Connection

Randy Sharp | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 27, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 33rd Street
• ASIN: B00006I0CG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,716 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Won't Stand in Line

2. Some Walls

3. The Connections

4. Pretending

5. New Way Out

6. Or So the Heart Remembers

7. Burn Day

8. Dreams of the San Joaquin

9. Good Thing

10. The Search Goes On

11. Queen of Indecision

12. If You Have to Ask

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful connection, January 27, 2005

By 

Charles - Music Lover (Phoenix, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Connection (Audio CD)

This CD was my first introduction to Randy Sharp's work, save for hearing the occasional Exile single or Linda Ronstadt's rendition of "Dreams of the San Joaquin." It was that song, which I recognized from Ronstadt's recording, that made me listen to this CD. This collection is full of well-crafted and well-performed songs. Lyrically, Sharp's songs are at times heart-wrenching ("Good Thing") and very insightful ("Some Walls"). Musically, Sharp is a good 'ol country boy tastefully reigned in by the songs and production. This disc is well worth purchasing.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharply Connected to the Heart, May 10, 2006

By 

Timothy Yap "thy4568" (Sydney, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Connection (Audio CD)

Prime Cuts: New Way Out, Or So the Heart Remembers, Some Walls

Songwriters, like movie script writers, are often sidelined. Yet, their presence is indispensable. Over the years, thanks to Randy Sharp's potent penmanship, Patty Loveless' "You Will," Clay Walker's "Then What," Restless Hearts' "A Tender Lie" and Alabama's "The Cheap Seats" have had the opportunity of casting their imprints on the country charts. Occasionally, these innocuous scribes have had the opportunity to share the limelight; "The Connection" is Sharp's claim to such fame. With a breezy tenor, calling to mind David Gates of Bread, "The Connection" is a solid effort of largely acoustic tinted songs with the strumming of the guitar providing the undercurrent. Jointly produced by daughter Maia Sharp and Sharp himself together with fellow songwriter Jack Wesley Routh, "The Connection" is Sharp's take of some of his compositions previously recorded by other artists as well as a few new tunes.

On Reba McEntire's "I Won't Stand in Line," Sharp, though not as sultry as the red headed diva, engages a spirited worked out offering the boot to his no-good multi-timing paramour. While on Peter, Paul and Mary's "Some Walls," Sharp's subdued testimony to the power of love has a quiet way of tugging at the heart. Taking a musical trip to south of the border, "Dreams of the San Joaquin," first tackled by Linda Ronstadt, showcases a languid Spanish guitar bridge. Not one to be constrained by boundaries, "Or So the Heart Remembers" finds Sharp in Bob Willis' territory as he gently swings on this tune of abiding love.

If there's one Randy Sharp's song that has been immortalized, it has to be "New Way Out," first popularized by Karen Brooks and later Anne Murray. A spine-chilling ballad, "New Way Out," is perhaps one of country music's most pain infested song about love coming to an end. Though Sharp's version pales to Murray's top notched version, nevertheless, to hear this song again is just a treat. The title track is the recent Grammy nominated song for Emmylou Harris, and while it's good to hear Sharp's own version, its linear melody doesn't come close to being a high-tiered Sharp tune.

Unlike many songwriter-singers, Sharp does not get too idiosyncratic in the way he tells his stories through his songs. Rather, he is acerbic in his observations of relationships and life. Further, they are crisply produced with a unobtrusive backing that ought to appeal to those who have taken an affinity to guitar-laden work. In short, Sharp does connect well with his songs.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Sharp!, July 19, 2003

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Connection (Audio CD)

Since this is only Randy's second recorded set since 1975, one need not wonder why he's not the Nashville superstar, although he is certainly one of the most respected of Nashville's session players. His daughter Maia has been blazing with two excellent solo CD's & as part of Art Garfunkel's team on "Everything Waits to Be Noticed." She co-produces this CD with her dad who sings "Good Thing" that they wrote together and appeared on Maia's classic "Hardly Glamour" CD in 1997.

On "The Connection," Randy produces a great set of addictively excellent country tunes. "I Won't Stand In Line" opens with its bouncy rhythms about a guy laying down the law to his ladylove that she had better make up her mind. "Some Walls" is quite a pretty melody with gorgeous airy female background vocals by Mary Ann Kennedy & Pam Rose of Kennedy Rose lacing the atmosphere. One of my favorite tracks is the Spanish-guitar inflected "Pretending" which bounces with a melody that sounds like something Paul McCartney might have written in Madrid, "I pray you're just pretending to walk away." "Or So the Heart Remembers" is a gorgeous western swing track with Maia on supporting vocals. My other favorite track is "Burn Day" which has a lovely melody and a most poetic lyric in the chorus, "Every night I walk the floor wanting you & searching for a way back to a life before you came; but everything I try to do does nothing to free me of you; It's time to give your memories to the flame." "Dreams of the San Joaquin" is a strong song that Linda Ronstadt covered on her 1998 CD "We Ran." "The Search Goes On" written with Jack Wesley Routh is a lovely midtempo track, "Night after night I dream I've found you only to wake & find you gone; Day after day I keep on searchin'; Until you're in my arms the search goes on." "The Queen of Indecision" has a country-style Buddy Holly feel for me. The CD concludes with a pretty soft touch on "If You Have to Ask." This is a VERY strong CD with excellent songwriting that is deeply emotional. Only "New Way Out" is a bit too traditional country for my taste; but when you love 11 out of 12, that's a 5-star rating! Enjoy!