried and true. But don't worry about future schock. RRE is not so much a band that's ahead of itself, as one that blends great musical elements of the past into a new, intoxicating brew.
Critics have struggled to describe RRE. The most frequent comments include "jamgrass" or "kinda like the Grateful Dead during their American Beauty period." Try this one: "Railroad Earth is like a seventies psychodelic band with Southern rock attitude that's been put in the 21st Century and given acoustic instruments."
Let's analyze just two of the songs on The Black Bear Sessions, which give you a hint at the breadth and skills of these six musicians. The opening number "Head" sets the quality bar near the top right out of the gate. Before you even have your headset adjusted, a banjo drops in to say howdy. This is quickly followed by a high powered vocally-wailed series of "Ohhhhhs" to get your attention, before the rest of the instruments jump in with a fast paced bluegrass groove.
Rick-a-tick drums,thumping base, banjo, guitar and a fiddle soon join the vocals. But it isn't until the third minute of the song that Railroad Earth puts its stamp on the music.
I mentioned Southern Rock, which too often featured coke-fueled 10-12 minute instrumental breaks--but no worry about self- indulgence here. What follows is a three minute chunk of spot-on instrumntal virtuosity that will have your head bobbing and toes tapping.
While many bluegrass bands use their instrumental breaks for individual bursts of virtuosity while the rest of the band plays rhythm and waits their turn, RRE unleashes a full palate of intertwined, now-dueling, now-harmonic instrumental thrusts and parries. Nobody rests on a Railroad Earth song. The result is what might have happened if Wall of Sound pioneer Phil Spector had gone country.
On "head," it's mostly a fiddle and Mandolin pas de deux, calling and responding, challenging each other to even greater moments, before finally joining forces in a co-ordinated, precision picked assault. Each time you listen, you discover new subtlies and genius throughout the tune--and the album, for that matter.
But RRE is nothing if not unpredictable. The third cut on the album, an extraordinary workout called "Seven Story Mountain" will hit you with a rhythmic curve ball that rekindles thoughts of musical legends ranging from Ravi Shankar to Bo Diddley to the Byrds.
It starts with a smidge of arhythmic psychodelia, but before you have a chance to say, "whazzat?" a clean acoustic guitar picks up the rhythm, joined quickly by a fiddle riff that hooks you and holds you throughout. Soon tom-tom drums reminiscent of Mr. Diddleys' jungle-based rhythms-tho not the Bo Diddley Beat itself--join in. A Dobro provides accents and fills, and voices rise in sweet sweet harmony. Too soon the instruments depart one-by-one, as mysteriously as they arrived-but as the man once said-the melody lingers on. You won't believe it was six minutes long. The song is so powerful musically the lyrics may sneak past you. Don't let that happen.
Lead singer and the songwriter on the majority of RRE's music is Todd Shaeffer, blessed with envigorating ability to blend the familiar with the unexpected. His and other tunes sound precise and improvisational simultaneously, drawing from many influences. Shaeffer may be the SpongeTodd Unsquarepants of modern songwriting. He's absorbed it much music, filtered out the bad and given back extrordinary, hook filled music that wears better than a $$$$ suit. But he can't do it alone, and everyone else is up to the challenge.
I am no spring chicken. I was raised on rock and roll, came to country late, and moved to bluegrass almost fulltime when the charlatans took over Nashville. So I've heard and seen-if not all of it, most of it. And I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of bands that have flat out blown me away like RRE.
"Black Bear" creates a bear of a good time.......2002-12-23
Like nothing I've heard before!.......2002-11-06
This album is completely fantastic!! Sorry I'm no writer and don't know what else I can say except that it's a must have for any CD collection. For me it's up there with "American Beauty!" And that's saying a lot for this old Deadhead!
A good kind vibe.......2002-10-03
Some of the songs on this CD (five, I think) were originally recorded as demos. They were so good that the band recorded another five and turned the demo into its debut release.
