Customer Reviews

Standard Songs for Average People

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

although i've been buying a lot of cds through amazon, very often relying more on customer's advice that critic's praise, and although i've been writing on music in the french press for more than 30 years, this is the first time i write a review in this space, just to tell you i love this very simple treatment of country standards by three very special people, prine, wiseman, and especially the one who had ther idea for this charming and moving duo, "cow boy" jack clement, a musical figure i've come to know, respect, and love dearly, first by reading peter guralnick's appraisal of his work (peter g. has become a friend of mine, and i'm very proud that he considers me worthy of this friendship).
that's it, the songs are perfect, the treatment is ever so soft, conservative in the best sense of the word, and i've been listening to this sweet sounding cd non stop for months, which the best criterium of quality, isn't it?
it'll wear well, as all deceiptly simple records always do.
buy it, listen to it, music lives on forever with this kind of respect for tradition
LOUIS SKORECKI, PARIS, FRANCE

Playing Time - 44:57 -- Legendary Nashville record producer, songwriter and engineer Cowboy Jack Clement had a definitive hand in this production by introducing Mac Wiseman and John Prine who had never met until recently. Clement has known both of the singers since the 1960s and 70s, and they developed an immediate kinship. Realizing that they both shared a similar love for classic country standards, it was decided to record a set together using material from Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson, Bing Crosby, Leon Payne and others. Knowing Cowboy Jack's reputation, I'm sure he had plenty of advice for this collaboration too. "A good song gets better with age," he once said. The good songs they pick include Lefty Frizzell's "Saginaw, Michigan," Charlie Feathers' "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," Ernest Tubbs' "Blue-Eyed Elaine," Leon Payne's "I Love You Because,"and Al Dexter's "Pistol-Packin' Mama," and others. Clement also once stated that "there's nothing wrong with waltzes if they're played right." Maybe that's why they close the set with "Old Rugged Cross" and then "Where the Blue of the Night."

The top session players add a variety of instrumentation and background vocals to the mostly slower tempo'ed repertoire. Acoustic stringed instruments sit nicely with piano, organ, electric guitar, pedal steel, harmonica, accordion and drums to create a sound reminiscent of the 1950s. The accompanists include Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kenny Malone, Charles Cochran, Lloyd Green, Dave Jacques, Ronnie McCoury, Joey Miskulin and others. Jack Clement plays Dobro or rhythm guitar on five tracks. The musical mood from yesteryear is most apparent on those seven tracks that incorporate the Carol Lee Singers' background vocals in a style of that era. Mac and John often trade off singing verses, and they even sing a few phrases in unison (a slight distraction).

Mac and John may be getting up in their years. Mac's in his 80s now. John was diagnosed in 1998 with throat cancer, and he's undergone surgery to deal with that. There's a lot of cautionary insight in the old country songs like "Pistol Packin' Mama." However, as they sing in "Don't be Ashamed of Your Age," Mac and John remind us of an essential tenet in their lives - "Life ain't begun until you're 40, son. That's when you really start to go to town." This album is proof that little is slowing these two energetic legends down. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

I don't think there is anything John Prine could do to diminish the love we feel for his music in our family. We think he might be America's poet, or one of them anyway. This CD is sweet and lovely and seems like two great guys sitting down playing and singing some nice tunes together and we all get to listen or sing along. "Standard songs for average people..." - the title says it all. Just a sweet ole time with John Prine and, in this case, with Mr. Wiseman, too. I gave this to my husband for our anniversary, along with the recently released John Prine DVD, and we are always just so grateful for great artists and John Prine is surely one.

I really wanted to like this album, I really did. I love John Prine and he is one of a handful of artists whose work I would buy without even hearing it or knowing anything about it. John Prine has a new album? Press that BUY NOW button! And there IS a lot to like about this album. The production is superb! I pop this in the car CD player and I don't have to touch the volume control. From the glorious opening notes of 'My Blue-Eyed Elaine', John, Mac and their musicians are in the car with me, crisp and clear and with a full-bodied sound that melts your bones. The engineering is a triumph. The arrangements and the musical backing is first class all the way. And few reviewers ever rate the cover art but in this case it is well worth mentioning. Matt Kelley and Matt Traughber should be winning a Grammy for this one.

So what stops this from being the five star album it should be? The pre-publicity tells us that it was Jack Clement who believed Prine and Wiseman were a match made in heaven. Praiseworthy as that idea may be, I don't feel that the chemistry, if it does exist, comes over in the finished product. Sure, both singers sound relaxed and at ease with the material, but the rapport doesn't extend to warmth (in my opinion) and that's what I really would have liked to hear. Another problem for me is that their voices are so similar that the interplay between them is lost.

