Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you're thinking this could never work, you're mistaken, February 15, 2004
I got this album at the same time as I bought Natalie Merchant's newest album, the House Carpenters Daughter. The surface description of both albums could be similar... Contemporary female artists reinterpret classic "Americana". The similarities end there. Both albums are excellent but could hardly be more different. I guess I'd say that Natalie's focuses more on the power of the songs, stories, and lyrics themselves, while Carla's is more of an opium den epic reinterpretation full of strange beauty. I bought this one mainly to hear whether or not it worked. I mean, Carla heading sort of an augmented version of the Nels Cline Singers with guest appearances by Willie Nelson himself. You have to admit, one doesn't hear the outrageous free improvisations of Nels in other settings and generally think "Yeah, Nels and Willie Nelson would be great together!", but this album came together beautifully. Nels' lap steel tone and playing are a particularly lovely surprise. I'd never heard him play this, and as far as I am concerned he can play it even more in the future. On the track 5 Red Headed Stranger we get a jugalbandi alap-styled intro by Nels on electric guitar and Jenny Scheinman on violin followed by Time Of The Preacher segueing into one of the highlights of the album, Just As I Am. This one could be from one of Bjork's strange dreams. A great track. Down Yonder is a classic as well. Almost as if Sun Ra and his Arkestra decided to do their version of the soundtrack to Quigley Down Under. There is just sort of a wonderfully creepy mood across most of this album that I can't get enough of. It may be something that is too weird for the country fans and rock fans, and too popular-music based for the free-jazz fans, but for the people who are beyond the arbitrary borders, labels, and fashions that segregate one music bin from another, this will be heard as a great work of art. I love Willie's own contributions to this album as well. He and Carla sound perfect together, vocally. Willie isn't a singer that people can usually harmonize with, and Carla and he don't necessarily harmonize either, but they do sound perfect together as they sing at the same time. Can I Sleep In Your Arms and Hands On The Wheel are both achingly beautiful tracks in a disc full of stand-outs. I just have to ask, on Willie's A&E birthday special, why was he wasting our time with the likes of Eric Clapton and Shania Twain when he could have been singing with Carla?? I know the answer is "ratings", but it's unfortunate. One of my favorite discs of 2003!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carla Bozulich....Stephen King meets Willie Nelson, September 30, 2003
Carla Bozulich covering the entire Willie Nelson concept album from the 70's The Red Headed Stranger. I know I know "a country western album??" give it a chance, this is a mind blower. reminded me of floyd, willie nelson, radiohead, some arabic spiritual, cabaret, and experimental all rolled in to one beautiful album. Take Willie's original concept album and set it in Stephen king's Gunslinger universe and thats what you'll hear on this cd.
Willie even appears on 2 songs!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Old Country Done Anew (4/5), May 13, 2004
We're all familiar with cover songs and artists who like to make them, but Carla Bozulich has taken it even a step further by covering Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger in its entirety. To make things even more interesting and focused, Nelson himself makes several appearances and lends a hand in the production of his 1975 country classic. Admittedly, I have never been much of a Willie Nelson enthusiast, but that's only because I simply never made the effort to dig in to much of his catalogue. If you're like me, maybe Bozulich's love for the album and her accompanied musicians, namely the Nels Cline Singers, will change all that with this beautifully haunting rendition that should not go unnoticed. Not knowing much about Nelson's original version of Red Headed Stranger, I was able to listen to Bozulich's remake without any preconceived ideas of how the differences would affect me. Even after only one listen, I have to tell you that I really liked it. Since then, it's become even more grandiose in quality for me. It's somewhere between Neko Case, Catherine Irwin, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. Like the other aforementioned artists, its attention to detail and pure musicianship is what makes it and incredible music experience. At the same time, it's also a very dark, gritty and eerie experience to wade through. On the most famous track "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," simplicity is the only thing required in order to make this the best, and most traditional, sounding song here. The instrumentals (`Down Yonder' and `Just As I Am') are just as strong on their own as those that capture the haunting vocals of Bozulich. Contrarily, when Nelson himself makes an appearance (`Hands on the Wheel'), his vocals sound out of place next to hers, yet it's nice to see his involvement in the overall outcome of his own record. The most important thing to remember here is that this record marks the true adoration of Willie Nelson by Bozulich. When most people only cover one or two songs, it's somewhat fresh and exciting to see someone take on the arduous task of, in a sense, rebuilding a lost treasure. Since my first listening of Bozulich's version of this album, I've listened to the original on numerous occasions. Both are incredible pieces of work. I hope this sparks interest in other artists to pursue this type of devotion to some of their favorite albums from the past. I can personally think of several I'd like to hear in a new light.
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