Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
No Risks Taken, But Solid, September 26, 2008
Patty Loveless has long been one of my favorite country singers. This new addition to her impressive catalog is full of tight, traditional country music arrangements, using the usual instruments of the trade: acoustic, steel and electric guitars, fiddles, mandolins, etc. The drums keep a steady beat throughout these mostly mid-tempo and slow tunes. These are almost all what one would call Standards, and Loveless and company have done very little fussing over them. They are straight forward and simply presented. The sound is clean and pure (one reviewer thought the sound quality was "abysmal"; he must have gotten hold of a bad copy somehow. I've been listening to this in my headphones, and it sounds wonderful, with, crisp stereo separation and just the right touch of ambience).
My one small complaint is that this production did not venture into anything resembling risky territory. This is all such solid, reliable stuff that one would be hard pressed to find fault with it, and the songs are almost impossible to ruin, so why not have a little more fun with the arrangements and instrumentation? Martina McBride did a similar set of standards a short while back, and she too avoided taking any risks, turning out a lovely recording, but nothing truly special. Like the standards of The Great American Songbook, many artists are afraid to play with them, handling them with kid gloves, doing little more than blowing some dust off of them. The trouble with this approach is that there is one true risk: boredom.
Fortunately, Patty Loveless is doing some of her most impassioned singing these days, and her pitch is spot on. Her phrasing is just perfect, and these qualities are what bump this album up above what could have been boring in the hands of any number of other singers attacking this material using the exact same arrangements. My slight reservations aside, I love hearing Patty sing these old, familiar songs. Loveless is just great, and her voice holds me captive whenever I hear it. She has few equals in the business, and I will continue to look forward to future work from her. If you love classic country done the old fashioned way, you cannot go wrong with SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. The title song, done with Vince Gill, "There Stands The Glass," and "The Pain Of Loving You" are my favorites so far. Doubtless, you will find some of your own among these gems. If you love real country music, and/or are a Patty Loveless fan, I do recommend this CD.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding covers of country oldies, September 10, 2008
Covers albums aren't always appreciated by those who are familiar with the songs already, but I love them as long as they are done well, as this one is. Indeed, I've heard a few great ones by country singers in recent years, notably Twang on a wire (Kate Campbell), The chain (Deana Carter), Those were the days (Dolly Parton) and Timeless (Martina McBride). I expected Patty's album to be of a similar quality, especially when I saw the track listing and so it has proved.
Patty has selected songs from the fifties, sixties and seventies that particularly appealed to her. Four of them (Why baby why, He thinks I still care, Color of the blues, That's all it took) were originally made famous by George Jones, the last-named originally being a duet performed by Gene Pitney and George Jones, which Gram Parsons later covered; his version can be found on G.P./Grievous angel. Maybe the possibility crossed Patty's mind to do an entire album of George Jones songs, but she obviously decided not to do that as the rest of the album features songs original recorded by other singers as follows:-
The pain of loving you - originally a duet by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, later re-recorded by Dolly with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on Trio.
Sleepless nights - originally recorded by the Everly Brothers in the sixties, later covered by Emmylou Harris in the seventies and by the Judds in the eighties.
Crazy arms - originally recorded by Ray Price, this has been covered by plenty of other singers including Jerry Lee Lewis, Patsy Cline and Barbara Mandrell.
There stands the glass - originally recorded by Webb Pierce. It's great to find one of his songs included because not many singers cover his songs. There's a fine cover of this song by BR5-49 on the multi-artist Caught in the Webb, the only tribute album to Webb Pierce that I`ve come across. Van Morrison also included this song and two other Webb Pierce covers on his country album Pay the devil, but although I haven't heard Van's album, I understand that it's not as good as it might have been.
I forgot more than you'll ever know - originally recorded by the Davis sisters, but I particularly like Jann Browne's version.
Next in line - originally recorded by Conway Twitty, I've never heard anybody but Conway sing this song before although I know that Jack Greene included a cover on one of his albums.
Don't let me cross over - originally a number one country hit for Carl and Pearl Butler, since recorded by several other country singers including Jim Reeves, the Kendalls and Dolly Parton.
Please help me I'm falling - originally recorded by Hank Locklin, but recorded by many others since, my favorite being Janie Fricke`s version.
There goes my everything - originally a country number one hit for Jack Greene but better known via pop covers by Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis Presley.
Cold cold heart - originally written and recorded by Hank Williams, this song became a huge American pop hit for Tony Bennett early in his career.
So those are the songs that you'll find on this album, each and every one of them performed superbly by the great Patty Loveless in a style that fans of country music from the fifties, sixties and seventies enjoy.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Country Roots Sprout a Hit, September 9, 2008
The newest album by Patty Loveless has taken 14 country music classics and translated them into a wonderful, contemporary country sound. Love, sadness, and misery, common themes found in most of the older country music songs, are used to teach today's listeners that no matter how much life changes, it pretty much remains the same. Her beautiful voice and musical arrangements make this CD a true classic. As Patty stated, "It's a little bit of a history lesson, but I think once you hear the songs, the stories ... you're going to be drawn to it."
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