Customer Reviews

The Trinity Session

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fact that this CD has the most reviews out of ALL the CJ's albums (only 'Open' oddly enough comes close), and it still has an average 5 star rating should speak for itself. For once in my life, I side with the mob, as it were. This is a gem, easily in my top-ten favorite records of all time.

The production is excellent- it sounds like the band is in the room with you, from every whispery note from Margo- to every hushed drum beat. Admiteddly, this is something one comes to expect from the CJ's- even when I don't care for their albums (Lay it down), they still always 'sound' great. On this one it sounds especially great: Everyone clicks on this. Everyone knows their place and does a fine job. This Cd is the perfect mix of country, blues and poetry. From Margo's evocative and ever-soulful voice to Michael's lucid and luminous guitar-work. The steady bass (it must be said that Alan Anton is one hell of an anchor)and drum work, always holding down the fort... Oh, the guest musicians hand in nothing short of exquisite performances. The harmonica is so sweet.

The covers are the heart of this album and they are gorgeous- the cover of Sweet Jane that every would-be hipster from my generation knows by heart, as well as the slooooooooooow-waltzing version of 'Blue Moon Revisited,' (quite possibly my fave song by them) which has one of the most wonderfully understated guitar solos I've ever heard. The not-so-well known cover of Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry,' that sounds nothing like the original yet demonstrates how reinterpretaion can be an act of creation all its own. Reinvention, not immitation, is the highest form of flattery- the CJ's know this and deftly make whatever they handle their own.

The originals are among the best and bluesiest tunes ever penned by the band (you can tell from their first album- the CJ's were born to play the blues, though it's a night-shade of blue all their own). They segue easily and sweetly into each other. This is one of those Cds that suits damn near any occasion- a date, washing the dishes, driving all night, editing a novel, working out, nostalgic musings... It's just fine for all activities or the lack thereof. 'Dreaming my Dreams with You,' sounds exactly like what it means- a particularly masterful use of titular onomatopoeia. 'Postcard Blues' slips so languidly and sweetly into 'walkin After Midnight'- you almost miss the fact that they're two different songs. 200 More miles is a weary gem of a tune. They're all top-notch. No sleepers. Everything pleases. In the Empty-Vee world we all inahbit CDs like this are beyond rare. They have almost gone extinct: This is the high-water mark of one of the best bands in the last 20 years. If you're gonna get ANY of the CJ's albums- this is the one you want. Start here. I, and every other of the 60-odd five star dropping reviewers will guarantee you- you won't be let down with this. And seeing how cheap copies abound in the used section- how can you not pick one up?

And Hey, for all you die-hard fans out there, if you didn't know- there's a version of 'Me & the Devil' on the 'Pump up the volume' soundtrack (and it's NOT the bare bones version from their first CD- it's a longer more sustained chaotic gypsy-sque, blues-from hell, version) that is one the best songs I've ever heard, hands down, period. It would be completely in place if it were on this CD. I don't know why it hasn't been put out on a comp of some kind- maybe it has but I'm in the dark.

I remember in 1989 watching Saturday Night Live and gettingready to shut it off, when the special musical guest came on COWBOYJUNKIES. The first song they sang was Misguided Angel, I saw eight people playing with their entire soul for all to see. I still remember how Margo Timmins trembled with every note. I have been a diehard ever since. Margo has one of the best voices in popular music ( I would say that she is the Billie Holiday or Patsy Cline of our time.)Her bother Mike is songwriter with few rivals, and he is one of the most imaginative guitar players ever. This record is special, recorded in one sitting, no retakes into on single microphone. The Trintiy Church where it was recorded is an accoustic chathedral. It is impossible to describe the effect this had. It brought out the newance of the band well and Margo's voice is at center stage. Great remakes such as Blue moon and So Lonesome I Could Cry and yes Sweet Jane. These cover tunes are done with respect for the artist who first recorded them and with a Junkies flavor that makes them seem like they were recorded for the first time by someone who loved them. Great originals like Post Card Blues and I don't Get it! A must have!

