Customer Reviews

John Renbourn And Stefan Grossman Live... In Concert

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Let's face it, neither of these two guys scan sing. But their guitar virtuosity makes the album a real treasure, and they only sing on a handful of tunes. In particular, Renbourn's medley of "Lament for Owen Roe O'neill / the Mist Covered Mountains of Home" is magical. And there's lots more good stuff here for fans of the steel string guitar.

I've always been a fan of Grossman (his ragtime and blues transcriptions) and Renbourn's interpretation of English traditional music. Imagine my surprise to find their double live album in the used record bin for $7! As soon as I started playing it though, something started bothering me: It was Grossman's voice. I see why none his treasured albums have any vocals. Imagine having just been served a wonderful aged steak, and having the waiter standing over you, making you dip each morsel into catchup! Nothing against New Yorker's, but Grossman's deep, deep Manhattan accent just destroys this album for me (despite some wonderful guitar work and vocals by Renbourn). Their duet on Candyman is simply obscene, with Grossman hamming up the falsetto part (c.f., Dave Van Ronk's wonderful cover). There is no chemistry between these two excellent artists.

God, I love this music