Hey You

Jack Ingram

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 21, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00001R3H5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,178 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Jack Ingram is another in the illustrious line of Texas singer-songwriters that extends from Willie Nelson through Jerry Jeff Walker, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, and Robert Earl Keen. His approach crosses Walker's folksy good-old-boy confessions with Earle's rebel-rock snarl. Hey You was recorded in Nashville with producer Richard Bennett and Ingram's band, the Beat Up Fords, and it's far and away his best studio work to date, conveying the sweaty honky-tonk and roadhouse-rock energy of his live shows while showcasing his maturity as a songwriter. He still has room to grow as a storyteller before he's on the level of a Van Zandt or an Earle, but he's already a better singer than most of his influences. --Rick Mitchell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Texas--The Real Deal!, November 19, 1999

By	M. Sun (Los Angeles, CA 90039) - See all my reviews

This guy won't quit. At a time in country music when radio stations do not know how to program even the slightest hint of the great diversity in country music styles, Jack Ingram keeps putting out authentic Texan singer/songwriting at its best. Without some kind of popular uprising, you are unlikely to hear Ingram on the radio. You might hear him over at a friend's house--that friend who also has Jerry Jeff Walker, Wilco, Son Volt, Steve Earle, old Willie Nelson albums on cassettes, new Willie albums on CDs, and something out of left field like Portishead or Lisa Germano. Right? You have this friend, right? Maybe you are this friend. Either way, get this album. Heck (Note Amazon posting rules observed], get ALL of Ingram's albums. There is an old Zen koan: Oh snail, climb Mt. Fuji; but slowly, slowly. Jack Ingram is going to be a major music star. He's just doing it the old fashioned way: slowly, slowly.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ingram gets more brilliant with each release, April 8, 2000

By	hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Given the sameness and overproduction that has become Nashville's stock-in-trade, the freshness of Ingram's Texas-based country is all the more stark. Not only does he write great songs (and pick great songs from the catalogs of others), but he actually records them with his own band. In an age where stars tour with a road outfit and record with a different, small set of Nashville session players, this is a big deal. And especially so given what an accomplished unit Ingram's band is.

This latest release follows in much the same twangy vein as 1997s "Livin' or Dyin'" (on the late, lamented Rising Tide label, so snap up a copy while you can). Several of his new compositions are among the best he's written. "Biloxi" is a bitterly resigned monologue from an abandoned son to his wayward father,"Inna From Mexico" explores the the opposite side of estrangement, and "Work This Out" makes the case for another chance.

Whether Ingram and his band are burning up the honky-tonk rock of "How Many Days" or singing the unabashed pop of the title track, there's an earnestness that comes through every track. Perhaps its the endless gigs they play together, or maybe it's just the honesty of their intentions, but whatever it is, it's a welcome tonic to the overly manufactured pap that populates country radio. Ingram's work is like a highly-nuanced meal stacked up against the processed, empty calories of Nashville's lowest-common-denominator productions.

This is the real deal. Five stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I bought this cd on a whim, and wow!!!, September 26, 1999

By	Mitzi Emrich ([e-mail]) (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

I bought this cd after buying a couple Bruce/Charlie Robison cds and hearing that I might also like Jack Ingram. I am so glad that I decided to take my firend's advice and buy this cd. Jack Ingram is not only a great songwriter, he also has a really awesome voice. I would love to hear him play live. This cd is probably not for those that tend to enjoy the over-produced, generic (crappy) music that is too often played on country radio.