Customer Reviews

Mixed Bag

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Another great Junior outing. I've seen Junior live twice in the past week and more than 10 times total now. CD's will never do the man justice compared to his live shows (where he routinely covers Hendrix and has a stunning new version of his surf medley including the likes of the theme from "Bonanza", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and the themes from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and "2001 - A Spacy Odyssey", but I digress)

"Catfish and Collard Greens" is the signature here and probably the closest thing you can get on disc to seeing Junior live. If I had to try to explain Junior to an alien from another planet, I would start with this song. It's interesting to hear the studio experimentations that can't really be done live such as Hoagy Carmichael's ragtime "Riverboat Shuffle". Junior is obviously a Carmichael fan since he has previously covered "Hong Kong Blues". "Hard Living Hard" and "Running with the Wind" are classic country with the former sounding like it is coming straight off the radio circa 1973. "Cagey Bea" is the most clever song and musically engaging with the "Russian" guitar sound. I suspect this will be a concert standard much like "Highway Patrol" or "My Wife Thinks You're Dead". It's also about time Junior finally covers Ernest Tubb with a fine rendition of "Kansas City Blues". I've hit the high points here, but then again there are no low points. If you like guitar, then by default you like Junior. You can't go wrong here.

With his new release, "Mixed Bag", Junior Brown has created some new country classics for a new generation of music lovers. He continues to stretch the boundries of steel guitar playing like no one else can and rip loose some string bending guitar licks that makes any guitar player green with envy. He adds to his expertise on the guitsteel with his velvet smooth baritone voice and his creative songwriting. This new CD covers music genres from rock and blues to new orleans jazz, all the while leaving no doubt to the listener that Junior's heart belongs to traditional country and western. Below are listed the cuts from this new release along with a short summary of how they sound to me.

1. Guitar Man: This remake of Jerry Reed's hit from the 60s is as catchy today as it was back then and it fits Junior and his guitar picking to a "T". Great version.

2. Ain't Gonna Work Today: Bob Wills would be proud of this Texas Swing style tune. Humorous lyrics about down on the farm life and great steel guitar.

3. Riverboat Shuffle: This Hoagie Carmichael song is not what a typical Junior Brown fan would expect, but it a pleasant suprise. Junior pushes the envelope of steel guitar by jamming with a New Orleans jazz band on this number. It's nice to see an artist take his music into different directions.

4. Our First Bluebonnet Spring: A slow traditional country and western song that blends Junior's great voice and his pedal steel.

5. Cagey Bea: Another one of Junior's trademark, play on words, songs. This one is about a sexy double agent from the U.S.S.R. and includes a great Russian sounding steel guitar part.

6. Running With the Wind: Although this one doesn't feature any of Junior's pyrotechnic guitar licks, this is one of my favorite songs of the whole album. When I heard this steady, bass driven, country tune in concert last year I was sure that it was an old country standard. When I saw the songwriters credits for this on the CD I was amazed to realize that it was a Junior Brown original. A true new age country classic.

7.Catfish and Collard Greens: When I heard this song for the first time it felt like I was at one of Junior's live shows. Anyone who has had the privilege of being at one of his concerts knows that it is hard to capture the whole experience of Junior Brown live on a recording. During the guitar solo on this one I thought I could hear the tubes from his two Fender Twin amps moaning for mercy.

8. Little Town Square: A slow play on word song that tells the story of a small town geek who become a small town hero.

9. Hard Living Hard: An up tempo country number that I could see Johnny Cash recording back in the day. It tells the story of a family's struggle to live while the father is in jail.

10. Kansas City Blues: Junior's version of the Ernest Tubbs classic includes blazing guitar solos, saxophone, horns, and vocals that keep close enough to his country roots that Ernest would be proud.

11. Grow Up America: This song stuck in my head for days at a time. Although the lyrics touch on the serious subject of child abuse, Junior turns it into a call to all parents to raise their kids in a responsible way and manages to back it up with a catchy chorus that you won't soon forget. Dr. Laura would be so proud of this one.