How did so many people make so little noise? The Cowboy Junkies begged that question when this, their classic second album, took the world in a quiet storm. Mesmerizing in an absorbing way, the hushed recording does what so few others can do, it draws you in. It is nakedly intense, and gently unfolds song by song. Margo Timmins sings in a voice that invites comparisons to Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris, infusing the CJ's country with blues and a huge dose of post-modern melancholy. The result was haunting and spooky, so low key that it barely registers when you turn it up loud. While this may scare a great many people off the Junkies, it will hypnotize many others into following them down this high and lonesome path.

While the Junkies' best known song here was probably their somnambulant cover of "Sweet Jane," the brother and sister writing of Margo and Michael Timmins held its own. "Misguided Angel" could have easily been a Patsy Cline song, as it is, it companions "Walking After Midnight" flawlessly. Like the best of country blues, they know how to make you cry into your beer (or whatever you may have at the bar). The gentle sadness of their version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" could make a room full of Coal Miner's fathers drip tears in their beers.

That "The Trinity Session" came out in 1988 and still sounds idiosyncratic and original should tell you how essential this record remains. It is a quiet treasure.

I remember in 1989 watching Saturday Night Live and getting ready to shut it off, when the special musical guest came on COWBOY JUNKIES. The first song they sang was Misguided Angel, I saw eight people playing with their entire soul for all to see. I still remember how Margo Timmins trembled with every note. I have been a diehard ever since. Margo has one of the best voices in popular music ( I would say that she is the Billie Holiday or Patsy Cline of our time.)Her bother Mike is songwriter with few rivals, and he is one of the most imaginative guitar players ever.

This record is special, recorded in one sitting, no retakes into on single microphone. The Trintiy Church where it was recorded is an accoustic chathedral. It is impossible to describe the effect this had. It brought out the newance of the band well and Margo's voice is at center stage.

Great remakes such as Blue moon and So Lonesome I Could Cry and yes Sweet Jane. These cover tunes are done with respect for the artist who first recorded them and with a Junkies flavor that makes them seem like they were recorded for the first time by someone who loved them.

Great originals like Post Card Blues and I don't Get it!

A must have!

Margo Timmins has a voice that can reach into the heart and into the soul. Her vocals grab hold and they do not let go. Who would have ever believed that a CD recorded so simply and sparely in a Toronto Anglican Church would live to become a classic? But this CD is most definitely a classic. "Misguided Angel" has to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written and ever sung. The heartache and the passion that are so clear in Margo's vocals make this a frequent request at Junkies' concerts. Margo and the Junkies' version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is mournful and slow; it is a definitive version of the song. Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" may be the most well known track in the Junkies' repertoire, and rightly so. It is haunting. If artists hope to create a mood with their CD's, then this recording works exquisitely. Cowboy Junkies have gone on to record several follow-up CD's, all of them excellent; but there is something special about this CD. Buy it, listen to it--let it pull you in. For whatver reason or for no reason at all--other than its sheer brilliance--this recording belongs in your collection.

I am a relatively new Junkies fan having first heard Sweet Jane on an alternative station. From that one song I purchased the CD and absolutely adore it! Sultry is the perfect word to describe it, Margo's voice just washes over you and the music is so calming, goes great with a gin and tonic on a Friday evening after a long week...I also recommend "Lay it Down" - excellent.

Twelve years now that Cowboy Junkies's THE TRINITY SESSION has been released and has begun to haunt my library. And still, I listen to this record two or three times a year. And at each listening, I'm amazed like the first time. The discovery of the peculiar sound of this canadian band has been one of the greatest musical pleasures of my life.

