We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
by: Bruce Springsteen
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Sales Rank: 1642
Sales Rank: 1642
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Music : We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions |
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Rating:  - * Springsteen's Best ... This is one of the best CDs I've ever owned. It is outstanding! Springsteen does a fabulous job on each and every song. He reaches your heart while singing to the Irish mother in Mrs. McGrath and comforts those listening to O Mary don't you weep. I cry every time I listen to his rendition of We Shall Overcome. It makes me remember how determined Martin Luther King was as he sacrified a scholarly life to march and withstand imprisonment to help us poor uneducated Southern black people. However, the songs on the CD aren't all about sorrow. I laugh every time I hear Old Froggie Went A Courtin. It was a song my sickly uncle sang to me when I was four or five. I was always on the lookout for a frog wedding in the Louisiana swamp. Deborah Savoy Rating: - * Great Fun!! ... Bruce and the gang sound like they had a whale of a time making this album. It's great fun to listen to in the car. My one criticism would be that Bruce tends to use a phony southern accent when he sings. Oh, and "Shenendoah," as others have pointed out, is the low point. Otherwise--kick up your heels! Rating: - * Back to the future ... This is indeed a wonderful rediscovery of American musical traditions which, I believe, are being relegated to the archives. The Smithsonian does a good job of protecting it from extinction.Bruce Springsteen has made the music and the free flowing atmosphere in which the music was originally sung, come alive in a contemporary setting. With all its rich complexity and diversity, American music has two dominant roots, those derived from European immigrants and those derived from African roots. As an avid listener, the dominant music of the past 20 years or so has been the African tradition. This evolved into Gospel, R&B, Blues, Hiphop, Rap and so on. Somewhere along the way, the other great tradition was being swamped, relegated to the archives and kept alive by small bands of people (such as those who have joined Springsteen in this recording at his farm). Contemporary 'country' music is also, I sadly believe, gotten distanced from the 'folk' tradition. It is in this context that I see this as a breakthrough album. Sprinsteen and his informal band of musicians play freely as this music was meant to be played and the joy comes out in the creation. This is not a simple rendition of Pete Seeger's songs, Springsteen and his group have made this their very own and by doing this they have made this wonderful tradition come alive again. You hear the sounds of the banjo and the mandoline, the accordian and the violine, the trumpet and saxophone as well as the B3 organ and piano and drums in purcussion that they would never have used a 100 years ago. It is street corner music, tavern music, gutter music and all the music that is rough and raw on the edges, that is sung and played unrehersed, with the same rawness, beauty and freedom. Do not expect well rehersed studio renditions. This is the very opposite of smooth pop and the American Idol. This album is an absolute treasure. Rating:  - * Caveat Emptor: listen before you buy ... I love all of Spingsteen's familiar styles: the anthemic rock, the moving ballad and the acoustic folk of the somber Nebraska. This album, however, simply does not appeal to me on any level. Perhaps it is because I was expecting some profundity, some soul stirring interpretations of the more serious songs associated with Pete Seeger. Unfortunately both the sounds and the songs disappoint, and the blend most of all. Many of the tracks are folk standards of the blandest type, like the introductory Old Dan Tucker. The exuberant treatment feels wasted on such repetitive, nonsensical lyrics. Some songs have a gospel undertone, like the classic We Shall Overcome with its soulful backing vocals, Jacob's Ladder with the rousing vocals of its gospel choir and the melancholy Shenandoah which is one of the few highlights. Still I prefer Bob Dylan's version on his album Down in the Groove. Others have a country feel like the authentic-sounding lament My Oklahoma Home with its powerful male backing vocals. Country also surfaces in the uptempo Pay Me My Money Down which is redeemed by an impressive arrangement and instrumental virtuosity. Others are really rock music, like O Mary Don't You Weep with its biblical imagery and the raucous John Henry, a fast-paced song with frisky fiddles and Bruce shouting too loudly. The slower numbers include the brooding Eyes On The