Songs of the Open Road

The Kennedys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Appleseed Records
• ASIN: B000HXNWX2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,395 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rather than compiling a mix tape for the road, Pete and Maura Kennedy went one better. For the husband-and-wife duo's first covers album, they put their signature stamp on 14 of their favorite songs for the van. Since the Byrds have always provided a touchstone for the Kennedys' blend of hooks, harmonies, and guitar jangle, it's no surprise that their transcendent version of "Eight Miles High" highlights this collection, along with dips into the songbooks of Byrds alumni Gene Clark ("Gypsy Rider") and the Flying Burrito Brothers ("Sin City"). In addition to the folk-rock of the '60s, the Kennedys show a penchant for '70s troubadours such as John Stewart ("Jasmine") and Bob Neuwirth ("Eye on the Road"). Yet the album's wild-card eclecticism also includes a transformation of Stephen Stills's "Pretty Girl Why" into a Brazilian samba, while material that ranges from Nick Lowe's "Raging Eyes" to Jimmy Webb's "Galveston" to Mahalia Jackson's "I'm on My Way" shows that musical inspiration knows no categorical bounds. The album ends as it must, with a Nanci Griffith song ("Late Night Grande Hotel"), for it was in Griffith's band where vocalist Maura and guitar virtuoso Pete came together and decided to go out on their own. --Don McLeese

Product Description

On "Songs of the Open Road," their ninth and latest CD, The Kennedys forego their own buoyant songs of transcendent twang to present new versions of their favorite traveling music written by others, a cosmic jukebox of folk, rock, country, pop and secular gospel material with philosophical underpinnings.

The first seconds of the CD's opener, Victoria Williams' "This Moment," are like slipping into a cool, calm pool, as Maura sings of appreciating each instant in life. After attuning us to the eternal now, The Kennedys head for the skies in a soaring version of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High," with a psychedelic swarm of guitars, electric sitar, and kinetic rhythm section, multi-instrumentalist Pete providing shadow-close harmonies to Maura's sweet 'n' sassy lead vocals.

The California folk-rock-country sound is heard often here as The Kennedys honor many great West Coast-based writers. Three former Byrds are represented: on the cautionary "Sin City" (co-written by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman while in the Flying Burrito Brothers) and on Gene Clark's elegantly mournful "Gypsy Rider." The bossa nova lilt of Stephen Stills' "Pretty Girl Why" soothes the apocalyptic anguish of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," which precedes it. "Galveston," Jimmy Webb's 1969 hit for Glenn Campbell, is a more oblique anti-war commentary as an overseas soldier yearns for his distant home and lover. Americana pioneer John Stewart provides the wistful "Jasmine," an alluring siren's call to tour, while Bob Neuwirth's "Eye on the Road" spells out the dangers of answering that sweet summons.

The ache of the traveling musician is also heard on "Late Night Grande Hotel," written by The Kennedys' friend and former employer, Nanci Griffith. Pete and Maura honor another soulmate, the late Dave Carter, by covering his twinkling "Happytown (All Right with Me)" and the yearning "Gypsy Rose."

Rounding out the CD are a rousing version of Mahalia Jackson's gospel declaration, "I'm on My Way," and a rocking rendition of Nick Lowe's "Raging Eyes."

With its wide assortment of source material, delicate thematic threads, and sparkling vocals and arrangements, Songs of the Open Road can't fail to expand The Kennedys' reputation as imaginative, joyful musicians, conceptualists and "a positive force on all things human" ("Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange").

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it., May 12, 2007

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C. Winden (Somersworth, NH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Songs of the Open Road (Audio CD)

I heard the tail end of a PBS special of the Kennedys. I wasn't even watching the program and honestly had never heard their music before. The program was on in the other room while I was on the computer and I stopped what I was doing to listen to them. I came on to amazon to see what was offered by them and picked this cd. I have to say, I just LOVE it. There is one, maybe two songs that I don't care for but I have been listening to it constantly in the car since I got it. Track 5, 9, and 11 are my favorites. It is getting a bit irritating though because the songs are in my head even when I am sleeping. I wake up hearing them. LOL. I encourage anyone to buy this Cd.