Hail to the Chief

John McCutcheon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2003)
• Original Release Date: January 11, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Appalsongs
• ASIN: B0000D170Z
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,861 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ashcroft's Army

2. Monkeys

3. Talking Tinky-Winky Blues

4. Hail to the Chief

5. I'm Packin'

6. The List

7. Take Back the Night

8. Let's Keep It Straight

9. John Rocker

10. It's the Economy, Stupid

11. Picture of Jesus

12. Talking Pat & Jerry Blues

13. I Am Here

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastically clever!, October 4, 2003

By 

Kim A. Johnstone (Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hail to the Chief (Audio CD)

After seeing John McCutcheon in person for the second time, I am only reminded of how inspiring his music truly is. Every lyric is filled with emotion, and this artist is a true believer in grace and kindness. Every one of these songs is a treasure and anyone who has heard the news over the past decade will hopefully find humor (or choke back a tear) after listening to each and every song on this record.

Highlights of the album include humorous tracks, such as "Monkeys", which pokes fun at the Kansas school boards, "Picture of Jesus", an interesting view at society's influence on religion, and "Talking Tinky-Winky Blues", which throws a clever spin on the Teletubbies controversy. Also included are some very tearful tracks, like "Let's Keep It Straight", dealing with gay's in the military, "The List", touching on censorship of music (my personal favorite), and "I Am Here", a tribute to America's original pasttime, baseball.

This is a perfect album, and John McCutcheon is the kind of person everybody should have in their lives. If you enjoy intelligent music that has something to say, any one of John's CDs are for you, particularly this one. Enjoy!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Folk Album in Decades, March 12, 2004

By 

"lchrisw" (Platteville, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hail to the Chief (Audio CD)

A friend put me on to this album and I was just blown away. I loved every single song-- they made me nod my head, laugh, and want to cry. Though the music was great, the cleverness and timeliness of the lyrics are what has made me listen to this album over and over again. McCutcheon says things I want to say about today's political climate, only he says them better. He's a modern day Jonathan Swift. I hope he puts out more like this one.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Righteous Anger and Genuine Emotion, March 1, 2004

By 

KQ (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hail to the Chief (Audio CD)

I was thrilled to see that an album of "short shelf life", aka topical-political, songs were finally available, as I have been a fan of McCutcheon's since first hearing "Christmas in the Trenches" many years ago. The emotion ~ and yes, anger ~ in some of these songs took me by surprise at first, as most of his other recordings have been somewhat more gentle. However, the anger is righteous (and well-placed in my opinion) on the subjects of LGBT rights, racism, religion and of course politics. Any liberal worth his or her salt will appreciate McCutcheon's heartfelt renderings.

The delicious humor of the title track is well worth the purchase of the album alone, and "Tinky Winky Blues" left me howling as well. As a nostalgic baseball fan, the stunningly beautiful final track "I Am Here" left me weeping. John McCutcheon brings a full spectrum of emotion to this recording, and shares it generously with the rest of us.