Customer Rating: Summary: Great Album -- Who Knew Charlie's Country Music Past? Comment: I've heard Charlie Haden in varied contexts for many years - usually jazz, sometimes off-beat projects such as his contributions to Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill. But like many others, I had no idea that he grew up in one of those 1930's small town country radio families. It's like learning that Jozef Zawinul is the lost Louvin Brother or that Johnny Cash's band was the Tennessee Three before Dave Brubeck left.
In Rambling Boy, Charlie Haden makes a nostalgic, wistful and joyful return to the old-time country and gospel music he grew up playing. And he brings the whole family. The Haden Triplets (Petra, Rachel & Tanya - all better known in very different styles of music) deliver terrific 3-part harmonies, appropriately chirpy on the musically upbeat/lyrically downbeat "Single Girl, Married Girl." Son-in-law Jack Black begged his way onto the album for a suitably rambunctious "Old Joe Clark." It probably will not reappear on his next Tenacious D project.
Rambling may well be the operative term here. Much of the material sounds like the Soggy Bottom Boys repertoire from "O Brother Where Art Thou" (especially on the tracks where George Clooney's movie voice, Dan Tyminski, sings) but Haden pal Pat Metheny helps take the project into areas familiar to those who know Metheny's jazz CDs. Some times it works - the solos by Metheny and Jerry Douglas rescue "The Fields of Athenry" from getting cloying and clichéd. But sometimes, he sounds like he's just on the wrong album. And the album really did not need his instrumental "Is This America? (Katrina 2005)" - even if I agree with the sentiment behind it. He's not on most of the album, so no real harm done. Bruce Hornsby chimes in with an uncharacteristically ominous and effective 20/20 Vision. Elvis Costello once again reminds us of the injustice of his being born in England by singing the Hank Williams classic "You Win Again."
In any event, this album is so packed in its 19 tracks that many different sets can be gleaned from the album with judicious deletions from your iPod or skipping a few tracks with your remote control. There are a few songs that are just too earnest for my tastes, and I suspect most folks will bring the 19 tracks down to a more manageable and cohesive album to their liking. It's well worth the effort.
Customer Rating: Summary: Tore me apart and put me back together again Comment: So much talent, so much shear musical joy is given in this CD. Crying, laughing, joy and pain enough to tear you apart and put you back together again. Thanks to all the fine performers and their musical gifts they present to us.
Highly recommend!! Customer Rating: Summary: One of the Most Remarkable Recordings of 2008 Comment: By now, you undoubtedly know the back story. In the 1940's Carl Haden, Sr. was the patriarch of the singing Haden family. They hosted a radio show from their hometown of Shenandoah, Iowa. This was the midwestern counterpart to "The Grand Ol' Opry." The Haden family sang country folk songs, and the Haden counterpart to Michael of the Jackson family or Donny of the Osmond family was 2 year old yodelin' "Cowboy Charles."
But 10 years or so later, Charlie Haden had gravitated to jazz, and by 1958, he was the bassist in one of the most revolutionary recordings in jazz history, Ornette Coleman's "The Shape of Jazz To Come." That recording sounded 20 years ahead of its time - and still does. At that point, Charlie Haden was a 21-year-old wunderkind.
However, as the years rolled on, Mr. Haden proved that he was more than "just" a musician "searching for the notes outside of the chord." He expanded his horizons, including a beautiful 1994 recording with the legendary pianist, Hank Jones, of Negro spirituals.
And now, as a senior citizen, Charlie Haden has come full circle. As the new patriarch of the singing Haden family (featuring his triplet daughters, Petra, Tanya and Rachel; his son, Josh; his wife, Ruth; and his son-in-law, actor Jack Black), he has recreated the Haden family radio show - with 21st century sound.
And perhaps as a tribute to his greatness and his influence, Charlie Haden has recruited the most interesting gaggle of musicians to help the family. From the jazz world, we have the legendary guitarist, Pat Metheny; from the jazz cum rock world, we have the legendary pianist, Bruce Hornsby; from the country world, we have the legendary Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill; we have the crackerjack country/bluegrass sidemen, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and mouth harpist Buddy Greene; and joining the festivities for a song are the legendary Rosanne Cash and the peripatetic Elvis Costello.
This is not a "jazz-country" album. The two genres don't mix well, and there are precious few such recordings to choose from. (The best one I can think of is Chet Atkins and Les Paul, "Chester & Lester," ca. 1978)
Instead, it is a single-minded attempt by a number of gifted musicians from different genres to re-create the best sounding folk-country album imaginable. And they succeed.
2008 was bookended by two remarkable albums: Otis Taylor's "Recapturing the Banjo" at year's beginning, and this one at year's end. American music is alive and very well. RC Customer Rating: Summary: Interesting Recording Comment: I have long been a fan of Charlie Haden's jazz recordings. This recording is interesting and worth having, although I continue to prefer his jazz work. Customer Rating: Summary: Great Comment: I heard Mr. Haden on Terry Grosse being interviewed and I had to have this great CD.
It is full of years of talent, and a good variety of styles. I play it more than any CD I have right now.
Highly recommend this album.
Listeners familiar with the Charlie Haden's celebrated career may not know of the legendary jazz bassist's early years in country music performing with his family. Charlie Haden Family & Friends: Rambling Boy brings the artist's personal history full circle and presents a new generation of the Haden Family - a legendary Midwest music institution in the 1930s and 1940s, now reborn in the 21st century. Rambling Boy includes songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Hank Williams alongside fabled traditional tunes and some striking original compositions. The performing cast includes Haden, his wife and co-producer Ruth Cameron, all four of his children (the triplets Petra, Rachel and Tanya Haden, their brother Josh Haden), and his son-in-law Jack Black-- each of whom has his or her own career in music. In addition, Rambling Boy features guest appearances by some of the most illustrious names in contemporary Americana and popular music: Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Vince Gill, Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs & the Whites, and Dan Tyminski and also includes such illustrious musicians as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton and more.
Featured Guest Artists:
Ruth Cameron
Josh Haden
Tanya Haden
Rachel Haden
Petra Haden
Bruce Hornsby
Roseanne Cash
Ricky Skaggs & the Whites
Vince Gill
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