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Has anyone else heard this? My dad gave it to me for Christmas, but it got misplaced on the drive back, and I'm enjoying it today for the first time. The album is a fundraiser for "American Roots Publishing", according to the liner notes, and there are some incredible tracks on it. Actually, almost all of them are incredible. I mean, I'm biased, having thought that Foster is one of the most amazing writer/composers of popular music EVER since I was about 7 or 8, but really. The artists each seem to have picked a song that they really resonate with, and bring it to life in an incredible way. "Slumber, My Darling", which I had always thought of as a pretty but fairly undistinguished lullaby, brought tears to my eyes in the hands of Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor and Alison Krauss. "Nelly Was a Lady", always a great song, is perfectly complimented by Alvin Youngblood Hart's understated, slightly rough, gently country voice. "Willie We Have Missed You", which was written with real feeling and which I have always loved, despite its traditional comic treatment, is done true justice by Grey De Lisle's tender whispering; you can just hear the pathos and longing of separation and the joy in reunion so great that tears come instead of smiles in each word she sings. Of course, there are very cool, mostly unusual (as in, not the same-old same-old) renditions of all Foster's favorites, like "Beautiful Dreamer", "Camptown Races", "Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home", and the others, as well as some you may never have heard. It's just delightful. If you enjoy good acoustic music, I highly recommend you try to get your hands on this album (although at least one track is electric ), and whether you haven't heard much of Foster or you're a life-long fan, as I am, you'll discover depth and layers in his music that you never knew could be there. This album is going to remain one of our favorites for a long, long time, I can tell.
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Oh, my. "Hard Times" just started playing again, and I couldn't believe I forgot it. It's sung by Mavis Staples, and it's just... wow. Always one of my favorite songs, it definitely stands up to a "gospel" treatment. *bawls*
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For my Vocal Performance class, I wrote a review of an album of Stephen Foster songs as performed by the American tenor Thomas Hampson . It was one of the most incredible albums I've ever listened to. Hampson's voice is absolutely marvelous to hear. In my essay I compared my listening experience to swimming naked in a huge bowl full of banana pudding (without the Nilla wafers.) Once you get over your inhibitions, you find yourself surrounded by silky-smooth goodness, and you want nothing more than to just want to envelope yourself in it and remain in that state for as long as you possibly can. Too bad I forget the name of the album . . . give me a sec, I'll look it up.
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I love that album! We had it as a kid, and we listened to it over and over and over on car trips. It also has Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, IIRC. They are two of my favorite musicians.
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Seriously? That must be so cool! My dad hangs out in musician circles (yes, many of them are professional/ semipro musicians), and there are some awesome jams (I always got to go by virtue of relation, and they started inviting me myself when they found out I sing, play percussion, and know the words to all their favorite folk songs-- ALL the words ), but I can just imagine what they would contribute to it!
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I am very fond of their version of "Home Grown Tomatoes". It reminds me of singing it with my friend Richard.
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), and whether you haven't heard much of Foster or you're a life-long fan, as I am, you'll discover depth and layers in his music that you never knew could be there. This album is going to remain one of our favorites for a long, long time, I can tell.
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A great waltz, too. I haven't heard this particular album, though.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
