Fiddler's Green

Tim O'Brien | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000AMFF4O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,885 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His musical acumen demonstrates keen insight and creativity., October 24, 2005

By 

J. Ross "a-music_fan" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fiddler's Green (Audio CD)

Playing Time - 47:34 -- Over the years, multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien has shown the unusual knack to be equally comfortable with jazz, bluegrass, swing, and Celtic music. The eclectic acoustic musician, originally from West Virginia, is certainly not afraid to walk the line between several genres of music. Thus, he's become one of the purveyors and ambassadors of Americana music. Besides being a fine singer with a definable sound, Tim plays guitar, fiddle, bouzouki, and mandolin on this album.

The title cut is a bounding tale of the sea written by Pete Goble which speaks of a sailor being "lured by the tradewinds" to find that enchanting but mythical utopia with women, music and sustenance. When Tim wants a rousing Celtic feeling ("Land's End/Chasin' Talon), he supplements his own mandolin with the support of guys like Jack Doyle (guitar), Kenny Malone (djembe, cajon), Casey Driessen (fiddle), Dirk Powell (bass), Seamus Egan (low whistle). The bluegrass line-up ("Look Down that Lonesome Road") enlists veteran sidemen like Charlie Cushman (banjo), Jerry Douglas (resophonic guitar), Dan Tyminski (guitar), and Dennis Crouch (bass). What is particularly nice is that Tim's arrangements range from a fiddle/vocal solo ("A Few More Years") or guitar/vocal solo ("Buffalo Skinner") to full ensembles that incorporate dynamics into the genesis of their songs like "Fair Flowers of the Valley" that features Tim singing with his sister, Mollie. Another lean, but very successful, arrangement is the duo "Foreign Lander" (Tim's fiddle/vocals with Edgar Meyer playing arco bass) that presents a ballad of a rambling soldier conquered by his love's beauty.

The last third of the album (4 songs) has a good cross-section of Tim's approach. His original and high-stepping old-timey "Train on the Island" introduces Chris Thile (mandolin) and Stuart Duncan (banjo, fiddle). While the twin fiddling is spectacular, I missed hearing some vocal harmony on the refrain "train on the island, hear that whistle blow." After the lean "A Few More Years," we're treated to perhaps one of the best arrangements ever of an old favorite, "Long Black Veil." Dan Dugmore's pedal steel gives the song its unique eeriness, and the duo is sung with Darrell Scott. Tim closes the project with "Early Morning Rain," from a profound troubadour not too unlike himself, Gordon Lightfoot. The sweet notes of bouzouki, fiddle and mandolin weave their way effortlessly between the words.

O'Brien is a minstrel with great command of his lyrics and melodies. Besides being a songcarrier for traditional music, he's also a songsmith of contemporary songs that could've been written hundereds of years ago. His musical acumen demonstrates keen insight and creativity. With his astute approach of emphasizing diversity, Tim O'Brien offers a set with plenty for everyone. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I finally jumped, January 14, 2006

By 

moonwomanone "sometime musician, always a lis... (down around the No Hotel) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fiddler's Green (Audio CD)

I've been 'aware' of Tim O'Brien since I saw Hot Rize on Austin City Limits, some years ago. But what attracted me to THIS particular CD was hearing his take of Gordon Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain.

He got me. First lick of the first song (Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden)pushed me off the fence and solidly into Tim O'Brien fandom.

He says, in the liner notes "This is intimate music, good for a quiet morning or an evening at home. A few solos,a duet, some spare acoustic ensembles. There's a good dose of fiddling, and about half the songs are traditional. Traditional music sometimes seems mysterious, but it's always familiar."

That's it. I know more than one song on the CD, but somehow he makes even the ones I don't know feel like re-introductions to old friends.

Congrats for the Grammy nomination, Tim. It should have happened a long time ago.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great bluegrass music, November 7, 2006

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fiddler's Green (Audio CD)

Tim O'Brien was born in heart of bluegrass music country, in Wheeling West Virginia, in 1954. And in 1970, he moved to Colorado and moved into professional music. The rest, as they say, is history. He's a master of the guitar, the fiddle, the mandolin, and other instruments, and he produces some of the greatest bluegrass music made today.

This album is another in a long list of Tim O'Brien's works of art, and it is just as good as his others. The songs are a fine selection of Appalachian and Scots-Irish tunes, carrying the listener back and forth across space and time. I loved Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden and Foreign Lander, and really loved the musical numbers Land's End/Chasin' Talon and First Snow.

Overall, I found this to be a great album, and have listened to it over and over again. If you like the sound of great bluegrass music, then you will like this CD - I sure know I did! I give this CD my highest recommendations.