Editorial Review:

Album Description:
In an unmatched outpouring of virtuosity and energy, Vince Gill has created a 4-CD set of 43 new and original songs that MCA Records will release Oct. 17 under the title These Days. The collection is an artistic tour de force that displays Gill’s mastery of lyrics and musical styles, ranging from traditional country and bluegrass to jazz and rock.

'I started looking at all these songs I had,' the amiable superstar explains, 'and going, ‘Shoot, I want to record that song, and I want to record that song.’ I just kept checking with the other musicians to see if they were available. I had no deadlines, no rules or anything like that. So I just kept trying songs.'

To accompany him on this ambitious undertaking, Gill turned both to artists he knew and had worked with before and to those whose music he admired at a distance. 'I never try to fill up my records with famous people,' Gill says. 'I try to fill them up with the most talented people I can find on the face of the earth.' By the time the project was completed, that group included Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Rodney Crowell, Phil Everly, the Del McCoury Band, Emmylou Harris, John Anderson, Lee Ann Womack, Jenny Gill, Amy Grant, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Guy Clark, Trisha Yearwood, Bekka Bramlett, Michael McDonald, steel-guitar master Buddy Emmons and many other musical standouts.

Initially, Gill planned to pare down the songs he’d recorded to a single album. Then, in one of the studios he used, he spotted some Beatles memorabilia and recalled that the Fab Four had routinely released multiple albums within the same year.

Gill took the idea to Luke Lewis, Universal Music Group Nashville Co-Chairman, who totally supported his notion of multiple releases. In fact, Lewis came up with an even more radical strategy: he told Vince to go and record more songs that explore his passion for acoustic sounds and release a 4-CD set. And that’s exactly what happened.

Gill co-produced These Days with famed keyboardist John Hobbs and sound engineering whiz Justin Niebank.

Amazon.com:
These new recordings of mostly recent Gill compositions are the culmination of a project aimed at recording four distinct albums: rock, romance, vintage honky-tonk, and acoustic. The Rockin' Record, virtually perfect from start to finish, begins with 'Workin' on a Big Chill,' its swampy groove straight out of John Fogerty and a showcase for Gill's guitar virtuosity--a groove he resumes on 'Cowboy Up,' with cameo harmonies from Gretchen Wilson. 'Sweet Thing' and a duet with Rodney Crowell on 'Nothin' for a Broken Heart' pulsate with Chuck Berry intensity that contrasts with the solid, '60s Memphis groove of 'Bet It All on You.' The Reason Why showcases Gill's legendary ease with ballads, several of them enhanced by creative string arrangements by David Campbell (Beck's father), including 'What You Don't Say' with LeAnn Rimes and 'The Memory of You' with Trisha Yearwood. The stunning 'Faint of Heart,' a remarkably sultry jazz duet with Diana Krall, could become a standard. Some Things Never Get Old revisits classic fiddle-steel honky-tonk, music Gill has long reverenced and referenced. 'This New Heartache' is straight out of Ray Price. Gill and Patty Loveless tear up 'Out of My Mind' and Allison Krauss and Dan Tyminski join in for the waltz 'I Can't Let Go.' 'Don't Pretend with Me' honors Ernest Tubb's honky-tonk primitivism. Little Brother, all-acoustic and often bluegrass-flavored, shines from beginning to end. Along with 'Molly Brown,' a stark cautionary about racial violence, Gill sings both 'Cold Gray Light of Dawn' and 'Give Me the Highway' with the Del McCoury Band. He and Guy Clark close it out with 'Almost Home.' Despite outstanding past efforts, Gill--one of the top hitmakers of the '90s--hasn't had a Top Ten single since 2000. No matter. His talents and the heart he puts into his writing, singing, and picking remain at their peak. This stellar collection proves it--four times over. --Rich Kienzle









Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

---

Related Items:
     see more

Related Items:

• A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection
• It Just Comes Natural
• Like Red on a Rose
• Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing
• River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive
• see more

---

Disc 1:

