Mockingbird Time [Deluxe Edition]

Jayhawks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Deluxe Edition
• Label: Rounder / Pgd
• ASIN: B0056G34WO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,854 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Hide Your Colors

2. Closer To Your Side

3. Tiny Arrows

4. She Walks In So Many Ways

5. High Water Blues

6. Mockingbird Time

7. Stand Out In The Rain

8. Cinnamon Love

9. Guilder Annie

10. Black-eyed Susan

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Mockingbird Time: A Documentary [DVD]

2. She Walks In So Many Ways: The Ocean Way Rehearsal Sessions [DVD]

3. Closer To Your Side: The Ocean Way Rehearsal Sessions [DVD]

4. Tiny Arrows: The Ocean Way Rehearsal Sessions [DVD]

5. King Of Kings: Never-before-seen performance from 1985 [DVD]

Editorial Reviews

During their heyday in the first half of the 1990s, The Jayhawks perfected a captivating sound that seamlessly blended the elegant folk-rock of The Byrds, the adventurousness of Buffalo Springfield, the hippiebilly soulfulness of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the soaring harmonies of The Beach Boys. So it's richly ironic that their reappearance coincides with a dramatic resurgence of the musical approach they played such a central role in perpetuating--but this time around, The Jayhawks themselves are revered as icons by the young bands carrying on those same traditions, and it's their own legacy that they're advancing. On Mockingbird Time, their eighth album, and the first with the original lineup since 1995's Tomorrow The Green Grass, they're once again pushing the envelope in songs and performances of rarefied dynamism and grace. The album's shapes and textures range from the string-laden grandeur of "Hide Your Colors" and the widescreen vistas of "Tiny Arrows" to the streamlined 12-string jangle of "She Walks in So Many Ways" and the amphetamine frenzy of "High Water Blues."

Limited deluxe edition includes an exclusive DVD featuring Mockingbird Time: A Documentary, Oceanway Studios rehearsal sessions videos, and a never-before-seen performance from 1985, plus two bonus tracks, additional photos, lyrics, and deluxe packaging.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REASONS TO BUY THIS ALBUM, September 21, 2011

By 

Andrew H. Lee "Constant Listener" (Snohomish, WA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mockingbird Time (Audio CD)

Dear Music Appreciator,

I suggest that you buy this new album by The Jayhawks if...

...you find it noteworthy that this is the first new studio album by The Jayhawks in eight years, making it something of a milestone.

...you already know (or are interested to learn) that this is the first studio album by the classic 1995 Jayhawks lineup of Louris/Olson/O'Reagan/Grotberg/Perlman in sixteen years, making it an absolute milestone and a thrill for Jayhawks fans and quality music fans around the world. This is big, maybe even like The Eagles or Fleetwood Mac big...in a modest selling/never quite ready for prime time/the music comes first kind of way.

...you welcome the fact that this is the second studio album by principal singers/songwriters Mark Olson and Gary Louris in two years - making it a double your pleasure/double your fun sort of moment for Jayhawks fans who thought they'd died and gone to heaven with 2009's collaboration READY FOR THE FLOOD.

...you are a patient, careful, repeat listener that enjoys an album that is "a grower."

For me the album seemed to get off to a slow start with the first few songs, things got interesting with "Tiny Arrows," and then my attention faded in and out through the remaining nine tracks.

But as I listened again and again, the words/music/ideas and overall feel of this song collection began to twirl around my internal music meter and burrow into my brain a bit. New moments began to stand out and stick with me - the guitar solo at the 2:30 mark of "High Water Blues," the clear fragility in Mark Olson's lead vocals on "Mockingbird Time," the contemporary folksiness of "Black-Eyed Susan (and the remarkable detail of the spoon collection)...all pointing toward a carefully crafted musical statement by a highly influential American group that is worth the attention of every true musical expeditionary. Buy this and listen over and over till you get it.

Sincerely,

Constant Listener

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jayhawks fans rejoice! They got the band back together!, September 21, 2011

By 

Mark Blevins (Lindside, WV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mockingbird Time (Audio CD)

As the reviewer above noted, this is the first Jayhawks album in eight years and the first with founding member Mark Olson in 16 years. It was worth the wait. For me this album wasn't a grower at all; I loved "Hide Your Colors" as soon as I heard it because it opens the album on a strong note, just like "Blue" and "Waiting For the Sun." This album does have more in common with the Olson-led Jayhawks of Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass than the later albums. I enjoy them all, but I am partial to the early material.

The album opener "Hide Your Colors" is classic Jayhawks - Olson and Gary Louris' voice intertwining together to sound as one while singing an upbeat ode to being oneself. The highlights are many on this disc; "She Walks in So Many Ways" bounced out of my speakers as a Byrds-like classic, while they band explored new territory on songs like "Tiny Arrows" and "Black Eyed Susan." Throughout the classic sound of the Jayhawks is present: chiming guitars, vocal harmonies and wonderful back up harmonies from keyboardist Karen Grotberg and drummer Tim O'Reagan.

This one stands strongly with the likes of HTH, TTGG and Rainy Day Music. "Guilder Annie" is another great tune that also has a mournful steel guitar in the background. I can't and won't stop listening to it. I've waited years for this to come out, and I'm so glad the band got together at least one more time to come up with some beautiful music. Fans of the band should enjoy this because it's everything the band is known for and the new songs stand up to their classics. Here's hoping the band receives not only the acclaim but the public support they so richly deserve this time around.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a grower, January 12, 2012

By 

Donald E. Gilliland (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mockingbird Time (Audio CD)

This one took many, many listenings to grow on me. I have all the Jayhawks albums, and like or love them all. Quite frankly, and I know it goes against "accepted" musical wisdom to say something so outrageous, but my favorite Jayhawks albums are the ones without Mark Olson. There, I said it. So, shoot me. Of course those early albums with Olson are wonderful, but there is just something about the Louris-led era that moves me more. The expectations for this long-awaited reunion album were very high, maybe too high, so naturally some fans are going to be slightly disappointed. The material here is good, but to my ears it falls short of magnificence. But that's not such a bad thing either. The Jayhawks have given us an album with some very good songs, memorable tunes that stick in your head. It may not be their finest hour, but it's good enough for me. Welcome back!