Customer Reviews

Country - Mother Earth

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In 1969, Tracy Nelson was the 24 year-old leader of a band called Mother Earth, a group of eclectic musicians of varying genres and temperaments. Unlike many San Francisco-based white urban bands of the 1960's, Mother Earth played "rock and roll" only in the loosest sense of the term. Their style, fused by Tracy's vision, embraced traditional Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Country Rock and New Orleans style soul. Not surprisingly, they drove their promoters crazy, and their record label, Mercury, never quite figured out how to market their sound. Nevertheless, their first album was a modest commercial and critical success, and pushed the band (initially at least) to the forefront of the burgeoning rock and roll market. Their first effort, Living With the Animals, presented a number of pure blues tunes (Mother Earth took their name from the title of a song by blues great Memphis Slim) which somehow led the label to believe (and hope) that they had another Janis Joplin on their hands. After all, for their premiere album, Tracy had uncorked her self-penned torch number, Down So Low, a paean to lost love and heartache that was not too far stylistically from the vocal beseeching of Joplin's best-known songs. But the band traveled to Nashville in 1969 for their second album, Make a Joyful Noise and, much to the consternation of the label's management, they recruited a number of country giants, including famed fiddle player Johnny Gimble and Nashville session wiz Pete Drake to back their second album. They also hired the Jordanairres, the famous vocal backup group to Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline, which made the label wonder if the group's producer, Travis Rivers, had lost his mind. Despite the presence of some of country's most skilled musicians, Make a Joyful Noise again emphasized a sound that was more Rhythm and Blues than Country, (or Rock and Roll, for that matter) and the second Mother Earth album went on to achieve an even higher level of critical recognition and commercial success than their first album.

After finishing their second album in record time, the band continued to linger in the Nashville area, and Tracy established a friendship with several of the Nashville session men who'd played on Make a Joyful Noise. Because the second album had proceeded so smoothly, they found themselves stuck with extra studio time, and several top-notch musicians who were between other assignments. When somebody suggested that they record an album of country standards, spotlighting the amazing vocal talents of Tracy Nelson, she was reluctant to go for it. Tracy considered herself the lead singer of a Rhythm and Blues band, and had no desire to suddenly undertake a "country" identity. Her objections proved prophetic, for although she never again made an album of pure country, the label of country singer has followed her name ever since. To emphasize the fact that this was all Tracy (the first two Mother Earth albums had each included lead vocals by other band members) the proposed album was to be titled "Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country". All in all, quite a change for her and the band.

The addition of two of Elvis Presley's top sidemen, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D. J. Fontana, convinced Tracy to relent, and she and her band took to the recording studio with some of the finest country session men then working in Nashville. When the album was finished, Mercury released it to a fairly cool commercial reception, and Tracy and Mother Earth made another four albums before the band broke up. Tracy continued to make records under her own name, usually employing several ex members of Mother Earth, and at this writing, she has released a total of 23 albums, including those released with Mother Earth. Long in demand for session work, she has also appeared as guest background, duet or lead vocalist on at least two dozen more albums by various other artists.

But, back to "Country".

Although "Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country" failed to make much of a splash when first released, the album has been a favorite of Tracy's fans throughout her forty year career. I first heard "Country" in 1977, when I became acquainted with her music, and it immediately rose to the position of my favorite album made under her name. I am apparently not alone; long available only through rare record dealers at very high collector's prices, many fans have elevated this album through word-of-mouth to the status of "legendary". I finally got my own copy in 1985 from a rare record dealer in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, who assured me that the used copy I purchased was a bargain at $35. I would have gladly paid more; for years I had only a taped copy that a friend had made, and I often noticed that Mother Earth's first two albums, long out-of-print, were selling for upwards of $125 each at NY's most famous rare record dealer, Colony Records on Broadway and 49th street.

So what makes Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson so special? One listen will answer that question, but let me point out just a few of my favorite highlights.

The album opens with an original song, Sad Situation, as finely crafted a torch ballad as has been ever been offered by anyone. "Yes, I've known others like you with a heart made of stone" Tracy wails, "and by now I guess I should be used to living alone..." Her heartache is punctuated by the smooth vocals of the Jordanaires, and for just a moment you think you're listening to Patsy Cline, come back to life again. "It's a sad situation, not just because I'm so blue. It's a sad situation..." there is a pause, and you could swear you hear a sob, "...'cause I'm still loving you". Almost like a female Ray Charles, Tracy's voice is more soulful than we're used to hearing on a country song, and, I dare say, more powerful than many other vocalists renowned for their power. It's just the first track, and she has managed a highly impressive start.