Prize, Mrs McGrath and Erie Canal, a song with lovely banjo that incorporates jazzy improvisations in the instrumental sections. The tracks that I would listen to again are Jesse James, a lilting, energetic story song about the Robin Hood character, and of the aforementioned: Jacob's Ladder for its inspiring gospel voices, the melancholy My Oklahoma Home, Shenandoah with its spiritual undertone and maybe We Shall Overcome. Emblematic of the work as a whole, Froggie Went a Courtin' is the type of folk song that ought to remain restricted to kiddie's records. The video material on the recording, conversations with the musicians and the song videos contribute nothing to ameliorate the disappointment. Something went wrong somewhere. The wide array of instruments encompasses guitar, sax, banjo, organ, accordion, mandolin, viola, tuba, drums and trumpet, and the playing is mostly enthusiastic. The arrangements aren't always suitable to the song but not bad for the chosen style. Many song segments stand out for the appealing instrumentation. But the arrangements and instrumentation simply do not blend with Bruce's sometimes shouted & sometimes mumbled vocals. Judging by the reviews, this album is clearly enjoyed by multitudes, which I find incomprehensible. Yes, there's no accounting for taste and to each their own, but I am baffled as to why Springsteen fans would even find The Seeger Sessions listenable. Time will tell; history's verdict may be harsh. Rating: - * Bruce is no John Bon Jovi. ... Where to start..? Buy this album. It is one of the best folk albums I have ever heard. And they made it in New Jersey. New Jersey. Batten down the hatches, prepare for rapture. Things are not as we expected. I mean, this stuff is revelation. Now, I have always loved Bruce. Really loved him. Especially Nebraska, which I believe to be one of the greatest albums ever recorded. But this tops even that. Utter authenticity. Like 'Where Brother,' but even cleaner. And performed with sheer virtuosity. This is what real music sounds like. Let's just say that I doubt Courtney Cox is gonna get caught on film getting down to this.. |
It's three movies in one, beginning when punctuality-obsessed Federal Express systems engineer Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) departs on Christmas Eve to escort an ill-fated flight of FedEx packages. Following a mid-Pacific plane crash, movie number two chronicles Chuck's four-year survival on a remote island, totally alone save for a Wilson volleyball (aptly named "Wilson") that becomes Chuck's closest "friend." Movie number three leads up to Chuck's rescue and an awkward encounter with his ex-girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt, in a thankless role), for whom Chuck has seemingly risen from the grave.
It's fascinating to witness Chuck's emerging survival skills, and Hanks's remarkable physical transformation is matched by his finely tuned performance. With slow, rhythmic camera moves and brilliant use of sound, Zemeckis wisely avoids the postcard prettiness of The Black Stallion and The Blue Lagoon to emphasize the harshness of Chuck's ascetic solitude, and this stylistic restraint allows Cast Away to resonate more than one might expect. Even the final scene--which feels like a crowd-pleasing compromise--offers hope without shoving it down our throats. You may not feel the emotional rush that you're meant to feel, but Cast Away remains a respectable effort. --Jeff Shannon
It's three movies in one, beginning when punctuality-obsessed Federal Express systems engineer Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) departs on Christmas Eve to escort an ill-fated flight of FedEx packages. Following a mid-Pacific plane crash, movie number two chronicles Chuck's four-year survival on a remote island, totally alone save for a Wilson volleyball (aptly named "Wilson") that becomes Chuck's closest "friend." Movie number three leads up to Chuck's rescue and an awkward encounter with his ex-girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt, in a thankless role), for whom Chuck has seemingly risen from the grave.
It's fascinating to witness Chuck's emerging survival skills, and Hanks's remarkable physical transformation is matched by his finely tuned performance. With slow, rhythmic camera moves and brilliant use of sound, Zemeckis wisely avoids the postcard prettiness of The Black Stallion and The Blue Lagoon to emphasize the harshness of Chuck's ascetic solitude, and this stylistic restraint allows Cast Away to resonate more than one might expect. Even the final scene--which feels like a crowd-pleasing compromise--offers hope without shoving it down our throats. You may not feel the emotional rush that you're meant to feel, but Cast Away remains a respectable effort. --Jeff Shannon