Even more obviously than its successor, this CD is driven by the songwriting of Todd Sheaffer (formerly of From Good Homes). I can't say enough about his remarkable talents, not only as a songwriter but also as a singer and guitarist. If you want to hear what he sounds like by himself, check out his solo live CD _Dream of Love_, where you'll also hear a solo version of "Head," the opening song on this collection. (You'll also hear a solo version of "Came Up Smilin'" from _Bird In A House_. "Head" was also released on the From Good Homes CD _Open Up The Sky_, on which there's also an earlier version of "Walk On By.")
His songs have reminded lots of listeners, including me, of _Workingman's Dead_/_American Beauty_-era Grateful Dead (especially the numerous Garcia-Hunter collaborations but also, e.g., the Lesh-Hunter masterpiece "Box of Rain"). It's no wonder, really.
First of all, Sheaffer is a lyricist with several Hunter-like qualities. Not least of these are economy of language, a sort of Dreamtime evocativeness, and a strong sense of what most of us would probably call "spirituality" even though few of his songs call any overt attention to religious/spiritual matters.
Then, too, his Railroad Earth music tends to draw so heavily on "old-timey," American-heartland sources that a very casual listener could possibly mistake this stuff for traditional bluegrass -- which it isn't, any more than _Workingman's Dead_ was really as traditional as _it_ sounded upon superficial hearing.
His musicianship is excellent too, especially as a vocalist. His delivery is engaging and earnest, with more than a hint of Uncle Jerry in the occasional cracking of his voice.
As in my other review, I may seem to be slighting the rest of the band. That's not my intent; John Skehan (mandolin), Carey Harmon (drums/percussion), Dave Von Dollen (bass), Tim Carbone (violin), and Andy Goessling (several sorts of guitar, banjo, and other instruments as needed) are all terrific at what they do too. (And comparing RRE to Sheaffer's solo release is also an excellent way to check out what _these_ guys brought to the party -- which is quite a lot.) And they do some of the songwriting as well, not to mention some singing.
It's just that this project so clearly takes its initial inspiration from Sheaffer's tunes. (And even the occasional cover tune -- Tom Waits's "Cold Water" on this CD and Neal Casal's "Dandelion Wine" on _Bird In A House_ -- has Sheaffer's stamp on it.) What we have here is a group of six tremendously talented acoustic musicians applying those talents to music and lyrics largely written by this creative and charismatic fellow. The resulting whole is, as they say, more than the sum of its parts.
But it's not traditional bluegrass. This is barefoot-hippie jamband music that draws on traditionally bluegrassy sources but is not in any way limited to/by them. If, as I do, you like Leftover Salmon, the Yonder Mountain String Band, and the String Cheese Incident (I especially like SCI), you'll be blown away by these guys.
A great group and a great pair of CDs; I can't recommend them highly enough. I don't remember the last time I was this excited about a new band.
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Great Dobro Sessions
Various Artists Manufacturer: Sugarhill [Country] ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000000EYC Release Date: 1994-09-18 |
Tracks:
- Fireball Mail - Oswald Kirby/Josh Graves/Mike Auldridge/Curtis Burch/Jerry Douglas/Rob Ickes/Stacy Phillips/Tut...
- Dobro Chimes - Oswald Kirby
- Just Joshin' - Josh Graves
- Poison Love - Gene Wooten
- Birdland - Jerry Douglas
- Wave - Mike Auldridge
- The Last Rose Of Autumn - Stacy Phillips
- Rainbow Bridge - Curtis Burch
- Great Season Waltz - Sally Van Meter
- Scrapin' The Barrel - Rob Ickes
- Little Green Pill #2 - Tut Taylor
- Day Tripper - Gene Wooten
- Flatt Lonesome - Josh Graves
- Abiline Gal - Jerry Douglas
- McHattie's Waltz - Rob Ickes
- Ace Of Spades - Stacy Phillips
- Suitcase - Curtis Burch
- Cherokee Shuffle - Sally Van Meter
- Lonesome Dobro - Tut Taylor
- Wake Forest - Mike Auldridge
- End Of The World - Oswald Kirby
Customer Reviews:
Great album.......2007-07-14
They forgot one!.......2007-03-08
Worn Thin.......2006-08-05
Music at its best!.......2003-10-05
It opened my eyes to a whole new way to play guitar.......2003-01-29
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The Delbert and Glen Sessions 1972-1973
Delbert McClinton & Glen Clark Manufacturer: Raven [Australia] ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0001GWB7S Release Date: 2004-03-15 |
Tracks:
- Old Standby
- Ain't What You Eat It's the Way That You Chew It
- I Received a Letter
- I Feel the Burden (Being Lifted Off My Shoulders)
- "B" Movie Box Car Blues
- Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday
- All Them Other Good Things
- Sugar Daddy
- Here Comes the Blues Again
- Rosie's (The Working Girls' Hotel)
- C.O.D.
