Music by... W.G. Snuffy Walden [Soundtrack]

W.G. Snuffy Walden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 6, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Windham Hill Records
• ASIN: B00004DTOE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,844 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Indie Music > Soundtracks > Movie Soundtracks
  • #70 in Music > Indie Music > Soundtracks > General

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Soundtracks & Scores
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 6-MAR-2001

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Snuffster's Still Doin' It!, June 25, 2003

By 

Peter V. Giansante (Far Point Station) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music by... W.G. Snuffy Walden (Audio CD)

I had the good fortune of working with Snuffy in '82 when he toured with Lenny & the Squigtones. Lenny & Squiggy did a great show -- hilarious, as you'd expect -- but as a concert sound engineer whose principal focus was great music, I have to say that Snuffy's guitar work was a highlight of the show for me. He was a superb player who brought an element of class and superior musical quality that resonated with my own sensibilities as a musician.

That was before his continuing gig as a tunesmith for popular TV shows. In fact, I've never paid much attention to prime time TV, so I missed Snuffy's ascent to relative stardom...until I recently found this album in Apple's online iTunes store. YOW!! It blew me away...the Snuffster's still coaxing stuff out of a guitar that'll make you sit up and pay attention.

If you like the TV show themes that this album covers, I guess you'd have to like this album. But as a TV ignoramus, I had never heard any of it before I heard this album...and it still knocked my socks off.

Here's why: Snuffy is simply one of the most tasteful, tuneful, splendidly rhythmic melodic guitarists living on planet Earth. You can find guitarists with killer chops anywhere; I know some guys who can play hot licks that'll dazzle you...for a few minutes. After that, it's (yawn) "...er, but can you actually play anything INTERESTING, pal?" Technical accomplishment and musically tasteful playing are not necessarily the same thing.

Snuffy's got both, in spades. He plays with...well, finesse. He feels what he's playing, and it shows up in the way his music feels when you hear it. His sense of phrasing and melody give his guitar work the same sense I always get when I hear The Beatles; it's just so natural, so effortless. Yet, it has intensity...the kind of musical depth, tonal complexity, and just plain feel-good riffing that makes it sound easy. For him, it IS easy.

I look for variety when I decide whether an album is worth owning. I look for the kind of complexity that sounds deceptively simple, yet manages to engage my interest every time I hear it. This album has that quality about it -- everything from poignant, soft-textured melodies to rip-snorting rockers, with plenty of funky, spicy, rhythmically textured stuff in between. It's loaded with tunes that maintain their intensity with layers of sound you can't quite fathom, they're so richly entailed with superior melodic content...layer upon layer of it.

I've been a guitarist since 1965 -- played hundreds (thousands?) of live gigs, recorded albums, and as an engineer & producer I've worked with more high-quality musicians than I can count, including some of the best guitarists in the world. But there's an upper echelon of talented musicians who set themselves apart by virtue of their surpassing quality, and Snuffy's among them. It shows up in every tune on this album. If you want guitar playing that's as good as it gets, get this album. You won't be disappointed.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasteful!, July 8, 2004

By 

Volkert Volkersz (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music by... W.G. Snuffy Walden (Audio CD)

Tasteful. That's how I would summarize this album.

This recording was a serendipitous discovery for me. In a stack of CDs that were given to our high school library, I was immediately drawn to acoustic guitar on the cover. I was not disappointed when I cracked open the case and dropped it into my CD player.

Snuffy Walden has written some extraordinarily beautiful melodies, and thankfully has kept them free from lyrics on this album. The majority of this recording has a quiet, restful atmosphere, played mostly on acoustic six-string guitar. Tracks at times are accompanied by string quartet, orchestra, voices, or "smooth jazz" style combo.

Snuffy appears to pay tribute on various tracks to some of my all-time favorite guitarists including an unplugged Eric Clapton, Bruce Cockburn, Will Ackerman and Phil Keaggy. There's even a hint of some of the classical greats such as Segovia or John Williams to be heard here (not that they'd ever play steel strings with a pick, but there's still a hint of that sound).

This has quickly become my favorite album of the summer, and it will remain in the top of my personal playlist when I return to school and play it as background music in the library.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably beautiful..., March 12, 2001

By 

B. Heljenek "dreamworks25" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music by... W.G. Snuffy Walden (Audio CD)

I bought this CD in large part due to W.G. Snuffy Walden's great music that he composes for The West Wing. The entire CD is just a beautiful collection of music that instantly becomes the soundtrack to your entire life - it's joyful, playful, hopeful and reverently heartbreaking. It evokes reflections of events that have changed your life and manages to make those memories even sharper. If you don't believe me, just listen to track #2, and see if it doesn't touch your soul.