Americana Master Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years

James McMurtry | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 13, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000MGBS94
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,188 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, lovely to listen to (yes, I said "lovely"), June 9, 2007

By 

H. Holley C. (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Americana Master Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years (Audio CD)

I can see planets moving in the cosmos when I listen to James McMurtry. This is an album full of great tracks. I've got other recordings of some of them, and I wouldn't prioritize any over others, because James McMurtry is so emotive that ...any particular day, even if you get a different sound, it's a good one. But for a good set of recordings on a single CD you can leave in the player or take on a trip, this is nice. I am enjoying it time and time again, and will most likely listen more to this album than my older ones, unless I'm on a huge James kick, and want to hear more of a range.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Cream of McMurtry's Middle Period, December 2, 2009

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Americana Master Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years (Audio CD)

James McMurtry had a brush with major label fame when his John Mellencamp produced Too Long in the Wasteland brought him attention in the early 90's. James' lyrically brusque songs echoed Mellencamp's worldview, and the McMurtry family tradition of quality wordsmithing covered the album like so much dustbowl dirt. But that attention was short lived, and CBS let James go after three albums. The roots label Sugar Hill scooped him up, and this compilation covers three albums between 1997 through 2002.

It's a good baker's dozen covering James' oft-told favorite stories; losers that have given up ("60 Acres"), the decline of the world as we know it ("No More Buffalo") and those that wrestle with our inner demons (the amazing "Choctaw Bingo"). These are not 'feel-good' songs, pointed out bluntly by the first song's family-infight over grandma's farm and the will the family squabbles over in "60 Acres."

Glory glory, Hallelujah,
Right back at'cha, don't she look natural.
Don't look at me like there's something growing out of my head!
Just 'cause that old bird's dead."

There's the alcoholic trying to regain control right after in "Every Little Bit Counts," and the dry delivery to "Broken Bed" underscores the pain of the singer's romantic break-up. And when the occasion calls for it, he can turn a phrase with the best of them, like "Fast as I Can's" tale of "a drinking man with a guitar problem."

While the political detonation that occurred on 2005's Childish Things "We Can't Make it Here" had yet to reach its flash-point, "The Best Of The Sugar Hill Years" presents a rootsy singer with a hard-boiled journalist's eye. James McMurtry belongs in the same company as Steve Earle, Don Henley and Mellencamp. This is a great place to make a discovery, then go back for more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Larry McMurtry's writing skill with a solid musical background, May 29, 2008

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Americana Master Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years (Audio CD)

This is the best of James McMurtry's earlier recordings with Sugar Hill. He's one of the best of the Texas singer-songwriters and the son of author, Larry McMurtry. He's had musical help from such greats as Bruce Hornsby and John Cougar Mellencamp. His lyrics are strong, there are no punches pulled here and a couple of these songs might shock you with their frankness.

This is an excellent intro to McMurtry's work. It includes some greats, including: "60 Acres" a rant about the unfairness of inheritance, "No More Buffalo" about the deterioration of the plains, "Out here in the Middle" about living in the countryside instead.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008