Customer Reviews

The Rodney Crowell Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Included in The Rodney Crowell Collection are some wonderful songs written by Crowell and made popular by other famous singers such as Jimmy Buffet ("Stars on the Water"), Waylon Jennings ("I Ain't Livin' Long Like This"), Bob Seger ("Shame on the Moon"), and Juice Newton ("Queen of Hearts"). The whole collection really shows Crowell's range of talent in writing, composing, and singing. These are some of the best songs of his early days and among them you will find classic country, beautiful ballads, rockabilly, and some folksy tunes. Among the accompanying vocals credits are Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill. This is a truly enjoyable collection to listen to over and over. Among my favorites are "Leavin' Louisianna in the Broad Daylight," "Stars on the Water," and "'Til I Can Gain Control Again."

Rodney Crowell's genius lies in his ability to write catchy tunes that cross musical boundaries. He is at ease writing songs in country, pop, rock and other formats which makes labeling him an exercise in futility.

He is a topnotch tunesmith, no question about it. It is no wonder why many of his songs are gracing the albums of other topnotch artists, i.e. Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, just to name a few.

In this fine all-original collection, we listen to the master songwriter singing his own songs. `Till I Can Gain Control Again' is a truly sad and touching song, going straight to the heart as a very personal statement from a man trying to make sense out of an otherwise uncontrollable situation; the pain and the hurt are very evident in its delivery. Incidentally, Emmylou and Willie have covered this wonderful song in their respective album releases.

`Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight' is a nice bouncy song delivered with perfection accompanied by a cast of great backup musicians. (Again, this great song has been separately covered by Emmylou Harris in one of her albums.)

`Voila, An American Dream' is a favorite with its upbeat pop tempo. It is a feet-stamping and memorable tune with basic melody lines revolving around a very simple three-chord structure. Its beauty lies in its simplicity. And the song comes with an extra bonus: it issues an invitation to an escapade in sunny Jamaica to enjoy its famous rums and coconut grooves, which is an everyday dream of many ordinary middle-class folks everywhere! This song is good enough as performed by Rodney. Add Emmylou Harris, one of the finest harmony singers in the business, to provide her crystal clear vocals in the background and you have a hell of a song!

The Rodney Crowell Collection is an overkill in terms of brilliance and impact. Simply, Rodney Cromwell is a songwriter's songwriter.

I must admit Emmylou Harris is the female country singer
along with Dolly Parton. Rodney Crowell was one ot the
original members of Emmylou's band and she recorded alot
of his songs. Just look at the song list and you'll remember
Emmylou recording them on her classic Warner bros. alnums.
Rodney Crowell is a great songwriter and this collection is
fantastic-one good song after another. It is interesting to hear his versions of them. He sings them with such ease and
all are simply produced. The back-up singers include Rosanne
Cash, Emmylou Harris, Nicolette Larson. If you like good country
songs then you will love this CD. He does a great job singing
them

I've listened to this cd again and again, and it just gets better. He's a seasoned singer and songwriter, and I love his voice.

Great CD. Super songwriter does excellent job on songs he wrote for other artists and songs written by his friends. What's not to like; songs by Oak Ridge Boys, Bob Seger, Waylon Jennings, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Juice Newton, and Ricky Skaggs are represented here. Rodney does a great job putting his own stamp on these songs.

This whole album rates five stars in our book. We have listened to it many times. It was bought for "Stars on the Water" and that song is still as good as the first time we heard it. "Ashes by Now" is also incomparable. A lot of bang here for the buck if you like good words and good music.

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Track Listings:
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Track listing
1. Ashes by Now
2. 'Til I Gain Control Again
3. Voila, An American Dream
4. Queen of Hearts
5. Shame on the Moon
6. Old Pipeliner
7. Stars on the Water
8. Heartbroke
9. I Don't Have to Crawl
10. Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight
11. Victim or a Fool
12. I Ain't Living Long Like This

But just to set the record straight, "Queen of Hearts" was written by Hank DeVito, a pedal steel ace who worked in Emmylou Harris's Hot Band after he finished playing tours with Elvis.