Over and Under

Greg Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 5, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Trailer Records
• ASIN: B000060OLM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,012 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounds of Iowa, December 1, 2001

By 

William Fare (Cedar Rapids, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over and Under (Audio CD)

Over And Under may be my favorite Greg Brown album (and I love'em all). Released by the Iowa City label Trailer Records in 2000, it's a snapshot of life in the rural Midwest. Folk purists may cringe a bit on his one, though, as Greg brings in all of the Iowa City locals to throw down some rock 'n' country vibes...David Zollo (Trailer Records owner and piano-plunking genius), Dave Moore (harmonica), Bo Ramsey (slide guitar and sometime Lucinda Williams sideman) and Steve Hayes (drums) are all popular Eastern Iowa musicians with a flair for the sublimely understated.

As always, Greg's songs are strong as can be, but it's the loose down-home atmosphere that really puts the record over the top on tracks like "Almost Out of Gas" or "InaBell Sale". There really isn't a weak song out of the fourteen tracks, as Greg weaves tales of drinkin', hard times and scootin' across the hills of Johnson County, Iowa (yes, we have hills).

What ends up sounding more like a family reunion than a by-the-books studio release is surely the best thing out in 2000. Brown's voice is in full-on Johnny Cash mode, drawling out the tall tales of country life with this top-notch country band pushing him along. When the last song ends I usually have to start right back at the beginning again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TAKES THE COAL OF LIFE... SINGS IT INTO DIAMONDS, May 2, 2002

By 

Joseph A. Kengor (Somewhereville, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over and Under (Audio CD)

This is the best music I've heard in quite some time. OVER
AND UNDER is a gem, a treasure. Sparse, but tasty, earthy instrumentation (including banjo, fiddle, lap steel, mandolin)
along with some great guitar work by Bo Ramsey, augment
the gravelly vocals, and on the dot, piercing at times,
gentle at times, lyrics. My favorite song is InaBell
Sale - which is a wacky eulogy/celebration of a mean,
hateful, woman's death, with Bo's spooky solo electric
guitar providing the backround atmosphere. Oh Sweet Jesus,
please give us the strength to carry Inabell's annoying
fat ass to the grave... she had enough knickknacks to sink the Titanic...and 40 pounds of frozen pot pies, come to the sale...
poor Pete, her late husband, she killed him with her yelling
and nagging, so much that he would slap himself at the dinner table... - this tune is hiliarious but stark naked real- I
was once married to a woman like Anabell, but unlike poor Pete,
I shook loose and got away. who will buy her hippo bra, her nylons for pylons???
Greg's lyrics are that strong, they give one a wistful smile and
a needle in the spine at the same time. All the tunes here are
sketches of rural Americana, the type of place where I've longed to live, but I
can only visit via Greg's songs. This is one of Mr. Brown's best, miss it
at your listening peril.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another First Class Brown Album, December 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Over and Under (Audio CD)

As a fan of his music, I was still a little suspect when I bought this CD directly from the local Iowa label, Trailer 20. I needn't be, it is a wonderfully produced (read simple acoustic)album of great songs. If you like the Poet Game or Slant 6 Mind you'll like this.