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Come on Come On
(more) »rank: 12694by: Mary Chapin Carpenter
: essential recording:Skeptics might say that Carpenter's smash version of Lucinda Williams's 'Passionate Kisses' pales beside the tougher original, or that Mary Chapin is but a folkie in poor-fitting country clothes. They're not exactly wrong, but her million-selling third album finds its charm in a spare Americana sound and smart, imaginative material. Carpenter bridges country and folk audiences, much as Emmylou Harris has done, and as few others have managed. And she's a better singer than generally recognized. Originals such as 'I Am a Town' and the title cut are genuinely evocative, and 'Walking Through Fire' and 'I Take My Chances' have an ...
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The Soul & The Edge: The Best of Johnny Paycheck
(more) »rank: 6663by: Johnny Paycheck
: :In 1970, after a string of not-quite hits and hard luck, Johnny Paycheck was singing for drinks in L.A. when Countrypolitan maestro Billy Sherrill gave him a second shot at a career. Paycheck's Epic debut with the producer, 'She's All I Got,' became a country smash and initiated a decade-long stint at the label that included the most commercially successful and some of the most emotionally complex work of his career (his much admired earlier sides--collected on the out-of-his-head The Real Mr. Heartache--notwithstanding). The Soul & the Edge draws from this fertile tenure, and though it omits a large number of charting hits ...
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16 Biggest Hits
(more) »rank: 5853by: Charlie Rich
: :In 1970, after a string of not-quite hits and hard luck, Johnny Paycheck was singing for drinks in L.A. when Countrypolitan maestro Billy Sherrill gave him a second shot at a career. Paycheck's Epic debut with the producer, 'She's All I Got,' became a country smash and initiated a decade-long stint at the label that included the most commercially successful and some of the most emotionally complex work of his career (his much admired earlier sides--collected on the out-of-his-head The Real Mr. Heartache--notwithstanding). The Soul & the Edge draws from this fertile tenure, and though it omits a large number of charting hits ...
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Dreaming My Dreams
(more) »rank: 34944by: Waylon Jennings
: essential recording:As Jennings introduces the live take of 'Bob Wills is Still the King' that closes this otherwise studio-bound album, one rowdy audience member yells a drunken affirmation. Or maybe something else, given that Jennings breaks off mid-sentence, seemingly ready to leap into the crowd and open a Texas-size can of whup-ass on the guy. That he doesn't--and gives a smoking read of the song instead--is emblematic of the success of 1975's Dreaming My Dreams. Not yet having succumbed to the overblown boasts of 'I've Always Been Crazy' that sold millions of records later in the decade, he's content here to wryly ...
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Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)
(more) »rank: 6444by: Willie Nelson
: essential recording:As Jennings introduces the live take of 'Bob Wills is Still the King' that closes this otherwise studio-bound album, one rowdy audience member yells a drunken affirmation. Or maybe something else, given that Jennings breaks off mid-sentence, seemingly ready to leap into the crowd and open a Texas-size can of whup-ass on the guy. That he doesn't--and gives a smoking read of the song instead--is emblematic of the success of 1975's Dreaming My Dreams. Not yet having succumbed to the overblown boasts of 'I've Always Been Crazy' that sold millions of records later in the decade, he's content here to wryly ...
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Escondida
(more) »rank: 26279by: Jolie Holland
: :Jolie Holland's first album recorded in an actual studio is a sumptuous affair that extends her indie country and folk sound further into the realms of old-school jazz and country blues. But this is no quaint revivalism; ye olde sounds are made modern by smart lyrics that reference feminist writer/adventurer Isabelle Eberhardt on the whimsical 'Old Fashion Morphine,' or that speak of 'a couple of food stamps and a caffeine buzz' on 'Poor Girl.' The arrangements are subtle and sophisticated, showing more breadth than those on her debut, Catalpa, with fewer instruments in the way of her superlative voice. Her singing has such ...
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Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen
(more) »rank: 49525by: Various Artists
: :If ever an artist deserved the tribute-album treatment, it's Leonard Cohen, an intermittently fascinating songwriter but perhaps the worst singer to ever release more than one major-label album. Cohen has never written a song which couldn't be improved by someone else singing it, and it's no coincidence that he's been the subject of three tribute albums. The latest is Tower of Song, which turns Cohen's work over to such middle-brow pop stars as Don Henley, Billy Joel, and Suzanne Vega. The results from this new project are mixed. Melodramatic, angst-ridden vocals by Tori Amos ('Famous Blue Raincoat') and Peter Gabriel ('Suzanne') emphasize Cohen's ...
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Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts
(more) »rank: 16397by: Various Artists
: :If ever an artist deserved the tribute-album treatment, it's Leonard Cohen, an intermittently fascinating songwriter but perhaps the worst singer to ever release more than one major-label album. Cohen has never written a song which couldn't be improved by someone else singing it, and it's no coincidence that he's been the subject of three tribute albums. The latest is Tower of Song, which turns Cohen's work over to such middle-brow pop stars as Don Henley, Billy Joel, and Suzanne Vega. The results from this new project are mixed. Melodramatic, angst-ridden vocals by Tori Amos ('Famous Blue Raincoat') and Peter Gabriel ('Suzanne') emphasize Cohen's ...
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High, Low And In Between/Late Great
(more) »rank: 9293by: Townes Van Zandt
:Album Description:UK reissue of original 1972 Poppy label album. Musicians include Larry Carlton & David Cohen (ex-Country Joe & The Fish). Includes detailed sleevenotes. :Packaged as two albums on one disc, these are among the best of Van Zandt's erratic studio recordings. The first is often overlooked, but it has many songs of dark, marvelous realism, true and accurate as arrows. Kevin Eggers's production is never heavy or busy: he mostly lets the songs breathe beside piano and guitar. And the poetic heights of the title track and 'The Highway Kind' are remarkable by any standard. Late Great is important for a little ...
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One for the Road
(more) »rank: 3584by: Willie Nelson, Leon Russell
:Album Description:UK reissue of original 1972 Poppy label album. Musicians include Larry Carlton & David Cohen (ex-Country Joe & The Fish). Includes detailed sleevenotes. :Packaged as two albums on one disc, these are among the best of Van Zandt's erratic studio recordings. The first is often overlooked, but it has many songs of dark, marvelous realism, true and accurate as arrows. Kevin Eggers's production is never heavy or busy: he mostly lets the songs breathe beside piano and guitar. And the poetic heights of the title track and 'The Highway Kind' are remarkable by any standard. Late Great is important for a little ...