12. The Chase: What would a Junior Brown album be without a instrumental that hightlights his guitar picking and his steel guitar prowess? This one does that and then some.

Junior has truly let the genie out of the bottle on this one. I know what my three wishes will be. More, More, More!!!

Junior Brown's new release, "Mixed Bag", is a refreshing variety of musical styles deeply rooted in Country and Western. This new compilation of Junior's style of Free Range Country touches on music genres from tradional C&W to New Orleans jazz and Rock and Roll. Junior's blazing guitar work is highlighted in cuts such as, "Guitar Man", "Catfish and Collard Greens", "Kansas City Blues", and the snappy instrumental "The Chase". His velvet smooth baritone voice is highted throughout this new release and is especially appreciated in the country rooted "Our First Bluebonnet Spring" and "Running With the Wind". Junior's humorous and play on word lyrics continue in songs like "Cagey Bea", "Ain't Gonna Work Today", and "Little Town Square". On a somber note Junior's "Grow Up America" bring attention to child abuse. "Riverboat Shuffle", although a remake of an old Hoagie Carmichael song, is a exciting new sound for Junior that features Junior with a New Orleans Jazz Band. I hope Junior continues to stretch the envelope with his Free Range Country. I know I'll be waiting for the next edition in a long list of Junior Brown releases.

Junior, in my humble opinion has done it again. Mixed bag is just as the title says, Junior jumping from one style to another and doing it quite well I might add. When Bob Dylan went electric there were people even during his performances calling him "Judas". I have been to a couple of Mr Brown's live perfomances and they too have been a "Mixed Bag" all the way from an excellent homage to Hendrix with even a tribute to "Close Encounters" to bringing smiles to a country crowd with his "Bandera Waltz".

Junior "smokes" Jerry Hubbard's "Guitar Man". "Aint gonna work today" is done in the great tongue-in-cheek style that only Junior can do, which kind of causes this reviewer to compare him with Mississippi John Hurt in his humorous seasoning of his creations. "Riverboat Shuffle" is probably the one cut that would cause a bit of dissent among dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts of Junior's style. I feel that, as with any artist especially one of Juniors virtuousity, it is departures like this one that cause the artist to grow and create a little "elbow room" for up and coming new feats. The track seemingly does not want to belong but after giving it a couple more listens, I can see where "Loonier Junior" is coming from. I had the same misgivings about "Hong Kong Blues" off another of Junior's albums. Cagey Bea is one song that I must thank Junior for recording. After hearing it live I wondered who had written it and now my curiosity is satisfied. "Catfish and Collard Greens" is a good example of what to expect from Hard driving start to Guit-Steel faux toss finish of one of Junior live shows. Gol, durn it Junior, You've done it again. Good Job Pardner!!!