- Oh My
- If You Don't Leave Me Alone (I'm Gonna Find Somebody Who Will)
- Lucky Boy (Your Ramblin' Days Are Through)
- Too Much
- Sidewalk Diploma
- Cold November
- I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore
- Let Me Be Your Lover
- Bless 'Em
- California Livin'
- You Gonna Miss Me
- To Be With You
Product Description
Dilbert & Glen, 1972
1. Old Standby
2. Ain't What You Eat It's The Way That You Chew It
3. I Received A Letter
4. I Feel The Burden (Being Lifted Off My Shoulders)
5. "B" Move Box Car Blues
6. Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday
7. All Them Other Good Things
8. Sugar Daddy
9. Here Comes The Blues Again
10. Rosie's (The Working Girls' Hotel)
11. C.O.D.
Subject To Change, 1973
12. Oh My
13. If You Don't Leave Me Alone (I'm Gonna Find Somebody Who Will)
14. Lucky Boy (Your Ramblin' Days Are Through)
15. Too Much
16. Sidewalk Diploma
17. Cold November
18. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore
19. Let Me Be Your Lover
20. Bless 'Em
21. California Livin'
22. You Gonna Miss Me
23. To Be With You
Format: CD
Customer Reviews:
Roughing it........2007-01-02
As a recording it is less than ideal.
Lots of good licks, good lyrics, great ideas, all executed with either budget or drug induced limitations.
Crank it up and have a party but don't waste it on your good speakers.
Long Overdue.......2006-08-26
Finally!!! Released on CD.......2004-04-27
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Pickin' on Joss Stone: The Bluegrass Sessions
Various Artists Manufacturer: Cmh Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000A2H9NO Release Date: 2005-08-23 |
Tracks:
- Right To Be Wrong
- Super Duper Love
- Less Is More
- Jet Lag
- Don't Cha Wanna Ride
- Killing Time
- You Had Me
- Sleep Like A Child
- Understand
- Victim Of A Foolish Heart
- Fell In Love With A Boy
Product Description
1. Right to be wrong
2. Super duper love
3. Less is more
4. Jet lag
5. Don't cha wanna ride
6. Killing time
7. You had me
8. Sleep like a child
9. Understand
10. Victim of a foolish heart
11. Fell in love with a boy
Format: CD
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Tuff and Stringy Sessions 1966-68
Clarence White Manufacturer: Big Beat UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00008IUWD Release Date: 2003-04-07 |
Tracks:
- Hong Kong Hillbilly (Nashville West) [Stereo]
- Mother-In-Law [Stereo]
- Make Up Your Mind [Stereo]
- Grandma Funderbunk's Music Box [Stereo]
- Guitar Pickin' Man [Stereo][#]
- Vaccination for the Blues [Stereo]
- Don't Pity Me [Mono Version] - Darrell Cotton, Clarence White
- Gotta Go See the World [Mono Version] - Leon Chase Copeland, Clarence White
- Everybody Has One But You [Mono Version][#] - The Kentucky Colonels, Clarence White
- She's Gone [Stereo][#]
- Tuff and Stringy [Stereo]
- I'm Tied Down to You [Mono Version]
- Hey Juliana [Stereo]
- Last Date [Stereo]
- I'll Live Today [Stereo] - Dennis Payne, Clarence White
- Not Enough of Me to Go Round [Stereo]
- Riff-Raff [Stereo]
- If We Could Read [Mono Version] - Darrell Cotton, Clarence White
- Rocks in My Head [Mono Version]
- Made of Stone [Mono Version][#] - The Kentucky Colonels, Clarence White
- Buckaroo [Stereo][#]
- Adam and Eve [Backing Track][#][Version]
- Why Can't We Be [Alternate Version]
- Nature's Child [Stereo][#]
- Tango for a Sad Mood [Stereo]
- If We Could Read [Backing Track][#] - Darrell Cotton, Clarence White
Album Description
