Hillbilly Idol [Import]

Hillbilly Idol | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Slewfoot
• ASIN: B000060OIH
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,688 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Imports > Country
  • #97 in Music > Indie Music > Country > General

Track Listings

1. Smack Dab in the Middle of Love

2. No Time Like the Past

3. I Don't Think About You Anymore

4. She Didn't Even Know I Was Gone

5. Four Brothers

6. Hillbilly Polka

7. Late in the Day

8. Dixie Highway Home

9. Fingertips

10. Between Here and Heaven and Gone

11. No More to Lose

12. Radio Flyer

13. One Step Forward

14. Hurt Heart Broke

15. Sirocco

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cleveland honky-tonk and bluegrass, April 8, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hillbilly Idol (Audio CD)

Recording in the shadow of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, this Cleveland quartet has created a fine album of honky-tonk music flavored with Swing, Zydeco, Tex-Mex and Bluegrass. Al Moss' pedal steel anchors a country sound whose nostalgic echoes will be familiar to fans of BR549, but without the stagey retro baggage. The group's harmonies call on the Everly and Louvin Brothers (the latter of whose "She Didn't Even Know I Was Gone" is covered here), and the band's original compositions mix easily with covers of jazz composer Jimmy Giuffre's "Four Brothers"(rearranged as a swingin' Speedy West/Jimmy Bryant-styled pick-fest) and Tim O'Brien's touching "Late in the Day."

The novel "Hillbilly Polka" cleverly mixes country swing and Cleveland's ethnic beat, with Jeff Pecon's piano accordion intertwining playfully with guitars and yodels to create a lively dance tune. The band moves easily from swing ("One Step Forward") to honky-tonk two-steps and banjo-led modern bluegrass such as "Dixie Highway Home," repleat with tight, multipart harmonies. Laurie Lewis adds her harmony to "Between Here and Heaven," and the band kicks up the tempo for a Buckaroos-styled instrumental, "Radio Flyer." The closing "Sirocco" weds western musical themes (by way of James Bond, perhaps) with the '60s instrumental twang of the Shadows and Ventures, and a modern twist of the Raybeats.

The Hillbilly Idols' very name spells the reverence they feel for their influences. They run through a wide variety of styles on this sophomore effort, with a mastery that frees them from slavish devotion. The resulting blend presents a sound that's the organic result of lifetimes spent listening to and playingmusic, rather than simply studying nostalgic sources.

3-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional reviews.