In the Hills of California (Jewl)

Greg Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 7, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Red House
• ASIN: B0002O06Q2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,457 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rare is the voice that is both as deep and as warm as Greg Brown's. Though the veteran troubadour boasts the most weather-beaten baritone this side of Johnny Cash, there's sunshine in the smile of his wry phrasing and a disarming playfulness in his work. This two-disc set includes recordings from six years of California's annual Kate Wolf Music Festival and, while it lacks the flow of a single performance, the easy intimacy that the Iowa bard enjoys with his audience offsets any disjointedness from track to track. The generous selection of material (more than two and a half hours) includes nine songs Brown has never recorded before. Highlights range from the sly sensuality of "The Way My Baby Calls My Name" and "Slow Food" to the social commentary of "I Want My Country Back" and the droll evocation of life's ironies in "Where Is Maria." The conviction he brings to Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me" and the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" transforms familiar favorites into testaments of faith. --Don McLeese

Product Description

One of America’s greatest singer/songwriters returns with one of the finest "live" CDs of roots music ever made...recorded at northern California’s idyllic Kate Wolf Music Festival. The only artist to appear every year in the festival’s history, he has a strong emotional connection to the event and these stunning performances reflect it. 9 tracks are previously unrecorded and the other 20 are classics with all-new and surprising treatments. Proceeds from this project go to support Jugalbandi, a "Music and Arts as Education" program in northern California.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what music should sound like, December 15, 2004

By 

D. Zook (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Hills of California (Jewl) (Audio CD)

Greg Brown's newest release has already embedded itself into my list of one of the best Cds I've ever listened to. I just saw Greg at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco and was left with a warm fulfilling feeling that only great music can give you. Greg Brown has a way with words and has a voice that just takes you over. The fact that this CD was recoreded at different performances dosent take away from the continuity of the album, but im my mind adds to it. You can really get a feel for Gregs deep connection with Kate Wolf and the festival. I recommend "Kate's Guitar," "Lullabye," and "Two Little Feet."

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a home run...., October 11, 2004

By 

Peter Jackson (Spring Lake, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Hills of California (Jewl) (Audio CD)

I bought this two days ago and haven't stopped listening to it. The set has 9 or 10 songs that have never been recorded, like 'Slow Food', which I heard Greg sing and have been waiting for him to record it. The set is very similar to Dream Cafe, Further In & Poet Game CDs. Serious Gregheads will no doubt add this to the collection. For me the cut that makes the whole disk is "Two little feet". Wow is all I can say! There isn't anything you can drink, smoke or snort that will make you feel better than Greg's music does. Greg is a genius songwriter, and his music satisfies some deep primal need we all have to feel satisfied and fulfilled inside, even though we may not know what we are looking for. You won't be dissapointed with this CD

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, December 8, 2005

By 

D. Lofflin "Dancing Gypsy" (las vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Hills of California (Jewl) (Audio CD)

This cd is a staple in my diet of "soul food". I have had this cd for a year now and I can never play it enough. I have found a profound love for the message, meaning, and feeling of greg brown's music.