Dreams and Saturday Nights

1. Bayou Girl

2. Hard Liquor, Cold Women, Warm Beer

3. Poisoned at the Well

4. Dreams & Saturday Nights

5. You Can't Win

6. Year We Tried to Kill the Pain

7. This Broken Heart

8. Alright

9. Caroline

10. I'm Standing Here (With Both Knees on the Ground)

11. I'm the Train

Tracks:

Bayou Girl
Hard Liquor, Cold Women, Warm Beer
Poisoned at the Well
Dreams & Saturday Nights
You Can't Win
Year We Tried to Kill the Pain
This Broken Heart
Alright
Caroline
I'm Standing Here (With Both Knees on the Ground)
I'm the Train

Customer Reviews:

The Greatest Country Album Of The 90's.......2006-11-09

The title of my review is not an exaggeration. Dreams & Saturday Nights is the greatest country album of the 90's. There is no doubt in my mind.

I was lucky enough to find and purchase a used promo version of Dreams & Saturday Nights within a couple months of its 1994 release. I paid $1. That was the best dollar I've ever spent in my life. I've cherished Dreams & Saturday Nights ever since. I cannot figure out for the life of me why it didn't sell. The songwriting is amazing. Bob has a classic singing voice. The music avoids all early 90's country pitfalls and sounds like it could have been released twenty years earlier. Emmylou Harris even shows up to offer harmony vocals. It should have been huge.

If you like real country music, then it is your obligation to seek out a copy of Dreams & Saturday Nights for yourself. There are lots of used copies and promos floating around and most can be had for a few bucks. You will not regret it. Also, be on the lookout for Bob Woodruff's sophomore release, Desire Road. It's not as good as Dreams & Saturday Nights, but it's still a minor classic in its own right.

(I got to see Bob Woodruff perform at the Borderline in London in the summer of 1995. He put on a great show and I bought him a beer afterwards. We briefly discussed his career and then he disappeared into the night with a bevy of British cowgirls. I don't believe he's been heard from since.)

Can't understand why this album didn't sell.......2006-10-04

A few weeks ago I heard "The Year We Tried to Kill the Pain" on KXCI, Tucson AZ's great community radio station. Halfway throught the song I was thinking I know this voice, this is really good, I have to find this album. At the end of the set, Michael Hyatt the host of "Route 66" announced Bob Woodruff from the album "Dreams and Saturday Nights" Since I have the fine "Desire Road" I was familiar with Bob Woodruff's work. Within ten minutes I was searching Amazon for "Dreams and Saturday Nights" I would have bought the CD just for "The Year We Tried to Kill the Pain" but, after reading the only review on Amazon I knew had to have this album. This album is better then the 5-star review said. It is sad commentary that an artist as talented as Bob Woodruff, with great songs and excellant musicians doesn't sell enough albums to keep a recording contract. But that is the sorry state of country radio and commerical radio in general. I'll probably buy another copy just to ensure I always have this album. Buy this CD, you will not regret it.

One of the best country albums of the past 10 years.......2004-05-25

Bob Woodruff's "Dreams and Saturday Nights" is one of my favorite albums of the past decade. It's also one of the most tragically overlooked CDs in the history of country music. One can only hope for a remastered & expanded re-issue and a career comeback for this talented troubadour. Until then, you'll have to settle for a new or used cut-out.

"Dreams" positively teems with first-rate songwriting, compelling, twangy vocals and top-notch musicianship, including some of the tastiest lead guitar you'll ever hear on a country album. Several cuts feature James Burton, the "master of the Telecaster" whose previous gigs include backing up Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley and Gram Parsons. Indeed, Parsons - the former Byrd, Flying Burrito Brother and patron saint of alt.country - is clearly one of Woodruff's key musical touchstones, and "The Year We Tried to Kill the Pain" is a worthy companion piece to Parson's classic road-trip memoir,"Return of the Grievious Angel."

Woodruff is a NYC native who got hooked on country music at age 20, when he started fumbling through his Dad's record stash and discovered such legends as George Jones and Merle Haggard. Woodruff drove his GTO from Greenwich Village to Nashville, got signed to Asylum and released this gem of an album in 1994. (He was 34.)

Unfortunately, Woodruff's brand of country was simply too uncut and honky-tonkin' to garner much airplay on contemporary country radio, which for the last couple of decades has mainly rewarded bland, cheesecake/beefcake performers, lame-but-upbeat songwriting, and a shameful detachment from the raw excitement of country's roots. All 3 singles from "Dreams" flopped, and despite moving to a new label (Imprint) and releasing a really good follow-up album, 1997's "Desire Road," Woodruff couldn't pry himself from country music's periphery. Both "Dreams" and "Desire" won widespread critical acclaim, but that didn't stop 'em from going out of print. Thankfully, both are typically available as cut-outs from third-party CD sellers linked to Amazon.com.

If you are a fan of alt.country like Wilco or the Old '97s ... ragged-but-right pioneers like Merle, George and Hank Sr. ... and/or intelligent modern renegades like Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam or Rodney Crowell, you're going to love this album. From the serious twang and cajun flavorings of the opening "Bayou Girl," to "I'm the Train," the poignant duet with Emmylou Harris that closes the album, "Dreams and Saturday Nights" is a knock-out. Each one of its 11 cuts is strong, and Woodruff is equally comfortable waxing humorous on "Hard Liquor, Cold Women, Warm Beer" and wearing his heart completely on his sleeve, as he does on several cuts. "Caroline" chokes me up every time I hear it.

You'd be hard pressed to find 3 better consecutive songs on ANY CD than "Dreams and Saturday Nights," "You Can't Win," and "The Year We Tried to Kill the Pain." In 12 1/2 minutes, these 3 rockin' gems cover a mind-boggling expanse of emotional terrain, from heartache, guilt & longing, to hope, the joys of excess and the sheer bliss of losing yourself in a great song, whether it's country, rock, R&B or Irish folk.

Country needs more daring visionaries like Woodruff. If you've read this far, I'm pretty sure you'll fall in love with this album. Everyone I've played it for during the past decade has done just that. If you buy it and like it, share "Dreams" with a few of your friends. Together, we might be able to get Bob's career back on track.

Music Album:

Music Album