Customer Reviews

Confederate Railroad

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you can't appreciate the inherent humor in this album, as well as the consummate musicianship of the studio musicians assembled on the album, you are not trying. Now, I'm more a fan of the Ernest Tubb days of country music, but I admit to a soft spot for Merle Haggard and Waylon. Confederate Railroad is more closely related to the latter, and definitely has found the ability to laugh at themselves. Don't take yourself too seriously, just enjoy the album.

Really good CD, this band is a blend of Southern Rock & Outlaw Country. Their sound is fairly consistent among all of their CDs.

Confederate railroad knew how to have fun, as they showed on this, their debut album. Right from the opening track you know that this is a band that is out to have fun. They can play it straight if they choose to, as on Jesus and Mama and the sad You don't know what it's like. When you leave that way you can never go back is a real tear-jerker - the sort of song you might expect George Jones to sing, but all the more effective for being on an album of mostly fun songs.
Perhaps the song with most instant appeal here is the catchy, danceable Queen of Memphis. She took it like a man (the opening track) is about a woman who gets really angry. It was co-written by two men and a woman, so anybody who is upset by it is taking it too seriously. Other amusing songs, also not to be taken too seriously, are Time off for bad behavior, She never cried, Black label white lies and Trashy women.

Confederate Railroad was made up of Danny Shirley (the lead singer), Michael Lamb, Wayne Secrest, Chris McDaniel, Gates Nichols and Mark DuFresne, but my understanding is that only Danny Shirley went into the recording studio, and that regular studio musicians were used on the album. So this might really be a Danny Shirley solo album, but this is still a wonderful album, regardless of who actually recorded it. Just don't take it too seriously.

This is a greatest hits cd by Confederate Railroad. You get the line-up of Danny Shirley on lead vocals, & guitar; Michael Lamb on guitar & vocals; Wayne Secrest on bass; Chris McDaniel on Keyboards, vocals; Gates Nichols on steel guitar, & vocals; and Mark DuFresne on drums.

The songs are as follows:

1. She Took it Like a Man.
2. Long Gone.
3. Jesus and Mama.
4. Time off for Bad Behavior.
5. She Never Cried.
6. Black Label, White Lies.
7. When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back.
8. Queen of Memphis.
9. You Don't Know What it's Like.
10.Trashy Women.

This is a great Southern, Country Rock cd, so if you like that kind of music, you should really enjoy this one. Thanks!!!!

I just want to say that all nostalgia aside.. (I saw these guys in concert when I was a teenager) this is a good country album to listen to. Songs about daddy and momma and women and even more songs about daddy and momma and women. Several catchy tunes on here.. and some tracks that have stood the test of time and sound as good today as they ever did. For fans of good ol' country music, it is worth the $6-$7.

Also worth a listen is their album "Notorious"

I can't understand why Confederate Railroad's self-titled debut album was so popular--and I say this even though I own the tape of the album. Danny Shirley and his bandmates are great musicians, but in my opinion, too many of the songs on this record are "off the wall"("trashy" to quote the title of "Trashy Women"). The songs "She Took It Like A Man", "Long Gone", "Time Off For Bad Behavior", "She Never Cried", "Queen Of Memphis" and the aforementioned "Trashy Women" were meant to be funny, but instead, they end up being ridiculous, in this writer's opinion. The three excellent ballads--"Jesus and Mama", "When You Leave That Way", and "You Don't Know What It's Like"--are the only songs that keep this record from going completely down the tubes. Predictably, Confederate Railroad's popularity waned (except among die-hard fans) within a couple of years after they released "She Never Cried", the last of six hit songs from this album. I think that if these guys started making decent songs (and releasing them as singles) they might become widely popular again.