Customer Reviews

Fish Tree Water Blues

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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Earthjustice, which put together the Fish Tree Water Blues CD, is a nonprofit group whose goal is to provide free legal assistance to organizations fighting for environmental causes. The proceeds from this CD will go to Earthjustice to help fund their projects. If you like protecting clean water, preserving rain forests, protecting endangered species or just like good blues music, this might be a disc that interests you. The disc features 14 songs from a diverse field of musicians. For the most part, and with only a couple of notable exceptions, the compilation sticks to the discs earthy theme. Five of the songs have never been released or qualify for that first new recording in many years category. For example, J.J. Cale's "Stone River", Alvin Youngblood Hart's banjo heavy "Rollin' River", Robert Cray's live "The Forecast (Calls For Pain)", Mavis Staple's "I'll Fly Away", and the Charlie Musselwhite with Bob Weir's Ratdog performing "Take Me To The River", all great stuff. This is a really good compilation from start to finish and definetly a worthwhile acquisition.

In a market glutted with pointless compilations, this CD stands out as a must-have. Original tunes from some fabulous blues artists designed to remind us of how vital, and threatened, our natural resources are. The numbers by J.J. Cale and Robert Cray alone are worth the price of admission, a portion of which goes to one of the country's most impressive environmental organizations, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. Trust me on this one.

If iPods hadn't rendered the "desert island disc" concept obsolete, this one would still be going to the desert island with me. A masterpiece from end to end; great songs, phemomenal performances. There's not a dud track on this CD.

Amazon's track listing is misleading, however. It shows songwriters instead of performers. Sometimes that's the same person, sometimes it's not. This is the accurate track listing showing the performers on this CD:

1. Stone River - J.J. Cale
2. Fuel - Ani DiFranco
3. Victims of Comfort - Keb' Mo'
4. The Road You Choose - Branford Marsalis & Joe Louis Walker
5. Highway 13 - John Lee Hooker & John Hammond
6. Mother Earth - Tracy Nelson
7. Blue Blue World - Roomful of Blues
8. I'll Fly Away - Mavis Staples
9. Hard Day on the Planet - Loudon Wainwright III
10. Rollin' River - Alvin Youngblood Hart
11. The Forecast (Calls for Pain) - The Robert Cray Band
12. Ice Water in Your Veins - Ruth Brown
13. Take Me to the River - RatDog with Charlie Musselwhite
14. Take It to the Limit - Etta James

A great listening album. Not too heavy for working to and just light enough to relax with.

I truly love the blues and usual I only like live in a smoky bar. This is one captures it -- down, dirty, and bluesy. I didn't know Brandford could really swing, until I heard this recording and this is just one of many highlights. Everything is worth many listens. Definitely in my collection.

Excellent mix of new and traditional blues artists. Makes me want to hit the smokey bar scene from my youth. Great listening, really brings back the memories. Definitely worth a listen and/or addition to your collection.