Then there's the choice of songs. The phrase "neither fish nor fowl, nor good red herring" springs immediately to mind. Certainly there are many delights - 'Blue-Eyed Elaine', 'Don't be Ashamed Of Your Age', 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget' and 'The Blue Side Of Lonesome'. But these are interspersed with 'In The Garden' and 'Old Rugged Cross' which are lovely in themselves but would have been better in an album of similar material.

The significance of the Floyd Collins story is perhaps lost on me on the other side of the world, but certainly The Floyd Collins Web Page gives more information than I ever thought I needed. The 1925 song 'Death Of Floyd Collins' may be an authentic piece of Americana but its subject is very morose and I'm not convinced the song needed a new version.

And 'Saginaw, Michigan', I'm sure, is intended as a light-hearted joke, but to me there's always been something mean-spirited about the lyric:
"The greedy fool is a looking for the gold I never found.
It serves him right and no-one here is missing him."

Resurrecting Kris Kristofferson's 'Just The Other Side Of Nowhere' was a good idea (why don't more contemporary singers of whatever genre open the Kristofferson songbook?), but I feel it adds to the unevenness of the material. I would favour a more thematic approach to the song choices - fifties classics for preference. My choice for doyen of albums in this genre is "One For The Road" by Willie Nelson and Leon Russell. There, the choice of songs and the overall tone of the album seem to me to be a perfect fit.

I know other reviewers love it and it will garner many fans. But for me, it's a case of close, but no cigar. A pity, because I really DID want to like this album. So what's next, John - 'cos my finger will always be hovering near that BUY NOW button.

The most credible reviewers tend to be those who refer to specifics. Hold my check then, Amazon! This reviewer has his own airy theories as to the provenance of this album at this time. Intimations of mortality. From what I understand, John Prine is a recovering, or recovered, neck cancer patient. So, it would seem that not only mortality but livelihood have been on the line with Mr. Prine over the last few years.
Such stress tends to soften the heart of an already empathetic person. One starts thinking of one's life, his influences, and those ineffable experiences that bring a soul to the age of sixty-five. "Thanks," is in order, just as, "I love you, and I appreciate what you've done for me," come more readily to mind. Time for posing is over; time to get real and feel good about yourself and your blessings. Time to reference old friends.
That's how I have taken this album, as an act of grace. It works.

I first caught the wind of the country & western direction in John Prine when I heard his earlier CD "In Spite of Ourselves." The Nashville influence has laid a noticable twang on his voice to the extent that the vocals are sometimes hardly recognizable as Mr. Prine. As mentioned in some of the other reviews, on my first listening, I also thought immediately of Tom T. Hall. For long time followers more accustomed to John's rebellious angles (and the wry title, at least, is pure Prine) this CD might be quite a shock. But I accept it as simply the mark of a mature artist stretching himself artistically, not "selling out" for the sake of sales to a mellower audience. My apologies for not commenting more about Mac, I am less familiar with his work but I assume that stylistically this is more in his comfort zone. His vocals bond nicely with John's and this is definitely equality in a duet. A nice relaxing work, accept it for what it is, not what you expect of John Prine.

Totally top shelf, John Prine always sings the truth. Mr. Wiseman is new to me but they blend perfectly together. They present an album that can be played right through and enjoyed over and over again.
Music and poetry are combined to make an artform. I'm just a standard person but I know that if the art makes you feel something it's among the best. Of course, we all have different taste in art but this is an easy one, for everyone. John Prine challenges the world with a lot of his songs which, to me, are more like poems set to music. This album is a more of the "just for fun type". The title here is perfect. Try Great Days: The John Prine Anthology you'll love that too.

This was such a disappointment. I had looked forward to this for months, having admired Mac Wiseman for over fifty years, and Prine for thirty or so. But this just doesn't work.

The songs are such classics that each singer could do them well while singing by himslef. But there are just no strong emotional tugs from these "collaborations." Mac has done some great work singing with other bluegrass singers, and Prine has been terrific in his work with women singers ... but these two great men never seem to feed off one another. The feel suggests that these guys were not even singing together. I'll lay this away and go back to the many songs that I have by each that are so terrific.

John Prine.... You are the BEST, the ULTIMATE, the WISEST. And Mac, I love you, too. This is staying in my CD player until it is worn out. I mean it- I LOVE you guys. I have recommended this album to my parents who are almost 80, to my kids who are in their early 20s, and to my peers....well, I will keep their ages private. If you want to feel good, tap your toes, get sentimental and say things like, "I remember this song." then order this CD. Age has only made these songs, these voices even more subtle and wise. This one is NEVER going to be loaned out. I would never get it back.

This is a great collection of songs. Prine fans who digged "German Afternoons" and "Aimless Love" will be especially fond of this album. Wiseman adds a nice bluegrass touch, and this album is as fun as a softball game at a Sunday afternoon church picnic! You won't be dissapointed.