8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
songs and performances to stop the heart, November 10, 2000
This review is from: Songs of the Carter Family (Audio CD)
Like James Talley's brilliant collection of Woody Guthrie songs, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin's Songs of the Carter Family is no collection of "covers." You can have heard the Carters most of your life, as I have, and still be awed and moved by the masterly treatment this veteran husband-and-wife team gives material associated with A.P., Sara, and Maybelle. Still, Stecher and Brislin wisely focus on the more obscure stuff. They choose it well, starting with the underdeservedly neglected "Away Out on the Old Saint Sabbath" -- one of those romantic, surrealistic Western songs in the vein of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "Away Out on the Mountain," set in a frontier landscape of dreams. With California folk singer Larry Hanks, Stecher and Brislin turn their gorgeous neo-Appalachian harmonies to a stunning meditation on death and resurrection, "Bye and Bye," to heartbreaking, even eerie, effect. "Meet Me in the Moonlight" and the odd, archaic-sounding "Dark and Stormy Weather" grab the heart and don't let go. With one terrific song and magnificent performance after another, Songs of the Carter Family is surely one of the 10 best folk albums of 2000 and perhaps the finest Carter tribute ever.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
