Songs From the Gravel Road

Ian Tyson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B0007TKHQ6
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,691 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. This Is My Sky

2. Land of Shining Mountains

3. The Ambler Saddle

4. Love Without End

5. Silver Bell

6. Road to Las Cruces

7. Range Delivery

8. So No More

9. One Morning in May

10. Always Saying Goodbye

11. Moisture [*]

12. Casey's Gone [*]

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.ca

Like a Great White North-ern version of Johnny Cash, Ian Tyson is a walking legend, the lines on his weathered face roadmaps to his historic life. Tyson started making indentations in the '60s as a folk musician (one half of Ian and Sylvia) whose music has been covered by everyone from Neil Young and Judy Collins to Suzy Bogguss and Gordon Lightfoot. Songs like "Four Strong Winds" and "You Were Always On My Mind" were among Ian's contributions to Canadian musical history. He also hosted his own TV show, won the Order of Canada, and temporarily quit the music industry, preferring to be a rancher and rodeo rider.

Tyson could've played it safe on Songs from the Gravel Road by bringing in straight-up country pickers, but he decided to shake things up with the inclusion of respected jazz musicians, including Guido Basso on trumpet and Phil Dwyer on sax. As a result, straight-ahead country melodies like "So No More" become jazz-backed twang. That cut leads straight into a traditional cover of "One Morning In May", a song made famous by James Taylor; the tune is high on charm, complete with an exemplary fiddle solo and whimsical delivery. Tyson's great players also breeze through a host of other tunes, everything from songs infused with Spanish undertones ("Silver Bell", "Always Saying Goodbye") to a reggae track, "Range Delivery". That song is the disc's most charming cut, attributed in part to the tune's co-vocalist, Cindy Church (one fourth of the country group Quartette). There is nothing out of left field on the album, just an hour of country-laden comfort from one of Canada's most enduring roots legends. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars GAVE IT A CHANCE - STILL LACKING, May 4, 2005

By 

M. J. Milodragovich (Montana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs From the Gravel Road (Audio CD)

I've listened to this cd a bunch. If you want to have one of every Tyson cd (as I did), buy it. If you thought Ol' Eon was a sparkling gem, buy it. If you like Barry Manilow and disco music, buy it. If you like mushy gazillion track recording where Ian's voice, delivery and pacing get lost in the production, buy it. What's gone here (whether intentionally or through fatigue) is the crispness, the voice, the delivery, the picturesque imagery, and the pacing that makes Ian Tyson unique in ANY music, let alone western or folk music. If you've heard of Ian and want to get acquainted with what made him great, try any album but this one and Ol'Eon. Ian Tyson songs elsewhere have lyrics that command attention and prompted Wally McRae to write "Give Us a Song, Ian Tyson". To others this may be an example of "artist's growth" but to me it's a wart.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ian's Best Since "I Outgrew the Wagon", September 3, 2005

By 

Brad Averill (Eugene, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs From the Gravel Road (Audio CD)

I got this CD when it was released in Canada in February 2005 and tried to do a "pre-review" for Amazon at that time. Of course, as I found out, you can't do a pre-review, but I wanted to let people know that this CD was more than worth waiting for. It is, in fact, one of Ian's best.

Since "Lost Herd", he has been experimenting with a new sound in his music and a new approach to his material. He has had some success; but, on "Songs from the Gravel Road", it finally comes together. And how! I am guessing that many of the reviewers giving him 2 or 3 stars for this CD simply have not made the transition yet. I can't blame them. When Ian switched from folk to cowboy in the late 70's and early 80's, it took me a decade to catch up with him. I hope those who are disappointed with this CD will keep it in their collection and pull it out a few times before they give up on it. It stands with the best of anything he has done.

Yes, it is true, Ian's marriage of many years (has it been 20?!) with Twylla has broken up and his sadness over this is evident throughout the album. There is a melancholy here that one just can't shake. But it adds to the albums impact rather than detracts from it. And it was the impetus to one of his finest ever songs, "Love without End". This is a beautiful song beautifully arranged and sung from the heart. His feeling of loss could not be more gently or more beautifully stated.

He delivers at least four songs that have single potential - well they would have single potential if country music in the USA weren't entirely insipid. These songs are: "Silver Bell", a Christmas ballad with a very catchy melody; "Land of Shining Mountains", another Ian tribute to his beloved Alberta; "Always Saying Goodbye", an ironically upbeat sounding song delivering a heart-wrenching message about parting; and, "Casey's Gone", a simple but irresistable dog song. I admit to being a sucker for dog songs. I love The Byrds' "Old Blue" and "Bugler".

Of the other songs, there really is not a weak one on the CD. A number, including "The Ambler Saddle" and "Moisture", deal with Ian's favorite subject, cowboying. "This Is My Sky" laments lost things, like love and America's spirit. "Road to Las Cruces" is a 3/4 time that ranges from thoughts of lost opportunity in love to cowboying to Mexicans risking all to sneak into America. And there's more - 12 songs in all.

Musically, Ian went to Toronto to record this one. I think this freed him to create a sound different than that which people have come to expect from him in his Calgary recordings. The musicianship is impeccable, and not overdubbed as one reviewer complains. If anything, it is a bit sparse. But he incorporates a bit of a jazz feel by using trumpet and saxophone on a few songs. His past efforts at incorporating jazz instruments on "Lost Herd" were a bit awkward. Not so here. The sound is like nothing you will here elsewhere, but it sounds natural and nicely integrated. As a 54-year old myself, Ian's continued creativity is a personal inspiration.

"Songs from the Gravel Road" is a great CD. Don't be discouraged by those who don't understand it on the first run-through. I have had this CD since before its US release and am on my third infatuation with it. It is one of those CDs that catches you and won't let go. This is one that will be appreciated for years to come.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Give it a chance - it really grows on you!, April 19, 2005

By 

Grazza (Redding CT, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs From the Gravel Road (Audio CD)

Sorry, I completely disagree with the previous reviewer - this is some of Ian's best work.

Having had this CD since it's Canadian release a couple of months back, I remember not knowing quite what to make of it until the first few listens, but I now think it holds together as a really cohesive piece of work that reflects a time of transition in Tyson's life following the break up of his 20 year marriage.

Ironically, the best track on the CD, 'The Ambler Saddle' (listen a few times before judging) is one of the few with no obvious link to the 'relationship break down' theme that pervades. I doubt many songs have been written from the perspective of a bucking-horse saddle before this one!

'This is my Sky' is the opener and another stand out track. "Sweet America coming off the rails, that's what lies and money do" must be the line that offends the previous reviewer, as there are no other arguably anti-US references to be found here. Fairly innocuous and anyway, as Tyson says on the very next line, "who the hell am I to talk".

Other highlights on this CD (and there are many) include 'Land Of Shining Mountains', a melodic tribute to Tyson's adopted homeland of Alberta, 'The Road To Las Cruces' and a great adaptation of the folk song 'One Morning in May' that at first seems out of place, but actually fits with the CDs general theme of relationship traumas and barriers.

I heartily recommend this CD and hope this is not Ian's last.