Customer Reviews

Put Yourself in My Place

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are people who sing, & then there are SINGERS. Pam Tillis is definitely the latter, with one of the purest voices in the business. Whether she's doing a sweet country ballad or one of her sassy, defiant up-tempo tunes, there's no one better. This is a collection of ten strong tracks ranging from the ballads, "Maybe It Was Memphis", "Blue Rose Is" & "One of Those Things", to the fast-paced, bluegrass-inflected "Put Yourself in My Place" and the huge hit that put her on the map, "Don't Tell Me What to Do". She truly has no competition in the Country Female Vocalist category.

This CD produced five singles, many of which hit the top ten. The best songs on the CD are "Maybe It Was Memphis," "Blue Rose Is," "Don't Tell Me What To Do," "One Of Those Things," and "Ancient History." Lyrics are included on the insert, and writers credits include Pam herself, Paul Overstreet, Harlan Howard, and Radney Foster.

I'm a country fan, but I can face reality: much of the country music that has been prodced since the mid-nineties has been fluff. it's becoming more difficult to separate the good from the bad, but occasionally a gem like this comes along to make the search worthwhile. Man, this girl can sing. This CD produced 5 hit singles, but frankly, there's no fluff on here. I could see any of these songs being a hit on the radio. Rarely will you find such a fine combination of singer and songwriters to come up with such magic, especially for something that isn't an "event" CD.

I can play this all the way through without skipping any songs, so it gets my highest recommendation. I'd advise to pick this CD up instead of any of Ms. Tillis' greatest hits collections. I think you'd enjoy this one more, expecially for the price.

God, can this girl sing! Not one bad track on the whole CD with high points for me being the excellent 'put yourself in my place' and 'don't tell me what to do'. This album also boasts Some of the finest country harmony vocals you will ever hear, well worth buying just for that alone

Brilliant.

I've been exploring country music as part of my personal effort to break into country songwriting. I'd heard a couple of Pam Tillis's songs and decided to check out more. So I got her concert DVD thru Netflix and was BLOWN AWAY (to quote the title of one of her songs). On the DVD they played "Ancient History" (Bob DiPiero / John Scott Sherrill) during a photo slide-show in the Extras. I loved that song, so I hightailed it down to the used-CD store and bought this album, which includes that song and several other classics -- "Melancholy Child," "Maybe It Was Memphis," and "Don't Tell Me What To Do" (written by country songwriting legends Harlan Howard and Max D. Barnes). The songs on this album, several of which were cowritten by Tillis, are so good that it plays like a "Greatest Hits" CD. In fact, while it played I had to keep double-checking the CD insert to make sure I hadn't accidentally bought a compilation of hits. As another reviewer hinted, the 1990s were a golden age of neo-traditionalism in country music, right before it veered off into its current state of destitution (for more on that topic, listen to "Murder on Music Row" by Larry Cordle and "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Up-Tempo Love Song" by Alan Jackson). Pam Tillis was right at the forefront of that golden age. Songs like "Put Yourself in My Place" and "Ancient History" harken back to the honkytonk/swing country sound that I've always loved from the 1950s and 1960s, but with a contemporary spin. In short, this album is a classic -- and this is coming from a guy who spent most of his life listening to Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, opera, classical, and jazz. Not only does Pam Tillis know how to choose (and cowrite) great songs, but her great voice enables her to interpret them with passion, flair, and beauty. If I could, I'd give a six-star rating for *Put Yourself in My Place*.

Track Listing:

1. Put Yourself In My Place
2. Melancholy Child
3. Maybe It Was Memphis
4. Blue Rose Is
5. Don't Tell Me What To Do
6. One Of Those Things
7. Draggin' My Heart
8. Ancient History
9. I've Seen Enough To Know
10. Already Fallen