Armed with his lethal guit-steel, country's foremost retro-maniac jumps headlong back into the fray with the aptly entitled Mixed Bag. Prepare to be dazzled. Junior's string wizardry inhabits the shady world between Thumbs Carlisle, Speedy West, and Eddie Van Halen, and his departures during soloing are visionary. As far as his resonant, unashamedly Tubbesque baritone (he is, after all, a true Texas troubador), it's never sounded better. It's so impressive that Jim Carrey used Brown as narrator for his wickedly funny Me Myself And Irene, setting the stage for what could pan out to be a steady sideline career. With each of his albums better than it's predecessor, Brown's is the sound of 50s honky-tonk with decidedly fewer inhibitions. As producer, he's no slouch either. It's as if, like Rip Van Winkle, he passed out at the controls in 1955, and woke up in today's state of the art digital studio. As if this all isn't enough, this guy writes superbly, and the well seems never to run dry. With a taste for story songs that would do Tom T. Hall proud, he doesn't shy away from humorous wordplay as he shows to great effect on Cagey Bea (get it?), the funniest tongue-in-cheek commie song since Firesign Theatre's Phil Proctor and Pete Bergman waxed Communist Love Song in 1973. The ersatz balilaika runs alone are worth the price of admission. With fingers flying faster than Joe Maphis the opener and closer, Guitar Man and The Chase respectively, are calisthenic workouts. I was out of breath after just LISTENING to them. The old Hoagy Carmichael et al chestnut Riverboat Shuffle is a barrelhouse shaker with Fats Waller style stride piano courtesy of ol' Hargus "Pig" Robbins, who's happily still in fine form. Even the horn section recalls Waller's classic Herman Autrey / Gene Cedric outfit. Often, the "morality play in miniature" makes for a great country song and Junior features two outstanding examples in Little Town Square and Grow Up America. The latter, especially, is food for thought as Brown takes aim blasts today's rampant child abuse. Like Suzanne Vega's Luka a few years back, this song is bound to become a rallying cry of sorts. Though the rest of the disc is mostly upbeat fare packed to the gills with guitar mayhem, I should mention the haunting Our First Bluebonnet Spring, which Brown co-wrote with steel guitar ayatollah Lloyd Green. You just don't hear quality ballads like this anymore, just beautiful. Junior Brown holds the Danny Gatton chair at Guitar Versatility University by a wide margin, moving seamlessly between everything from surf to psychedelia, but on this album he sticks more to straight ahead country than some of his past forays. This is America's music, Buddy. ...

I'm not sure what some of the reviewers are talking about. There's not a song on this album that sounds like anything on CMT or any output of Hank Williams Jr. In fact, I find this album to be his most satisfying in years. Definitely top-tier material, ranking with "12 Shades of Brown" and "Semi Crazy" as his best work.

Frankly, I found "Long Walk Back" to be a serious dissappointment...this album relieved my fears. Junior's back and focused! Any fan of "12" or "Semi" won't be upset with this purchase.

OK, so he mixed it up on this album, tried a few different things. Just because you do something different, doesn't mean it's good. This album isn't good. It's just OK.

I can't vouch for how true country fans feel. I don't like new country, but I've loved Junior Brown's work for years. The rest of the new country music out there is just lifeless, and poppy standard music.... that's where this disc went. The exuberance of his past albums relied on fun guitar work, and silly songs. This album has the silly songs, but the guit-steel (his trademark) just seems like an aside. Overall, this album is upbeat, but stale and very corny. I just don't feel that there is any edge or real soul put into this album. It's very disappointing.

I waited anxiously for the July 31 release date and paid full price for the CD. Nothing on the CD met my expectations. I heard too little of Junior's guit-shredding and too much contrived songwriting and derivitive instrumentation. Instead of full-bore Junior on "Guitar Man" we get some half-hearted rehash of things he's done before a whole lot better; one technique of his that I don't like (the "plinka-plinka" sound) is used way too much. He picks fast but it isn't anything memorable. The CD went downhill from there. "Cagey Bea" is a throwaway that is a mere shadow of Junior's exceptional phrase-turning. I listened to it once and put it on the shelf, probably never to see the light of day again.

We waited three years for this? As a huge Junior fan and frequent concert-goer, I bought the new release unheard, but I was seriously disappointed by the lack of fire on this CD. Junior seems to be trying for a gimmick hit ballad (Little Town Square? Puh-leeze.) to get some CMT airplay, but that's not why we buy the albums. I took out Long Walk Home yesterday to see if time makes the boring stuff less boring. Nope. Now, not all of Junior's slow songs are dull, but Junior should know what we want--we want to hear some strings get tore up. He doesn't record enough to have this many weak songs on an album. This one's going on the shelf.

Junior is an amazing artist and is to be commended on stretching out and giving his listening audience something to sink their teeth into. BRAVO! WARNING: This C/D is not recommended for anyone with an IQ of less than 120.