Big Bad Love [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00005Y4OW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,613 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Based on the collection of short stories by Mississippi writer Larry Brown, actor Arliss Howard's directorial debut evokes a bittersweet Southern landscape of broken dreams, artistic ambitions haunted by alcoholic visions, and the toll they take on three generations of his character's family. Given the film's emotional and geographic landscape, it's hardly surprising to find its soundtrack deeply steeped in the blues. What distinguishes this collection is its compelling dichotomy, being as emotionally complex as it is musically spare. Though many of the coterie of late-discovered Mississippi Delta bluesmen at the soundtrack's core (R.L. Burnside and sideman/protégé Kenny Brown, Asie Payton, T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour, Junior Kimbrough) are 70-something, they're often showcased in raw-rhythmed live recordings whose gritty, evocative sense of humanity spans generations. That's especially true of Burnside's all-star take on Bob Dylan's "Everything Is Broken," which includes James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Teenie Hodges, and Kenny Brown. Equally gratifying is the way the album underscores the blues' deep influences on others, including Steve Earle's bleakly heartfelt original version of "Goodbye" and two tracks each by Tom Waits ("Long Way Home," "Jayne's Blue Wish") and Television's Tom Verlaine (the moody instrumentals "Sleepwalkin'" and "Spiritual," a stark, beautiful 2001 collaboration with the Kronos Quartet). --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

From the film starring Arliss Howard, Debra Winger & Rossana Arquette, soundtrack features 2 new Tom Waits songs, Tom Verlaine & Kronos Quartet, Steve Earle and some Fat Possum artists, R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Junior Kimbrough & more. Jewel box with O-card. Elektra/Nonesuch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long way home ..., February 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Bad Love (Audio CD)

I'll be honest. I bought this album for the 2 new tracks by the master, Tom Waits. I put the cd in my pick-um-up-truck this afternoon and started driving. I was blown away. Let me begin:

1. Boxcar Blues - Kenny Brown: A simple slide guitar. Makes you want to sit on top of a moving boxcar connected to a train that has just entered the darkest tunnel (and isn't going anywhere for anytime soon).

2. I love you - Asie Payton: One of the soundtrack highlights. Great traditional blues tune with a kicking drum track. Can't get enough of this one.

3. Come on In (live) - R.L. Burnside: If you know Burnside you know what it's all about -- drinking, chaos, broken glass.

4. She asked me so I told Her - T-Model Ford: Great straight-forward blues here. So thick you could kill someone if you dropped it on their head.

5. My baby's Gone - Robert Belfour: Late night driving stuff. Your girl just leave you boys? Blast this on go whistlin' past the graveyard.

6. Sleepwalkin' - Tom Verlaine: Post-drinking song. Great blues instrumental.

7. Everything is Broken - R.L. Burnside: Being a Bob Dylan fan I was very interested in hearing R.L.'s take on this song from The Bobness' album Oh Mercy. My conclusion -- this is the way the song is meant to be. Too bad they couldn't have gotten Bob and R.L. to do it together.

8. Junior's Place - Junior Kimbrough: Hit-in-the-veins Blues here. Not the most outstanding track, but it fits in well anyways.

9. Long Way Home - Tom Waits: Finally. That great growler of a man singing a rather catchy tune. A soundtrack highlight and hopefully an introductory for some that might find Tom interesting enough to find out more about him. This is another great co-written song with his wife, Kathleen Brennan.

10. Goodbye - Steve Earl: The first thing I thought when I heard this song was "Bob Dylan". Never the less, this is a great song. Great guitar. I love music like this. Fits in perfectly.

11. Spiritual - Tom Verlaine: Another great instrumental. I suppose this runs more along side of the redemption in this blues soundtrack. Verlaine sure is a great guitarist.

12. Jayne's Blue Wish - Tom Waits: The soundtrack finale sounds something like a broken lullaby that could be found written on the wall of some midnight bar, Just how I like it. Another Waits/Brennan tune. Makes me look forward to Tom's 2 new albums coming out in May.

Along with this great dirt-blues mix of a sountrack comes liner notes by the director of Big Bad Love, Arliss Howard. If you're a fan of the blues, this is one of the best collections I've heard in a long time. Make no mistake about it, kids, if you listen to this album in your pick-um-up-truck - you'll want to take the long way home too.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, March 6, 2002

By 

Audrey J. (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Bad Love (Audio CD)

I can't stop listening to this. Having now seen the movie, I love the soundtrack even more than I did before. It is seamlessly integrated with the film. It's haunting and rowdy. Hypnotic and heartbreaking. My five-year-old loves to dance to "I Love You." I think T-Model Ford's "She Asked Me So I Told Her" would be a great, if unorthodox, wedding song. All four tracks by the two Toms (Waits and Verlaine) are keepers, and might never have existed without this film. As a previous reviewer demonstrated, all the songs are worthy of mention, and are awesomely assembled here. Plus, the liner notes are both sweet and hilarious. Just buy it. You'll see. Better yet, buy two and give one to a friend. Share the "Big Bad Love."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a happy accident!! Fantasic CD, March 16, 2002

By 

Joe blowe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Bad Love (Audio CD)

I heard this cd in a music store the other day. Think it was the Junoir Kimbrough tune (Junoir's Place) that was playing. It got my attention, being that I am already familiar with his music. Then the real treat came on, "Long Way home" by Tom Waits. I knew then and there I had to buy it. Not one cent was wasted pruchasing this great CD. Not one note is wasted in this great collection of music. Press play and let it roll to the end, then press play again. You won't be disappointed.