Subtitled - Sessions 1966-68. Former Kentucky Colonel, future Byrd, & a true guitar legend, White defined the country guitar. Here he's showcased on country/folk-rock sessions from 1966-1968 including super rare singles, demos, & his first recordings as a soloist. Featuring previously unknown electrified demos by The Kentucky Colonels. 26 tracks plus a 20-page booklet featuring many rare photos & extensive liner notes. Ace. 2003.Album Details
Compilation of Rare Tracks by Future Byrds Guitar Hero, featuring his (Mainly Acoustic) Early Session Work, as Well as Tracks by the Kentucky Colonels and his First Recordings as a Soloist. Includes Detailed Sleevenotes.Customer Reviews:
Finally!.......2003-09-23
The Forward from Michelle White Bledsoe is quite moving, and Alec Palao's liner notes beatifully evoke this transitional period. A long awaited treasure for this Byrdnyrd!
CD Fills a Major Gap.......2003-06-12
CD Fills a Major Gap.......2003-06-11
GREAT RARE CLARENCE!!.......2003-05-23
I mean -some of it isn't the best of Clarence White granted but, for most people who are just starting their Clarence White experience they will hear just how versatile he was and what was going on around him from 67 -72.
Even if you are a hard core Clarence fan this stuff is great! and I must say a lot of "love" and attention went into the remastering of these tracks when need be. Please don't be put off by this other review- and no I am not on the record company's (ACE) payroll-
BIG DISAPPOINTMENT-DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.......2003-04-27
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The Telluride Sessions
Strength in Numbers Manufacturer: Mca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002O60 Release Date: 1989-05-11 |
Tracks:
- Future Man
- Texas Red
- Pink Flamingo
- Duke and Cookie
- One Winter's Night
- Macedonia
- Lochs of Dread
- No Apologies
- Slopes
- Blue Men of the Sahara
Customer Reviews:
THE seminal newgrass fusion album........2003-01-15
Those wishing a direct comparison between the two albums should start at the end of this one, with "Blue Men of the Sahara." After a somewhat "reserved" start, this track winds up with a fury that is every bit the equal of "Death by Triple Fiddle" on the STH album (where Bell, try as he might, just doesn't fit in with the group, in a way that might charitably called painful). Continuing in reverse order for a bit, "Slopes" gives Fleck, on banjo, and O'Connor, here on guitar, the opportunity to swap hot choruses; in my humble opinion, the best track on the album, thanks to Fleck's finger-bending (and mind-bending) work.
The triple-threat (fiddle, guitar, mandolin) talents of O'Connor are found throughout the album. As one who came rather late to the appreciation of this man's monster talents, it is a pleasant surprise to me to hear that he was in as fine and as fully-developed a form in 1988 as he is today.
Of the five, Meyer seems always to be the catalyst (as can be seen from all the subsequent albums he's been the focal point of throughout the years, mixing and matching the talents of all the individuals). With his inestimable contributions to this and later albums, it is difficult - but necessary - to keep in mind that he leads a second, and equally public, life as a classical contrabassist and composer!
This is a seminal album, setting down a genre more than a dozen years ago that is as hot and as fresh today as when it was first released. May it never go out of print. And, with the benefit of 60 collective years of subsequent work by these five, may they soon go back into the studio for a long-awaited sequel.
