Tanglewood Tree

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Signature Sounds
• ASIN: B00004NKB5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,421 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let the Song Play On..., June 22, 2003

By 

Kelly L. Norman "li'l rock & roller" (Plymouth, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tanglewood Tree (Audio CD)

Tanglewood Tree is exactly what folk music should be. Simple but haunting melodies and lyrics evoking the beauty, bumps and warts of the human experience. Instruments from the traditions that influenced the songs: banjo, mandalin, harmonica, dobro. Played clean and flawless. The beauty, mystery, and range of emotions evoked made ever more poignant by the death of Dave Carter in July of last year.

I don't think Dave Carter and I would have had much in common. From the hint of Eastern thought on this CD and information read, I gather he practiced an Eastern spiritual discipline far different from my evangelical Christian faith. His work speaks of life on the road in a carnival, of fortune tellers, gamblers, and even crocodile wrestling. But when I first heard "Mountain" played on a radio folk show here, and later as I listened to most of the songs on the CD, I could (uh-oh, here comes the R word), yes, relate to Dave, Tracey and their characters immediately. And one must admit, there aren't that many Buddhist country-style folk singers around. Maybe there was some magic in that mixture itself.

For my money, the most amazing song here is "Cat-Eye Willie Claims His Lover." This is the kind of tale you tell at camp around the campfire to scare the younger kids, or listen to for the edge of "horror" entertainment at Halloween. Sung in a 19th century gentile Southern parlance, a world away from these artists' lives, one might expect it to be a cover of a traditional ballad that Carter threw in the mix. But this is not public domain, it's from the versatile pen of a master; one who has clearly left us too soon.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars solid, solid songwriting, August 27, 2003

By 

5mallh0lder (Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tanglewood Tree (Audio CD)

back in 2001 i went to the colorado folks fest to see gillian welch, and dave & tracy were playing when i walked in. i'd never heard them or heard of them at the time; they were in the middle of 'when i go' and the line 'and i will crumble down uncountable in showers of crimson rubies' immediately caught my ear. over the next few songs i knew i was going to buy all of their albums immediately. this isn't music that took awhile to 'get used to' either. i liked almost every song as soon as i heard it. i still get chills listening to '41 thunderer'. dave died while i was overseas and i'll always regret not going to see them again before i left.

i've listened to all 3 of their albums extensively, and while my absolute favorite songs of theirs are on the other albums, i think 'tanglewood' is their most consistent effort taken as a whole. it would be my recommendation for someone who's looking for the best representative sample of their capabilities. i can't say enough good things about this duo. what a tragedy that they're no longer together.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ok, so we played it till it wore out, December 31, 2002

By 

John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tanglewood Tree (Audio CD)

& then got a new one. This is music that everyone from grown-ups through to my children (ages 5 and 10) can love. Personally I don't think TANGLEWOOD is quite as consistently amazing as DRUM HAT BUDDHA, but it does have some wonderful songs in it (the title cut is excellent & I think that THE MOUNTAIN is my personal favorite Dave & Tracy). As in Drum Hat Buddha we get a fun mix of folk/country/whatever with great lyrcs, two beautiful voices, and nice instrumental harmony, and it only reinforces how much we all lost when we lost Dave Carter. I hope that Grammer keeps on recording, it would only magnify the tragedy if we lost her voice too.