Covenant

Greg Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 8, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Red House
• ASIN: B00004VWX1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,157 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not disappointed!, August 29, 2000

By 

K. S. Sibbald (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Covenant (Audio CD)

Contrary to the views of some other reviewers...I'm rating this one at about 41/2 - 5 stars. I've played it repeatedly since buying it last week and have not tired of the lyrics or the music. It does lack some of the wry humour of past songs but I don't see that as a reason to down-grade this cd - maybe Greg just wasn't in a humourous mood. A lot of great songs in a variety of musical styles.....I love them all but particularly the Memphis blues/soul (hints of the MG's?) of "blues go walking" and "real good friend"; the beautiful acoutic "lullaby"; "marriage chant"; "you and me babe"......all of them really except "blue car". Bo Ramsey, as usual, is fantastic on electric guitar. I had the pleasure of seeing Bo play live with Kevin Gordon at a small venue here in ChCh, NZ about 7 years ago.....it remains the very best live performance of all that I've ever seen in 30 years of live music attendences. Another great album, along with "Dream Cafe" & "Further In" to make love to - something I found not possible with "Poet Game" and "Slant 6 Mind" I would not hesitate to recommend this album to anyone who loves fabulous, intelligent music.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Someone to get excited about, October 23, 2000

By 

In Search of Melody Wit & Wisdom (Modesto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Covenant (Audio CD)

Not long ago I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and telling my son how I wish I had a new singer to get excited about. I needed a new voice, someone with a new slant on the world. Then I heard Greg Brown sing 'Cept You and Me Babe on [the] radio ( if you haven't heard the "Pig" ...) and I knew he was just what I needed! I bought COVENANT and it has been my constant companion since the day it arrived.You can read all the reviews but Brown is part Dylan part Leonard Cohen with a dash of John Stewart and Dave Mallett thrown in for good measure. If you're in the kind of musical funk I was in and need someone to get excited about Greg Brown's your man.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greg Brown Does the Blues, January 17, 2004

By 

James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Covenant (Audio CD)

In a passionate, blues-inflected series of songs, Greg Brown explores the boundaries of folk music, tracing the areas where folk moves to blues. His usual baritone is low, sometimes guttural, and the music and the lyrics fit together in ways that most folk artists can only dream about. Some songs are explicity blues - "Blues Go Walking" and others hover closer to that boundary.

In the opening track, for example, "Cept You and Me Babe," he inverts the meaning of the title line, turning it into a message of separation and loss. Earlier Amazon reviewers criticized the the lines "Half the people you see these days are talking on cell phones/driving of the roads and bumping into doors/people used to spend quite a bit of time alone/I guess nobodys lonely any more/'cept you and me babe." As far as poetry goes, you know, that's not half bad, but combined with the music and the inverted meaning, you'll find you can't get the song out of your head.

Other fine songs include "Rexroth's Daughter," "Blues Go Walking," "Dream City" and "Blue Car." Overall this is a darker-toned album, perhaps reflecting Brown's life at the time, but it is melodic, moving and memorable. It's great to see Brown experimenting with music forms, and not trapped in a formula.

One tip: wait a full minute past the end of the last documented track. There's a surprise lurking there.

Brown is one of half a dozen genuine folksingers in America, still untainted by the music machine, still energetic and inventive. This is a fine album, and a fine addition to Brown's extensive discography. Highly recommended.