Ridin on the Blinds

Jonas Fjeld, Eric Andersen, Andersen/Danko/Fjeld, Rick Danko | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 4, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B0000009QX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,012 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #9 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Contemporary Blues
  • #25 in Music > Indie Music > Folk > Singer Songwriters

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great album, January 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Ridin on the Blinds (Audio CD)

The Band was greater than the sum of it's parts, though all of those "parts" consisted of phenomenal musicians. Rick Danko was one of them and his solo and other-team projects were some of the best done by a Band alumnus. This album is one of a couple Danko did with Eric Anderson, a fine and criminally underheard singer/songwriter, and Jonas Fjeld, who is well known in his native Norway but not a readily familiar name to many outside of that country. RIDIN' ON THE BLINDS has the kind of homespun charm that made The Band's albums shine, but it also has many moments of quiet power.

Anderson is probably the strongest presence here, doing a beautiful rendition of Richard Thompson's "Dimming Of The Day" and leading the three voices to soar on his own "Come Runnin' Like A Friend." Fjeld is a terrific guitarist and his vocal on "Women 'Cross The River" is a beaut. (He and Anderson sound very similar). But the high point as far as I'm concerned is Danko's stripped down version of former Band-mate "Robbie" Robertson's "Twilight," a song one doesn't hear much. Danko's vocal sounds off the cuff, but that's part of it's charm, and when the three of them sing the chorus, it bowls you over. In light of Danko's recent passing, the words, "Don't leave me alone in the twilight/ 'Cause twilight is the loneliest time of day" have an especially sad ring to them.

This album is a wonder.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique gem of an album., February 1, 2001

By 

Jonathan Lyness (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ridin on the Blinds (Audio CD)

I'm a huge Rick Danko fan, so it would be tempting to give ANY album he lent his vocals to a 5-star review. But this album is truly unique and deserving of praise. The unusual, exotic Norwegian instrumentation used throughout the album makes this a more special collaborative effort than your average folk-rock album...as do those wonderful harmonies. The previous reviewer is right on the money in singling out Rick Danko on "Twilight" and Andersen on "Dimming of the Day" (though I have no shortage of favorites on this album). As an aside, Kirsten Berg, a Norwegian singer, does a duet with Eric Andersen on "Dimming", and I spent over 3 years searching for an album by her, so taken was I with her voice on this track. This was also the album that introduced me to Andersen, and hooked me on his haunting voice and the insightful songwriting in his work. I could rant on but you probably get the idea... :) Beautiful stuff.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very loving CD, February 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ridin on the Blinds (Audio CD)

This is a very good CD and, above all else, a very loving CD. It is organized in a certain way: very quickly after the title cut, we are exposed to two very mellow songs, Robbie Robertson's "Twilight" and then "Dimming Of The Day"; then possibly the CD's highlight, "Ragtop", a very energetic blues tribute to the convertible car. The remainder of the album is devoted mostly to loving songs, with some remarkable exceptions: "Outside Track", really an ancient folk song; "Every Man Is His Own Hero", a blues tribute to Paul Butterfield,"Women Cross The Water" , a Nashville effort. The remainder are loving songs about friendship and they work, for the most part, except possibly for the last song, which is a bit overdone. This song reminds me of the final cut on Alison Krausss's "So Long, So Wrong" CD. This is a good, though ultimately forgettable,CD. There are many creative moments, which purport to be "modern bluegrass." While this may be true, the songs are in the long run forgettable. It is with great heartache that I say this. Her more recent CD, "Forget About It" is better. The songs are more enduring, though they may appear on the surface to be more insignificant. Similarly, the last cut on "Riding On The Blinds" strives for too much, and is consequently a failure. Other than that, I have no complaints; this CD gives me great pleasure.