1. Workin’ On A Big Chill
2. Love’s Standin’
3. Cowboy Up (featuring Gretchen Wilson)
4. Sweet Thing
5. Bet It All On You
6. Nothin’ For A Broken Heart (Duet w/Rodney Crowell)
7. Son Of A Ramblin’ Man (featuring Del McCoury)
8. Smilin’ Song (featuring Michael McDonald)
9. The Rhythm Of The Pourin’ Rain (featuring Bekka Bramlett)
10. Nothin’ Left To Say

Disc 2:

1. All Prayed Up
2. Cold Gray Light Of Gone (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
3. A River Like You (featuring Jenny Gill)
4. Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve
5. Molly Brown
6. Girl (Guest Vocalist: Rebecca Lynn Howard)
7. Give Me The Highway (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
8. Sweet Augusta Darlin’
9. Little Brother
10. Almost Home (Duet w/Guy Clark)

Disc 3:

1. This New Heartache
2. The Only Love
3. Out Of My Mind (featuring Patty Loveless)
4. The Sight Of Me Without You
5. I Can’t Let Go (featuring Alison Krauss & Dan Tyminski)
6. Don’t Pretend With Me
7. Some Things Never Get Old (featuring Emmylou Harris)
8. Sweet Little Corrina (featuring Phil Everly)
9. If I Can Make Mississippi (featuring Lee Ann Womack)
10. Take This Country Back (Duet w/John Anderson)

Disc 4:

1. What You Don't Say (featuring LeAnn Rimes)
2. The Reason Why (featuring Alison Krauss)
3. The Rock Of Your Love (featuring Bonnie Raitt)
4. What You Give Away (featuring Sheryl Crow)
5. Faint Of Heart (Duet w/Diana Krall)
6. Time To Carry On (featuring Jenny Gill)
7. No Easy Way
8. This Memory Of You (featuring Trisha Yearwood)
9. How Lonely Looks
10. Tell Me One More Time About Jesus (featuring Amy Grant)
11. Everything And Nothing (featuring Katrina Elam)
12. Which Way Will You Go
13. These Days

Rating: - * Vince Scores A Grand Slam ... Incredibly talented, his operatic voice in full display, Vince is a true superstar of music, country or otherwise. A steal at the price, too. Rating: - * Best Vince Gill recording ever!! ... Vince Gill's beautiful tenor soars and on other songs makes your throat tight from emotion on this CD. I consider this one of his BEST I've heard so far! Rating: - * Glad I bought it ... I like every CD of this set. The music was good, nice arrangements and good musicians, plus Vince Gill's good guitar playing and singing. Very versatile musician this man is. Rating: - * Tour de Force of Country and Pop music ... I've been a Vince Gill fan for some years. Seeing him on Austin City Limits was what introduced me to him. I was impressed with his traditional country roots but modern presentation. His bands were always good too. Over the years, I began to realize that he not only sings, he writes the tunes as well. And with the release of the Eric Clapton Texas Guitar Summit video, I realized that he's one of the best new wave of Telecaster players. The man is an all around musician. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me when I discovered the These Days 4 disc collection. When I first considered it, I thought there was a pretty good chance that a lot of the package had to be filler. That's a lot of tunes, and as I read the titles, I realized they mostly seemed to be originals. The discs are organized by genre. Theres a bluegrass disc, a country and western disc, a pop disc and a country rock disc. I'll bet you didn't consider that you could break it down into that many subjects, but as I say the man is in control, and he knows what he's doing. There's a lot of great material here. Let us say without reviewing each and every tune, that there isn't any filler here. Overall the recordings are above average. There's a host of country royalty here, and some younger players somewhat out of their element. Gill has galvanized all that talent into 4 very good discs that are well worth the price of admission. If anything, I'm a little disappointed that they didn't let him play more guitar solos, but then he's a professional himself and knows that its hard to sell instrumental music. Its the tunes that standout here. There's a ton of good writing, and everything is polished shiny. Zoot says check it out. Rating: - * These Days by Vince Gill ... This album has something for everyone. It has country, bluegrass and slow and mellow music. The bluegrass is by far my favorite. Also the background musicians are fabulous.