Blood & Candle Smoke (Dig)

Tom Russell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B002JIH8PG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,389 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam

2. Santa Ana Wind

3. Nina Simone

4. Criminology

5. Crosses of San Carlos

6. Finding You

7. Mississippi River Runnin' Backwards

8. The Most Dangerous Woman in America

9. Don't Look Down

10. Guadalupe

11. American Rivers

12. Darkness Visible

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Russell achieves near perfection with Blood and Candle Smoke, September 15, 2009

By 

'Rebel' Rod Ames (Ingram, Tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood & Candle Smoke (Dig) (Audio CD)

Tom Russell is an artist in every sense of the word. He writes beautiful lyrics, he puts those words to some fantastic music, he writes books, and he can paint like a God. He encompasses the true meaning of the word artist. But my familiarity of Mr. Russell lies mostly in his music. He writes from the heart and his songs tell great stories, sometimes true stories he himself has experienced.

His latest record, Blood and Candle Smoke is no exception. The tunes on this new record are all so abundant in texture and the images projected into your brain are a result of his strong lyrics. You will believe you are watching it on film instead of hearing it. I guess you could say it is so good, it confuses the senses. I'm not sure there is anyone on the scene today who can tell a story via music as well as Tom Russell.

The first track on Blood and Candle Smoke is East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam. This song is an account of Tom Russell's stint in Nigeria in the late 60's. It's a brilliant contrast or comparison between him teaching in Africa while at the same time others his age back in the states are delving in the world of drugs and free love that occurred within the "hippie" counter-culture. Russell sings, "moveable feast of war and memory, a dark old lullaby/it was a smoke of a thousand cook-fires it was the wrong end of a gun/Yeah, East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam". He paints a graphically explicit picture of his personal adventure while teaching in Nigeria. We, as listeners, definitely feel as if we are there, surrounded by the red clay, the dust and smoke. The horns, the guitars, the snare drum all add to the mood of this brilliantly written and arranged song. It's an impressive way to start the record.

The fourth track on the record, Criminology, continues the autobiography put to music, with Mr. Russell telling us his own personal story in song. As it says in his bio, he graduated from the University of California with a Master's Degree in Criminology. He even taught school in Nigeria during the Biafran war. "I had a gun pointed at my head on several occasions, yeah Nadine I was scared/something about a black man with a machine gun will make you wish you said your prayers/It was Nigeria in 1969". That's where it all started with Mr. Russell. Later the song tells us about 1971 in Vancouver and 1973 in "Canada again". Mr. Russell sings the song but I had to do a little research to discover that bit of information. His voice sounded so different from the usual strong baritone we have grown accustomed to, going instead with a higher pitch to his voice. "It's sort of a West African/reggae song. I must be channeling somebody or something I heard," he commented in his bio.

Mr. Russell recruited Calexico members Joey Burns on bass and guitars, John Convertino on drums and Jacob Valenzuela on trumpets, plus Barry Walsh on keyboards and frequent collaborator Gretchen Peters and the Oshogbo Orphan Choir on harmony vocals. He decided on these musicians after hearing the soundtrack to that Dylan film, I'm Not There. The songs that stood out the most to him were the ones performed by Calexico. All of the musicians are superb here. Gretchen Peterson's vocal harmonization adds another dimension and complements Mr. Russell's voice perfectly.

This is a wonderful record. What else would you expect from a consummate story teller the caliber of Tom Russell? If you are in to Americana or folk music, or whatever you would like to call it, you must absolutely add this masterpiece to your collection. It's as close to flawless as one can possibly get. Tom Russell may have even achieved the impossible goal of perfection with Blood and Candle Smoke (Shout Factory) just released.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BLOOD & CANDLE SMOKE, September 15, 2009

By 

John C. Dofflemyer "Dry Crik Press" (Lemon Cove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood & Candle Smoke (Dig) (Audio CD)

BLOOD AND CANDLE SMOKE. By Tom Russell. (Shout Factory LLC, 2009. 2042-A Armacost Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90025) CD $15.99

I have to smile with Tom Russell's most recent journey away from sure ballad-making with his new CD "Blood and Candle Smoke" on the Shout Factory label. This introspective collection of twelve tracks is perhaps more like orchestrated poetry, certainly more subdued and cryptic than any of his twenty albums since the 70s. All of these tracks are the caliber of songs that will grow on you, becoming richer with each successive listening. And that is the test at this juncture, I think, not whether a Nashville hook line will sell a million copies in six months.

Perhaps I misjudge the music buying public, but Tom may lose a fan or two with this one, yet I'm quite pleased that he continues to explore thought-provoking territory where he will gain even more diverse fans over time, a natural evolution that begs the question, "Do we in our 60s have something (left) to impart, something to leave behind?"

This personal excursion is not light listening, boys (and girls), each track full of pregnant and relevant phrases, expertly and consistently mixed and recorded to enhance the subject matter of each that range from the love song "Finding You" to the more prophetic "Mississippi River Running Backwards" - truly a complete work of art. I enjoyed every single song, especially "Nina Simone", "Guadalupe", "Crosses of San Carlos" and "East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam".

My only disappointment was that the CD package contained no liner notes or lyrics, because there are some rich lines here that really need to be reread and savored (so I just keep listening). The package has no information about the musicians and backup vocalists either, but part of the plan, I suspect, to let this envelope-pushing effort stand all on its own. A visit to Tom's website confirms that he is `backed by members of (the band) Calexico with vocal assists from Gretchen Peters'.

Though fresh and contemporary, all of the uniqueness of Tom Russell's singing and songwriting style is embodied in this superb collection of songs, a distilled concentrate that should endure for a long time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great CD, one of Tom Russell's best, September 24, 2009

By 

Phil Ritter (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blood & Candle Smoke (Dig) (Audio CD)

I'll keep this short and just agree with the other two (so far) reviewers and say that this is one of Tom Russell's best recordings. I especially like the two songs that refer to his time in Nigeria ("East of Woodstock...," "Criminology") and "Guadalupe."

My copy of the CD included liner notes with all the lyrics and listing of everyone involved in each song.