Customer Reviews

Bakersfield Bound

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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I had all but given up on ever hearing another killer country album until I heard Bakersfield Bound by two of the biggest talents around Chris Hillman, musical journeyman, and Herb Peterson from the Dillards.If you like what Gram Parsons did,get this. It is at least as good. I vote it the best album I have heard in a decade.Hillman has done a lot of recording in his career and frankly a lot of it is below par when you consider the guy's great talent. I think many times he has sacrificed his instincts and been subject to the record companies and now he is finally doing what he wants to do. Every song here is strong and a labour of love.He has captured that great Bakersfield sound once served up by the likes of Buck Owens and yet it has a real freshness about it.I particularly enjoyed the musicanship here,especially the tastfull steel playing of Jay Dee Maness. Highly recomended.

California country is alive and well on this collection of mostly covers and a couple of originals from Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen. With three of the original Desert Rose Band members in tow (steel guitarist Jay Dee Maness is also on board), the band's Bakersfield sound is still firmly intact. In fact, they cover two of Buck Owen's songs of lost love: "He Don't Deserve You Anymore" and "There Goes My Love."

Hillman handles all the lead vocals and plays mandolin on all tracks, while Pedersen adds harmony and acoustic guitar. The two Hillman originals--"Just Tell Me Darlin'" and "Bakersfield Bound"--blend in perfectly with the bluegrass stylings of Jim and Jesse McReynolds' "Congratulations, Anyway" and Boudleaux and Felice Bryant's "Brand New Heartache" and the other nine covers.

If you like your country served up with plenty of steel guitar, mandolin and a heavy dose of integrity and spirit this album will not disappoint. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Fans of the now defunct Desert Rose Band rejoice: this Chris Hillman-Herb Pedersen collaboration picks up where they left off! Infectious, uncomplicated covers of some of the best of the Bakersfield genre, with nods to Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and others. Chris and Herb are in perfect form on their vocal duets and the musicianship is top notch throughout. This CD is a hidden gem that should be in the collection of every true country rock fan!

Chris Hillman's partnership with Herb Pederson has provided a great magic of uplifting sounds. this album is pure Bakersfield style honky-tonk , saturated with Jay Dee Maness' pedal steel ! just like we want it . thick and up front! the vibes are spiritual and awake. Hillman shines like a fish back in water! so wonderful and classic, it reminds even us di-hards about real country-western honky-tonk soul magic. this cd is a must for both peddle steel fans and Chris Hillman fans! the love for the music , and respect for the songs are obvious here, and Hillman is wonderful , in balance between his accoustic bluegrass roots and the electrified bar-room pedal-steel/ Honky-tonk vibe! a perfect blend here!

For the seniors out there who have nostalgically longed for that luvn feeling that only GP and the Byrds once brought - well, here it is in the .com millenium and the good ole boys got it happening simply with covers. If you couldn't follow my rambling try this: the best country music in the world played by the best muscians in the universe.

This is one of the best albums I have ever heard and I've heard plenty. This is pure country music and the recording production is excellent. All the performers are pros with huge backgrounds. The harmonies and musicianship are outstanding as well as the song selection. In the late sixities and through the seventies Country Western music rose to a new level of quality. This is that wonderful C/W sound that started to go away with the commercial crap and cookie cutter acts coming out of corporate Nashville.

Best cover of "Close up the Honky Tonks'" ever; "There goes my Love", as good as any country tear jerker ever sung; plus 11 more loaded with lots of steel pedal guitar. Meet me in Bakersfield!