June 2008 Newsletter -------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday & Today Records P.O. Box 54 Miranda NSW 2228 Phone/Fax: (02) 9531-1710 --------------------------------------------------- Our walk in store is no more but that is about all that has changed. It was a frantic last couple of weeks and it was great to see so many special friends and supporters during that period. Fear not though, we will be continuing and expanding our mail order business. It will mean greater coverage and greater frequency of newsletters, which I can appreciate, is the only means many have of finding out about the wonderful music we carry. You can reach us 7 days a week. If I am out there is an answering machine and I will get back to you with the greatest of speed. This newsletter is largely devoted to sale items. BUT, there are some wonderful new releases and you can guarantee some of these will feature in the year end lists. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Postage rates will be same as before but read on and see how you can get free postage if you make any Bear Family order this month. Regular postage is 1 cd $2/ 2cds $3/ 3-4 cds $6 1 dvd $2/ 2-3 dvds $6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fayssoux – “Early” $28 Emmylou Harris fans, and there are one or two, may recognise the name as when she was married to prominent bluegrass/country man John Starling she was featured on several Emmylou Harris albums, most notably “Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town” where she even sang a duet with Emmy on “Green Rolling Hills”. She dropped out of the music biz as her marriage to Starling broke up and was rediscovered by accident by Nashville Writer and fellow Red Beet Records artis, Peter Cooper, who also does a fine job as producer. To say this album is spectacular doesn’t do it justice; to say it is up there with Kimmie Rhodes “West Texas Heaven”, Emmylou’s own “Roses in the Snow” and Iris Dement’s wondrous “Infamous Angel” does. It is that good. As well as Emmylou singing harmony we hear the voices of Sheryl and Sharon White, David Ball and Joy Lynn White. “The Blackest Crow” is so wonderfully beautiful with exquisite harmonies from Cooper and about 2/3 of the way through Emmy joins in and lifts it to another level. The saddest steel lines from the great Lloyd Green are a delight. Green shines throughout and on Fayssoux’x own “Early” he is prominent on dobro, something you may not normally associate with the great Nashville session man. “Save It, Save It’ has a country rock feel and is sung as a duet with Peter Cooper. Another great steel solo from Lloyd Green. Back to the folkier stuff on “I Know It’s Over” also written by Fayssoux and that harmony with Emmylou…what is that in mine eye…a tear I believe. Crowell’s “California Earthquake” is given a tender reading. “Amen Children” is given an upbeat bluegrass rendition and prominently features Ricky Skaggs on mandolin and the Whites. “Bugler” is about a dog and was previously done on the Byrds “Farther Along” album, “Walking Home in the Rain” is a top Paul Craft song previously done by Charlie Sizemore with Lloyd Green again taking a prominent role. The other songs are all right up there. This album should have happened years ago. Thank God it is here with us now. Peter Cooper “Mission Door” $28 Another case of why has it taken so long to get this album out. Cooper is an artist to be reckoned with. For comparison sake he sounds like a countrier Jackson Browne with a style similar to Radney Foster’s earlier albums with a touch of Rodney Crowell for good measure. He wrote 10 of the 12 songs on this with the others coming from Texas songwriter Eric Taylor. “Wine” (which I dedicate to my good mate The Cosmic Cowboy) is all about what wine “doesn’t” do for the singer. “Take Care” is about Townes Van Zandt and has some witty lines you could imagine Townes’ saying. The title comes from the message Townes’ left when he autographed an album for a young Peter Cooper….the only thing Townes himself didn’t do. Eric Taylor’s “Mission Door” features Taylor’s ex wife Nanci Griffith on the 2nd verse, Todd Snider on the 3rd verse and Fayssoux on the 4th verse (after Lloyd Green’s delightful dobro solo). They all harmonise on the final chorus. Goose Bump stuff. “They Hate Me” is jointly driven by Bill Lloyd’s guitar and Jason Ringenberg’s harmonica. “715 (For Hank Aaron)” is equal parts sport and racism with the reaction of people to Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s record. Great