The Horse Whisperer: Songs From and Inspired by the Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Composer), Thomas Newman (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 7, 1998)
• Original Release Date: April 7, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000006EJH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,948 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cattle Call - Dwight Yoakam

2. A Soft Place To Fall - Allison Moorer

3. South Wind Of Summer - Hill Country Flatlanders

4. Still I Long For Your Kiss - Lucinda Williams

5. Dream River - Mavericks

6. Slow Surprise - Emmylou Harris

7. Big Ball's In Cowtown - Don Walser

8. Leaving Train - Gillian Welch

9. Cowboy Love Song - Don Edwards

10. Me & The Eagle - Steve Earle

11. Whispering Pines - Iris DeMent

12. Red River Valley - George Strait

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Soundtracks & Scores
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 7-APR-1998

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection of western music, February 8, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Horse Whisperer: Songs From and Inspired by the Motion Picture (Audio CD)

This stunning collection of songs is not a soundtrack score (that is available separately) but it does include songs that were used in the movie, together with other songs of a similar type.

The album is book-ended by two cowboy classics - Dwight Yoakam singing Cattle call and George Strait singing Red river valley. Both of these men are well suited to these songs and their covers are among the best I've heard. There are new recordings of three other oldies here - Big Ball's in Cowtown (Don Walser), Cowboy love song (Don Edwards) and Whispering pines (Iris DeMent). All of these are brilliant, especially Whispering pines. It is a pity that Iris only seems to record songs for multi-artist projects these days - a new album of her own would be much appreciated.

The other songs were all new at the time. Of these, the standout is A soft place to fall, by Allison Moorer. Allison is the sister of Shelby Lynne and her contribution to the soundtrack marked her recording debut. It gave her vital exposure. The song appeared on her first full-length album. Allison, like Shelby, has her own ideas about what sort of material she wants to record, so while her first three albums have been of an extremely high quality, she has not emerged as the major star that record company executives were hoping she would become.

Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, The Flatlanders and The Mavericks all put in great performances on their songs, some of which are not available on any of their own albums.

This is an excellent album which helped to re-awaken interest in western music, deservedly so.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Better Movie Soundtracks, January 25, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Horse Whisperer: Songs From and Inspired by the Motion Picture (Audio CD)

I generally don't bother with soundtracks, but there were too many of my favorite artists on this collection with songs that weren't available anywhere else.

The album kicks off with the Eddy Arnold classic "Cattle Call." [The song had most recently been covered by Leann Rimes on Blue.] Here Dwight Yoakam adds a Tex-Mex flavor to the song with the accordian of Skip Edwards featured prominently in the mix.

Newcomer Allison Moorer offers the break-up song "A Soft Place to Fall." [Note: Do you think she's ever heard Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" when she wrote the line "Looking out your window at the dawn/Baby, when you wake up I'll be Gone"?] That notwithstanding, Moorer has since released her debut album Alabama Song, which features "A Soft Place to Fall."

The most famous alumni of the Flatlanders (Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore) team up for the melancholy "South Wind of Summer."

Emmylou Harris offers her rendition of Chris Smithers "Slow Surprise" (from the singer-songwriter's 1997 album Small Revelations). Harris' aching vocal takes the rough edges off Smithers' original in presenting her lovely version here.

"Big Balls in Cowtown," a song most identified with Bob Wills, is served up here in lively fashion by Don Walser with Ray Benson on guitar (who included his own version with George Strait on Tribute to Music of Bob Wills).

George Strait in turn offers up a traditional reading of "Red River River Valley" with lap steel accents to set the sorrowful tone of the song.

Traditional country and bluegrass artist Gillian Welch provides the album's finest vocal performance on "Leaving Train," a lament of lovers parting as friends.

The album's best track, however, features the aching vocal of Lucinda Williams' "Still I Long for Your Your Kiss."

Since these songs nearly all deal with sorrow and loss, it can be a bit depressing to take this album in all at once. But if you enjoy your music honest and reflective, you can't go wrong with this collection. RECOMMENDED

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting mix of Artists and Songs from the "Cowboy" theme, June 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Horse Whisperer: Songs From and Inspired by the Motion Picture (Audio CD)

Enjoyed this mix of "Cowboy" music. Although I believe only 2 tracks are heard in the movie. The album travels through time in a pleasing journey of 12 tracks from Dwight Yoakam to the current statesmen of country music - George Stait doing an interesting rendition of the "Red River Valley" Several of the tracks are by powerful female artists, It is grand to hear Emmylou Harris singing again. If you enjoy C/W music do not hesitate to purchase this CD