Customer Reviews

Red Headed Stranger

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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!

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.

Well, I'll join the 5 star parade since I haven't been able to stop listening to this since I got it last Saturday at Carla's performance at Tonic here in NYC. I won't get all rock-criticky on ya (the last reviewer handled that just fine), I'll just describe it in layman's terms as an awesome modern interpretation of the master's classic concept album. Alternately Sonic Youth-like (the harrowing murder parts) and remarkably faithful versions (the Willie duets). I imagine myself driving very fast through the Arizona desert with low-beams blazing, listening to this very loud. Long-time collaborator Nels Cline is ALL OVER this disc, and must be quite gracious in accepting no billing. But we all love Carla to death and would do anything for her, so I totally understand. And go see them perform this, they even do a few Fibbers (Carla's previous band) songs (we got Marmalade, Bitter Honey and Lilybelle, yeah!). And buy this record (too bad yours won't have XOX Carla in Sharpie like mine!), and get Willie's original (it's sooo good!). And if you got any green left over, delve into the Fibber's catalog, it's great stuff all.

A simply outstanding song for song cover of Willie Nelson's brilliant classic concept album from 1975. Don't let that fool you into believing it is somehow derivative or lacks an urgent sense of immediacy. This album is such a mjor achievement. What Carla (& guitar god Nels Cline, who is equally important to setting the tone here) has done is to take Willie's story of an outsider, "Wild in his sorrow" over losing and then murdering his wife and her lover and wrapped it in a modern sonic interpretation of outsider country. Somehow Carla has always been able to put her finger on the menacing "banished to the edge of town" kind of country music. Her songs, and the sonic palette she is near perfecting, wrap the listener in the very essences of loneliness, madness, and torturous longing. Droning violins, guitars that sweep like the wind, thunderous upright bass, brilliant slide leads that just cry. When that pallet is used to paint Willie's songs, they invite more menacing danger and cinematic glory than Willie packed in the original. True to his album, Carla's re-interpretation foreshadows future songs and echoes past lyrics and melodies in interludes spaced throughout the album. That lends a narcotic, dreamy quality to the flow. You hear about a song coming, you hear it in the present, you her it echo away. The musicians are incredible. Nels is simply indispensable. He's one of the most versitile guitarists working today. Everything from painfully sorrowful moans and soundscapes to the stunning jazz guitar leads on "Remember Me". Carla's vocals are so razor sharp and her delivery is heartbreaking. She's a treasure. Willie himself adds a beautiful guitar lead to "Time of the Preacher" and duets with Carla on "Hands on the Wheel" and "Can I Sleep In Your Arms" which truth be told the album doesn't need. It doesn't take too much away though. This is still a jaw dropping classic. A nod to the engineer as well. The sound is top notch and everything has a crispness and an edgy closeness that really does the music justice. I felt fortunate to see her previous band, The Geraldine Fibbers, a half dozen times and this album shows that she has continued to develop and refine her approach. Where she once favored overwhelming force she now seems to understand that infinitely less is infinitely more. This is the quintessential Carla album so far and its a major achievement.

If you've never heard of Carla Bozulich, then you won't understand this review. Better to run right out and buy this disc, or any Geraldine Fibbers disc. If you have heard her voice, you'll know why Willie Nelson's album is such a perfect complement to Bozulich's incredible instrument. She brings out the savage heartbreak in the story, so that you understand the violence as well as the sorrow. And then to have such amazing experimental guitar work combined with pure-and-simple country guitar makes this an album every alt-country fan should own. Sure, Wilco's great (and they now have Nels Cline) and Son Volt's gotten a lot of press, and Neko Case has a kick-ass voice. But Carla Bozulich is hands down one of the most amazing voices in this or any other genre. Hey, even if you prefer traditional country, Carla's straight-ahead rendition of "Blues Eyes Crying in the Rain" will have you crying behind the wheel of your 4X4.

Unlike one of the other reviewers who seems genuinely shocked that a "country western" album could sound this good, let's say instead the entire alt-country movement (or the sub-set of avant-country) has been leading to this moment -- the perfect fusion of Outlaw Country with modern rock/indie/jazz/pop/international flavors to create a wholly unique yet familiar listening experience. The other reviewers have done a great job of bringing you the names and details that make this the brilliant document this it is, but I'd like to add that fans of straight-ahead alt-country (Son Volt, Lucero, Blue Mountain), back-porch electronica (Califone, Orso, Loftus, Sin Ropas), Southwestern-flavored country rock (Calexico/Los Lobos/Maquilladora) and instrumental soundscapists like Freinds of Dean Martinez/Scenic/Tristeza will all find something to genuinely admire and love about this record. It's bloody amazing. Frankly, Amazon.com should make an exception and allow the reviewers to give it six stars -- I imagine quite a few of us would.

simply put, this is the pinnacle of avante country. i like just about everything about it, the production, the instrumentation, the musicians, the flow of songs. Its just a great album. Take this one on a night time drive

This really is an amazing record. Willie's original is a real classic record. For somebody to decide to cover it in it's entirety is just a brilliant idea to begin with. To then be able to go in and make an album your own.. make a concept your own.. is just a tribute to how good Carla and these musicians truly are.

It's a nice mixture of country & western, jazz, and weirdness. Buy this record right now.