Private Radio

Billy Bob Thornton | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway Records
• ASIN: B00005NK33
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,856 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly intrigued..., September 26, 2001

By 

Adam Stewart (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Radio (Audio CD)

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this release, but after previewing the songs on this site I wanted to give it a shot. I honestly didn't expect much... I, like many, wrote off Billy Bob Thornton as another "actor wannabe musician" type and wasn't expecting a solidly enjoyable CD. That is exactly how I would describe this album. From the Rockabilly stylings of "Smoking In Bed" to the radio-friendly "Angelina" to BBT's "Beauty At The Backdoor" ramblings, this is a fabulous collection of personal (and professional) works. Each track is distinctive and evokes a separate emotion from the last... The solemn "He Was A Friend Of Mine" leads into the title track, which features some beautiful fretwork (as do most songs) by Marty Stuart. It is as appealing as it is offbeat - just like the movies Mr. Thornton tends to appear in. Personally, I feel like the vocals/songs lie between Bruce Robison and Johnny Cash. If you enjoy either of those artists and/or this one, definitely check out "Cheating At Solitaire" and "Under The Influences" by Mike Ness. Mike Ness is the frontman of Social Distortion (punk/rockabilly-influenced) and the sound on his solo albums are reminiscent of this genre. *This* CD just falls short of 5 stars because I just am not enchanted by a near 10 minute monologue (even if it is an exceptionally well-told story that draws you in)being added amidst the other tracks. It would be a travesty to exclude it altogether, but I would've have been more please if it were the last track or "hidden." I feel it disrupts the flow of the album. In any case, definitely check this CD out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Billy Bob's Magical Mystery Tour-- Great Country Blues, March 26, 2002

By 

J. R. Hobus (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Private Radio (Audio CD)

Country music legend has it that songwriter Steve Goodman once claimed to have written the perfect country song, "You Never Even Called Me By My Name". He took it to his friend David Allan Coe, but Coe objected because the song had nothing about trains, trucks, being in jail, or Mama. The songwriter added a verse with all four, and the rest is country music history.

Billy Bob Thornton's "Private Radio" covers all these requisite topics and more-- but from an alternative perspective. For example: ...*** In Thornton's renditions, jail isn't the county drunk tank; instead, it's the every-day jail created by poverty, tribal knowledge, and childhood traumas that are hard to shake. ("Private Radio", "Beauty at the Back Door", "Your Blue Shadow")

*** Mama and trains make it onto the album too, but this time Mama hears the train in the distance but never makes it out of the holler to see it. ("Over That Mountain")

Perhaps the weakest link on this album is Thornton's acknowledgment/homage to his wife, Angelina Jolie. ("Angelina") It's not that the song is particularly weak; the lyrics are unique and sweet without being sugary. However, this tune has a subtle "pop" flavor that doesn't quite fit the rest of the album, even though Randy Scruggs plays guitar and bass for the track. It's a likeable tune though, and after a few listens, you'll find yourself humming the chorus at odd moments.

The final cut is a cover of Hank Williams' "Lost Highway", an homage perfect in every detail, right down to the steel guitar used for Williams' original version, played once again in this recording by the legendary Don Helms

With this album, Billy Bob Thornton shares a bit of his experiences, both those growing up in Arkansas and those he has out in the rest of the world when he's no longer strictly a country boy. In particular, these later experiences are common to all, whether we're former country folk or not. From the one night stand to the blue shadows we carry of those in our past, there is something here that will resonate for everyone.

Marty Stuart both produced this album and played guitar, mandolin, and/or bass for a number of tracks. His liner notes are particularly interesting and help to place the album in the context of its intent.

If you buy CDs to function as musical wallpaper-- background music about which you don't have to think too hard-- this is not the album for you. If all your country CDs are hat acts or pop crossovers, this is definitely not the album for you.

But if you like to mine for the subtext beneath your twang, you won't be disappointed in this CD. Steve Earle, Steve Goodman, and Jerry Jeff Walker fans would probably also like the alternative/progressive kind of country-blues music that Thornton (with the help of Marty Stuart) has put on this album.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What's that smell?, October 1, 2001

By 

April Winchell (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Radio (Audio CD)

I didn't so much hear the mail man deliver this CD as I smelled it on my doorstep. This is easily the biggest stinker in my collection. Billy Bob makes Fabio sound like Pavarotti.

Of course, if you like drug induced, self indulgent, incoherent monologues set to improvised guitar licks, look no further. This is the yardstick by which all other deluded non-singing celebrities should measure their maiden efforts.

There is actually a track on here that is NINE MINUTES long. It is completely ad libbed, and includes such lyrical gems as "there's an old rock well where we clean the squirrels" and "She was built like a brick s**t house". Move over Maya Angelou, I smell a new Poet Laureate!

But the most fascinating aspect of this CD are the liner notes, in which Billy Bob proudly relates which songs were done in "one take" and how the album was "conceived in the cotton fields of our minds".

I couldnt have said it better myself.