Unlike in the totally blues dedicated WHITES OFF EARTH NOW! , Cowboy Junkies's THE TRINITY SESSION presents 5 songs composed by Michaël Timmins. And these are pure pearls. "Misguided angel" and "200 More Miles" are instant standards. It's not blues anymore, it's the Cowboy Junkies's sound : a kind of slow-motion rock'roll, desperate musical journeys into a nowhere land.

Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" and Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon" are, in my opinion, the definitive versions of these songs. The Junkies adopt for THE TRINITY SESSION the harmonica, a country musical instrument by essence, which was absent on the first album. Married with the tortured guitar of Michaël Timmins, this instrument adds a priceless value to the already particular sound of the band.

A CD for your library.

This elegant, spooky and emotionally gripping music can loosely be placed in the same category as Daniel Lanois' masterpiece Acadie and perhaps be described as folk or country based atmospheric rock. There is an understated elegiac tone throughout, especially in songs like Misguided Angel, 200 More Miles, Dreaming My Dreams and the exquisitely sorrowful To Love Is To Bury. They turn Lou Reed's nervous, pulsating Sweet Jane into a dreamy folk song and the traditional Mining For Gold into a spiritual anthem. Their own compositions like the aforementioned Misguided Angel, To Love Is To Bury and 200 Miles are as good as the well chosen classics that they interpret with such brilliance. I'm not familiar with their other work, but albums like this don't come around very often. It was recorded in a church in Toronto which probably explains the unusual overall sound. A classic if ever there was one.

Trinity sessions, released in 1988, followed the Cowboy Junkies first album, "White Off Earth Now." This is one of those few albums that now matter how I try, I cannot find the words to describe it. Right up front the listener is confronted with Margo Timmons' voice on a traditional piece called "Mining for Gold," and from there it only gets better. "Misguided Angel,"
"200 More Miles," and Hank Williams' "So Lonesome I Could Cry" are only a few of the highlight of this album.... And there are no low points... none at all. Margo Timmons is one of those rare gifts given to humanity. Her voice cuts like the sharpest of knives, and soothes like the coolest of salves. Micheal Timmons plays the guitar not with virtuosity and technical ability, but more like a master sculpter who wields his hammer and chisel, knowing precisely when to strike hard or gently.
You gotta hear this one.

Recorded live in November 1987 at Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto (and hence "The Trinity Session"), this was the Cowboy Junkies' second album. The track listing is made up of a number of self-penned tunes, a couple of traditional songs and a few cover versions. I never would have thought it possible that songs by Lou Reed and Hank Williams could appear on the same album without sounding at odds with each other...yet that is exactly what the band have achieved.

There are so many outstanding tracks on this CD it's hard to pick out the highlights. The two traditional tunes - "Mining for Gold" and "Working on a Building" - would certainly be among my favourites. "Mining for Gold" opens the album, and is sung unaccompanied by Margo. Although only about a minute and a half long, it's beautifully delivered with a real sense of melancholy. "Working on a Building" is the other traditional tune. This time, the rest of the band are allowed to join in (!!) and the song is played with a slight jazzy feel. Alan Anton's bass playing, excellent throughout the album, really adds to the atmosphere on this song.

It was "Blue Moon Revisited" that first brought the band to my attention. Entirely different in sound and style to the original "Blue Moon", it's a beautifully laid back number with a hint of sadness and regret. "Sweet Jane", written by Lou Reed, has become a huge favourite of the Junkies' fans, and has been referred to as the band's signature tune. Alan's bass, again, contributes greatly to the mood on both songs.

Of the songs written solely by members of the bands, "Postcard Blues" and "Misguided Angel" are, for me, the best. A guest musician, Steve Shearer, provides the harmonica on the former - a contribution that allows the song to live up to its name.

The album was captured live, using a single microphone and cost only CDN $250 to record. It's also a great example of how keeping production work to a minimum can, at times, help the album. Admittedly, the quality of the songwriting, the playing and the singing is also a big help ! Margo, like the Irish folk / trad singer Cara Dillon, has a beautiful voice - it's something that really strikes home when a song is sung unaccompanied.