line about Babe Ruth not doing “performance enhancing drugs” but “performance restricting drugs”. “Andalusia” is about a town in Alabama where Hank Williams once lived. “Thin Wild Mercury” is a collaboration with Todd Snider, and features only Cooper on acoustic and Lloyd Green on steel guitar and is all about Phil Ochs. “Phil Ochs feel through the cracks: Judas went electric and never looked back” A stunning album. If you like any of the artists I’ve mentioned in this (and you can chuck in John Prine to the mix) you will love this album. Allen Frizzell “A Little Bit of Lefty Left in Me” $30 Allen is Lefty’s younger brother and a talent in his own right and with a voice stunningly similar to his older brother. Allen was married to Shelley West having been lead guitarist in Dotty West’s band (Dotty was Shelley’s mother). Shelley recorded with Allen’s older brother David and when she and Allen divorced that relationship also dissolved. He did one Lefty Tribute album in the 80s and only one other album before his 2007 gospel album. That other album “Piece of My Heart” is due to be released some time in 2008. Trust me it is spectacularly good. This Lefty tribute is also fine and even though a lot of the songs are familiar Allen does enough with them to make them that little bit different. The album features Pig Robbins on piano and Sonny Garrish on steel as well as Allen’s lead guitar and superb vocals. The title track is one of those goose bump inducing things that is an absolute knock out. The album ends with the Lefty gospel song “We Crucified Our Jesus” and like all good things leaves us wanting more. David Frizzell joins Allen on “I Never Go Around Mirrors”. Kathy Mattea “Coal” $28 Another delight. The inspiration behind this was the Sago mine disaster in 2006 in which 12 miners lost their lives. This was in Kathy’s home state of West Virginia. Comparisons are bound to be made with Patty Loveless’ career album “Mountain Soul” which also dealt with aspects of coal mining but not as fully as on this album They both do great renditions of Darrell Scott’s “I’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” and both versions co-exist wonderfully well. If there has ever been a better song about coal mining than Merle Travis’s “Dark as a Dungeon” I have not heard it. Kathy has us hanging on every word and the conversational style of the song fits her to a t. Backing is first class throughout and credit must go to producer Marty Stuart who keeps things just right and allows Kathy’s voice to shine through. Marty and Stuart Duncan both make strong musical contributions. She covers the works of Jean Ritchie and Hazel Dickens whose song “Black Lung’ about the scourge of coal miners may be the most powerful song here. I subscribe to the theory that all great country singing by a female is folk based and I have every reason to put this forward as a classic example. She has come a long way from being a Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the year but this album is just so riveting, intense, dark and yes beautiful I don’t think she’d trade it for 10 of those awards. I always though Kathy was a fabulous folkie and this proves it. Chime Bells: Best of country Yodel Volume 3 $32 Jasmine UK. Compiler Paul Hazell lived in Australia during the 80s and early 90s and gained a great appreciation of early Australian country music. It is not surprising then that there is quite a few Australian artists featured in the generous 27 tracks. Rather obscure artists such as George Payne stand along side the likes of Reg Lindsay and Canadian artists such as Donn Reynolds and Alberta Slim. There are some great female yodellers too including one time Bob Wills’ member Carolina Cotton and the great Patsy Montana. Very well put together and a must for yodel fans. Leland Martin – “I’ll Pick the Guitar, You Drive the Truck” $28 Third album by Leland had me holding my breath waiting for the first track to begin. You see his debut “Simply Traditional” was one of the best independent country albums we have ever carried. It hade an Alan Jackson meets John Anderson feel and was right up there with the classic and brilliant songs of both artists with the title track perhaps being one of the best 5 independent tracks of all time. The second album, simply called “Leland Martin” was an overly radio friendly outing that failed in every area in which the debut succeeded. I am pleased to advise this album is everything the second was not and may even be better than the first, which is hard to believe.