Bob Zeidler
The Best of the Best.......2000-06-15
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The Bluegrass Sessions
Janie Fricke Manufacturer: D.M. Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B0002NY82Q Release Date: 2004-08-17 |
Tracks:
- You Don't Know Love
- Goodbye Broken Heart
- Do Me With Love
- Faithless Love
- He's a Heartache
- Please Help Me, I'm Falling (In Love With You
- She's Single Again
- I'll Need Someone to Hold Me (When I Cry)
- Down to My Last Broken Heart
- Tell Me a Lie
- It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy
- Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby
- Ring of Fire [*]
Tracks:
- You Don't Know Love [DVD]
- Interview With Janie Fricke [DVD]
Customer Reviews:
Best in years.......2006-07-12
Alluring "Sessions".......2004-09-06
"The Bluegrass Sessions" is a parsimonious gathering of a few acoustic playing musicians with Fricke performing thirteen of her hits and album cuts culled from Fricke's albums from her 80s heydays right up till last year's "Tribute to Our Heroes." Despite being recorded over an amazing three day period (from 4/26/04 - 4/28/04), this album is by no means a slip slop, half-baked endeavor. With producer Bil VornDick-who mined similar territory for Ralph Stanley-providing the album's musical muscle, the album is understated, heartfelt and frankly, impressive. With the uncluttered sounding instrumentation, Fricke's voice is at the front and center of the mix. And Fricke sure has some affective pipes-she sings with an aching acquiescence common to some of her country music peers such as Tanya Tucker and Loretta Lynn. Such a vocal texture certainly served the former CMA Female Vocalist of the Year well on lachrymose ballads such as "Tell Me a Lie" and "It Ain't Easy Being Easy." Not since the late Tammy Wynette has anyone been able to so deftly expound on the loneliness as Fricke. Her performance here is par excellence-emotionally affecting, rich in intonations and nuanced with depth and dimension.
"You Don't Know Love," a Reba McEntire-ish ballad is the current single as well as a re-cut of her number 4 1984 hit. Revolving around the theme of kissing off an uncommitted lover, "You Don't Know Love" belies the bitter after taste of a love gone wrong. A nifty choice for the first single and to date the video has done very well on some country channels. Exhibiting a sense of fragility and quiet desperation, Fricke's rendition of Joe Souther's forlorn ballad "Faithless Love" is given a taut, but emotive reading. A little more optimistic is Johnny Cash's tribute to undying love "Ring of Fire" (which first appeared together with "Faithless Love" on Fricke's previous CD "Tribute to Our Heroes"), but somehow such sanguinity failed to be communicated through Fricke's tear-stained vocals.
On the lighter side is Fricke's number 2 1985 country hit "She's Single Again." As "She's Single Again" is sine qua nom to Fricke's repertoire, she must have performed this hit a zillion times in the (nearly) past decade. However, Fricke's performance here is still fresh and filled with verve showing that she has not lost the coy and sassiness inherent in this tale of a femme fatale who is still men hunting after her fourth or fifth divorce. Though John Schweers' "Do Me With Love," may not be the best worded song, Fricke offers a spirited performance augmented by some romantic sounding mandolin courtesy of Andy Leftwich.
Clocking in just a few minutes over half an hour, these 13 songs are concise, yet packed with heartfelt emotions. However, in view of the length of this album, I was wondering if it was Fricke's idea or DM Records conscious decision to just re-hash Fricke's greatest hits, albeit re-recorded in an acoustic setting. What about a couple of new songs? It's a rare treat that Fricke would grace us with an album, so what about a couple of new songs? Also, it would also be nice if Fricke could include a few more of her minor hits or album cuts. Over the years, Fricke has recorded some stellar album cuts and minor hits (such as "He's Out of My Life," "Lonely People," "But Love Me" amongst others) that are not available today, while many of her hits are available through the various assorted "greatest hits" collections. Nevertheless, these are minor quibbles; "Bluegrass Sessions" are sessions worthy of our undivided attention.
Music Album:
