Down to the Well

Kevin Gordon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 8, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B00004TE0Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,045 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars anxious characters on a bruised landscape, August 30, 2001

By 

Jerome Clark (Canby, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Down to the Well (Audio CD)

This is a nearly perfect record, and it gets better each time you listen to it. Kevin Gordon expertly crafts a folk'n'roll sound -- folk music spirit and rock'n'roll rhythm -- to conjure up vivid pictures of anxious characters on a bruised American landscape. Unlike some Americana artists, Gordon's roots are a whole lot deeper than the most recent Steve Earle or Lucinda Williams CD -- the "down to the well" image in the album's title and opening cut, for example, is taken from a Lead Belly song -- and he has a balladeer's command of the storytelling art. Yet the band rocks expertly, drawing on blues and rockabilly influences without being overwhelmed by them. I suppose that at moments, especially on "Promise Road," which sounds more like intentional homage than accidental echo, Gordon does come across a tad unsettlingly like a Dixie-fried Bruce Springsteen. But (a) all things considered, there are worse failings, and (b) he's too much his own man to do that very often. Anyway, Springsteen would, I'm sure, be proud to have written "Jimmy Reed Is the King of Rock'n'Roll," a mostly acoustic folk blues and the most powerful song written about a blues musician in a long time, recalling, and matching, masterpieces like James Talley's "Bluesman" and Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell." And one can only marvel at Gordon's ability to write (with Gwil Owen) a train song, "Great Southern," that manages to avoid any of the genre's cliches. Down to the Well is as accomplished as any recording to come out of the Americana movement, and Gordon is as gifted as any artist in it. If, like me, you found Earle's and Williams's most recent CDs something of a letdown, Gordon's is a sure cure for that disappointment.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aging like wine, August 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Down to the Well (Audio CD)

Kevin Gordon gets better with each new release. No sophmore slump here. This is a mature, soulful, world weary second effort. Gordon's character's inhabit the America of all-nite joints, and muddy dirt roads, where "rain makes the stray dog shine". Its music for and about middle America. Not in the romanticized style of Springsteen; more in the plain, compassionate vein of John Prine. You sense Kevin's seen plenty of "Pencil lead gray afternoon's" in his travels.In "Burning The Church House Down", a character is informed by his mother that his "body is a temple, built by the Lord. Keep on drinking and you'll damned for sure." and all our boy can proclaim is, "Hey Mama, I'm burning the church house down!". Although the word-play is choice, the music has grown as well in Gordon's second go around. Joe McMahan and Bo Ramsey teamed up with Kevin to produce a thick juicy guitar laden gumbo of Americana. From Chuck Berry to Sun Records to Ry Cooder these boys borrow to create their own sound, deep in the groove. If you believe in rock and roll pure and unfiltered, then this disc is for you.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Work in Progress, October 12, 2001

By 

Don Brown (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down to the Well (Audio CD)

Interesting that many reviewers compare Kevin Gordon to Steve Earle. I actually find him much closer to John Hiatt (post Bring the Family) in style. Excellent songwriter who I think is an album (uhh, CD) away from knocking us out with a classic. The first cut, "Down to the Well" with Lucinda Williams is amazing as is the last 30 seconds of "Burning the Church House Down." I'd like to see a bit less of the rockabilly that shows up on a few cuts and more focus on his own sound which comes through loud and clear on "Marina Takes Her Aim" and "Down to the Well." Overall, a solid effort by an emerging star.