Following the opening track are ten more classic country songs, covering material associated with Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Boz Scaggs, Hank Williams and others. Like any great singer, Tracy neither invites comparison to the originals nor makes you long to hear them. Hers are truly fresh approaches to each song that somehow manage to enhance your fondness of the originals, rather than invoke their memory. Her version of Stand By Your Man, easily my favorite track, is a showcase for her powerful voice, and you realize as you listen that, Tammy Wynette's original version aside, Tracy makes you wonder why this song was never recorded by Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald or any of a handful of other divas noted for their vocal power. Tracy ranks with the best of them, and this album proves it. She does well on the ballads, but Tracy is equally at home with the fast stuff, and her renditions of Blue Blue Day and Why, Why, Why will have you snapping your fingers and tapping your toes. Her achingly beautiful, hauntingly slow rendition of Hank Williams's poetic masterpiece I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry was a satisfying finale to the 11 tracks that made up the original vinyl.

But the CD contains three bonus tracks; the first is a previously unreleased alternate take of I Wanna Be Your Mama Again, from the second Mother Earth LP, Make a Joyful Noise. While I'm always glad to hear fresh Tracy, it can't quite compare with the released master take, which happens to be my favorite track from the original Make a Joyful Noise.

When "Country" was first re-released to CD in 1996, Mercury had no plans to release Mother Earth's premiere albums, Living With the Animals or Make a Joyful Noise, and so they included three tracks from Make a Joyful Noise to supplement the "Best of Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth" CD that was released concurrently. Happily, both Living With the Animals and Make a Joyful Noise were finally reissued on CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2004, followed by the remaining classic Mother Earth albums. At this writing, all but two of Tracy Nelson's 23 albums are available on CD. After you get Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country and it leaves you hungry for more Tracy (as I can almost guarantee it will) you might want to check out some of her other albums next. After "Country", my personal favorites are Homemade Songs, originally released in 1978, and Move On, her third effort for Rounder Records, recorded in 1993. Other fans have their own preferences, but the woman never made a bad album in her life, and I never hesitate for a moment to recommend that music lovers of discerning tastes acquire any one of her fine albums.

Tracy Nelson is not a name that is normally associated with country music, but she could have been a great country singer, judged on this album.

The album opens with an excellent original song (Sad siuation). The remaining songs are all covers, except Stay as sweet as you are, a lovely song which Tracy co-wrote with Bob Arthur.

Some of the covers are of well-known songs, including Stand by your man (Tammy Wynette), I fall to pieces (Patsy Cline) and two Hank Williams songs, I'm so lonesome I could cry and You win again. Tracy also does a brilliant version of Don Gibson's Blue blue day. That's alright mama, the Arthur Crudup song made famous by Elvis, gets the country treatment and fits in well here.

Tracy also does an outstanding cover of Why why why, a song written by Dolly Parton and recorded by her on the Monument label. In 1969, when this album was recorded, Dolly was only just beginning to establish herself as Porter Wagoner's duet singer, so Tracy's choice of this song was astute.

This album is not typical of Tracy's other music, nor is it typical of country music of the time, as there are no strings here - this is very solid, traditional country.

I bought this when it was first released on LP. I still play it regularly(cd),still love it,and still don`t understand why she never made another like it.
My opinion is that Tracy would have been huge in country music.She certainly has the voice for it.
Great songs,great musicians.
The bonus numbers were`nt needed asthey didn`t fit in with the rest of the cd.My opinion only.Buy this if you like real country.Not the stuff you hear on radio(Reba,Martina,Faith,etc).
This is the real deal

Although C&W is not my first love, but I can't imagine anyone with a home full of nothing but country records and a true country music fan at heart not having their socks knocked off by this. Tastefully arranged, the inspired voice of Tracy Nelson gives the listener to this collection of many well-known tunes an unforeseen experience of country music at the highest standard, at its most beautiful; with touching and vibrant delivery, reaching its possibilities of what this music can do for you. A very listenable recording, a transcendent country recording. There are many good records to spend your money on. This is one of the best of those, get it, and enjoy the surprise and joy of this recording.

By Tracy Nelson's own account, this album was something of a happy accident. Her band, Mother Earth, had recorded their second album MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE in Nashville. They had studio time left over and had made contact with Scotty Moore and other Nashville studio vets. Somehow the idea of Tracy doing a solo project, in collaboration with these C&W stalwarts--gained momentum, and what Tracy has sometimes (maybe a bit disingenuously) referred to as a "lark" wound up being a masterpiece.

