That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994-1998 [Original recording remastered]

Todd Snider | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000AA4MKO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,445 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #74 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Alt-Country & Americana
  • #92 in Music > Rock > Roots Rock

Editorial Reviews

If you've never heard of Todd Snider, then That Was Me: Todd Snider 1994-1998 is an introduction. If you're already a fan, then his first compilation, following seven critically acclaimed albums, is a tribute to the wry, honest, brutal and yet funny Snider. Featuring 17 tracks culled from his first three albums plus a previously unreleased cover of Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville"--all digitally remastered from the original master tapes--That Was Me was created with Snider's full participation and includes his own liner notes and detailed songography.

An iconoclastic hero of alt-country, Americana, college radio and modern folk, Snider's influences are the likes of Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Born in Portland, OR, he moved to Santa Rosa, CA, after high school and learned to play the harmonica. His brother, living in Austin, TX, figured Todd might find a job in a band there so he sent him a plane ticket. After seeing Jerry Jeff play in a local bar, Snider indeed decided that was what he wanted to do with his life.

During a mid-'80s stint in Memphis where he established a residency at the Daily Planet club, he was discovered by Keith Sykes, a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. John Prine then hired Snider as an assistant and eventually had him open shows. When Buffett heard Snider's demos, he signed him to his MCA imprint Margaritaville Records. His debut album, 1994's Songs for the Daily Planet, starred "Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues" as well as "Alright Guy," "Trouble," "You Think You Know Somebody," "Easy Money" and "That Was Me."

For 1996's Step Right Up, Snider and his band, the Nervous Wrecks, continued blending bluegrass, blues, folk-rock and country-rock to forge their own distinctive sound. That Was Me reprises its "Enough," "Hey Hey," "Moon Dawg's Tavern," "Horseshoe Lake," "Tension," "Better Than Ever Blues (Part Two)," "Late Last Night" and "Side Show Blues." 1998's Viva Satellite contributes "Can't Complain," "Guaranteed" and "Doublewide Blues." Snider has since issued four albums on Prine's indie Oh Boy Records, including 2004's East Nashville Skyline, and he continues to tour across the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you don't own his early CD's, go ahead and buy this..., October 3, 2005

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994-1998 (Audio CD)

Todd's debut effort and his two follow-ups on MCA were uneven, with "Planet" being brilliant, "Step Right Up" being good, and "Viva Satellite" coming off as largely forgettable. This new compilation of old material comes pretty close to skimming the best songs of all three. I'd say that if you buy this, you won't need the individual discs. If you already have the first three albums, or at least the first two, you won't need this effort, either. His later "Oh Boy" releases are all worthy in different ways, with "Near Truths and Hotel Rooms" probably being the most satisfying overall.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just a clarification..., April 5, 2006

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994-1998 (Audio CD)

Another reviewer complained that this wasn't really "the best of" Todd Snider's work, since it doesn't include songs such as "Vinyl Records" and "Statistician's Blues," et al. I agree that those are great songs, but they were released on John Prine's independently owned Oh Boy! label, not on the MCA-Universal mega-conglomerate, which is the company that put out this particular collection. Yeah, it would be great to have all of Snider's "best" work on one collection, but I for one am rather glad that Universal doesn't own Oh Boy! so that that is not possible... But if you want to check out Snider's early work, from the albums he put out in the mid-to-late 1990s, this is a fine single-CD option.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for Todd, but buy something else, April 12, 2011

By 

MuddyG (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994-1998 (Audio CD)

It's true that these are all great songs, but what you should be doing is buying every single Todd Snider album, not this Greatest Hits stuff. There's no reason to but a greatest hits album when Snider has never recorded a bad song in his career.