Real: Tom T Hall Project

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 8, 1998)
• Original Release Date: December 8, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B00000DCTB
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,687 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Washed My Face In The Mornig Dew - Johnny Cash

2. That's How I Got To Memphis - Kelly Willis

3. When Love Is Gone - Richard Buckner

4. Don't Forget The Coffee Billy Joe - R.B. Morris

5. Coffee, Coffee, Coffee - Freedy Johnston

6. Old Enough To Want To (Fool Enough To Try) - Jonny Polonsky

7. Ships Go Out - Ron Sexsmith

8. I Miss A Lot Of Trains - Iris DeMent

9. Tulsa Telephone Book - Calexico

10. Harper Valley P.T.A. - Syd Straw & The Skeletons

11. Spokane Motel Blues - Joel R.L. Phelps

12. Homecoming - Joe Henry

13. The Water Lily - Ralph Stanley featuring Ralph Stanley II

14. I'm Not Ready Yet - The Mary Janes

15. Candy In The Window - Mary Cutrufello

16. I Hope It Rains At My Funeral - Whiskeytown

17. It Sure Can Get Cold In Des Moines - Mark Olson with Victoria Williams

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This celebration of one of country's most prolific and engaging songwriters is a long-time-coming labor of love for producers Mark Linn and Justin Bass. If it works, chalk it up to the range of performers and the imagination lent to sterling songs. Linn and Bass juxtapose legends like Johnny Cash--who offers a pared-down American Recordings-style take on "I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew"--and Ralph Stanley with alternative country upstarts like Kelly Willis, Syd Straw, and Calexico. Whiskeytown reinvents "I Hope It Rains at My Funeral" through Ryan Adams's scrappy vagabond's voice and winds up with a wholly faithful, wholly new classic. Joe Henry turns "Homecoming" into a trip-country dance mix á la Beck--the result is eerie, unveiling the song's most secret emotions. Only a few interpretations miss the mark: Joel R. L. Phelps's tortured vocal beats down the subtle humor of "Spokane Motel Blues," and Jonny Polonsky simply sounds lost with "Old Enough to Want (Fool Enough to Try)." Some of the best versions are the most spare and vulnerable: Mark Olson and Victoria Williams harmonize mildly on "It Sure Can Get Cold in Des Moines," and Richard Buckner is alone with just guitar on "When Love Is Gone." Few tribute albums are this rewarding, start to finish: if you're not yet a fan of Tom T. Hall's songwriting, you will be. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic but not obvious, November 7, 2003

By 

"laura1969" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real: Tom T Hall Project (Audio CD)

When I first got this CD, I was very disappointed. I wrote it off. But after a couple of years, gave it another try. It has grown on me so much that if I could only have 1 CD, this would be the one. Tom T. Hall's genius is his songwriting. Many of these interpretations exceed his performance of the songs. Give this CD a chance. It is a true gem.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine tribute to a great Country singer-songwriter, July 24, 1999

By 

T. C Lane (Marina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real: Tom T Hall Project (Audio CD)

Country music's great lost missing link gets the tribute cd that's been long overdue. Instead of a toothless Nashville only tribute (i.e. Arista's Haggard tribute a few years back), we get a lot of other singer-songwriters covering chestnut's from Hall's catalog. The best tracks are easily from Kelly Willis and Iris DeMent. And while a few of these 17 interpretations don't work, for the most part this is a fine tribute.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Words can't describe Tom T. Halls songwriting ability, January 13, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Jacksonville beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real: Tom T Hall Project (Audio CD)

Tom T. Hall finally recieves the recognition that he richly deserves as one of Nashville's finest songwriters. Tom T. Hall has always written about and for the common man. From the lovestruck wanderer in Kelly Willis "That's How I Got To Memphis" to Iris Dement lamenting on "I Miss Alot Of Trains". Much of the artists success on this album goes to their ability to reach down and communicate the pain and isolation that Tom T. Hall often wrote from. However only one or two interpretations on this CD left me somewhat confused. Joe Henry's "Homecoming" sounded like an angry bitter man. And Ron Sexsmith's "Ships Go Out" sounds lost and distant. In conclusion I dare any listener to hear Richard Buckner's "When Love Is Gone" and not be reminded of a dumped relationship or a love gone bad.