This was actually Tracy's second solo album, her first being the acoustic blues record (DEEP ARE THE ROOTS) she recorded for Prestige Records at the tender age of 19. In a way, it makes sense that her initial solo work was genre-specific--and more root oriented than her work with the band might be. (Although in her work with Mother Earth, she was hardly straying too far from the rootsy side of the tracks either. What late 60s San Fran experimentalism that band may have exhibited was mainly the work of Powell St. John, the group's male lead singer and songwriter.)

But here was this little hippie gal from San Francisco recording with the creme de la creme of Nashville and apparently getting along just fine and dandy with them and making a great great country record in the process. Ah, when worlds collide...Except maybe it wasn't quite as strange a mix as all that. Tracy was never all that comfortable in San Francisco, and shortly after her two Nashville produced records were completed, decided to move to Tennessee herself (where she remains to this day).

While it's doubtful that Tracy and some of her collaborators on this record would have agreed on every socio-political concern coming down the pike in 1969, they certainly clicked musically, and hey, gang, isn't bridging cultural differences one of those things that music does best? (I know, I know...Oh, please!), but you know, if you don't get too dippy about it, that sentiment is kind of true.

I mean, it's less a matter of "Music is the universal language and love is the key..." than "Music is a shared heritage and respect for each other's talent is the key..."

Of course, when a young, fiercely independent woman singer from the wild and wooly West Coast tackles a (then) contemporary C&W classic like "Stand by Your Man," there has to be a certain irony inherent in the track, I guess. And there is, but it IS not a joke. As with every track on the album, Tracy sings this oft-parodied song straightforwardly and with great dignity. In fact, the very stateliness of her vocal suggests a pride and inner strength on the part of the singer that belies what some have described as the "doormat" message of the lyrics.

Tracy had already established a reputation for herself as one of the strongest women singers in late 60s rock music (actually, I would maintain that she was THE strongest female singer of the era, although Joplin devotees might consider that position heresy). She could pull out all the stops and then some, as she had proven on tracks like "Mother Earth" and "I Need Your Love So Bad," and her signature song "Down So Low." I recall being surprised at how UNDERSTATED her vocals were on this album. Yes, I loved them from the outset, but I recall being a little surprised that she didn't find a few moments to exhibit some of her patented soulful belting.

I remember clearly how, when I saw that the track listing included "I'm So Lonesom I Could Cry" and that it was the LAST song (on the original vinyl release), I figured that that was going to be one with the powerhouse ending. After all, the only other version I knew of at the time was B.J. Thomas's single from a few years before, and HE went for the big socko-boffo ending. Surely Tracy would do the same but better.

But no, the performance was simple and straightforward as all the other classic tracks on this record. I was stunned. Why did this powerful singer hold back? Well, it took me a little while, but eventually I came to realized that her unadorned vocal on this track (as on all the others) cut to the heart of the song's lyric in a way that the full throated treatment she was certainly capable of never could have. Quite simply, Tracy knew when to hold back.

And that--along with the consummate musicianship of her collaborators--is what made this record great.

Not only is Tracy's voice strong, Johnny Gimble on fiddle, the Jordanaires and even a barking dog make this album a must have. The peddal steel break in "I can't go on loving you" defines the instrument.

until I heard Tracy sing it. She opened up a whole new world for me. Her tongue-in-cheek rendition of Stand By Your Man is not toppable. And no one, simply no one, has pipes like hers! Buy this CD!

Even though Tracy wasn't Tammy or Loretta or Patsy or Dolly, she sang a country song as well as any of them, and having met her briefly in the 60's, I can say she had total respect for country music and its traditions. Looks like this CD is out of print, hopefully only temporarily. Tracy Nelson has one of the best voices of her generation, whether she sings blues, gospel, rock and roll, or country. I had multiple copies of this LP (wore them out) and now wish I had more than just one copy of the CD. It's worth whatever price you have to pay. Several original tunes, excellent "fiddle and steel" sound, and great production. This is not a rock and roll singer singing country, this is a true country singer singing country -- nothing phony or condescending here, it's all authentic.

My wife introduced the original vinyl album to me more than twenty years ago when we lived in Austin. What an amazing piece of work! Nelson's vocal talents and material are at their peak. Don't pass up the chance to get this. The only "country" album that even comes close is k.d. lang's Shadowland. I'm smiling as I write this, just thinking about Tracy's album.

Even if you're not a country music fan, you want this CD. Tracy Nelson uses her stunning voice in ways that only the best jazz singers can, but on country standards [Think of Ray Charles' country recordings and you'll get my drift]. Her version of "I'm so lonesome I could cry" is one of those rare moments she produces - as good as her signature song "Down So Low." Even on the "corny" pieces like "Stand by your man," Tracy Nelson is able to make the song convincing without being trite.