Trouble With Humans

Chip Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Texas Music Group
• ASIN: B0000CC83J
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,888 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Don't Speak in English

2. Memphis, Texas

3. All the Rain

4. Curves and Things

5. The Trouble with Humans

6. Oh Ireland

7. Fall

8. Laredo

9. Dirty Little Texas Story

10. Confessions

11. I Need a Wall

12. We Come Up Shining

13. Find Me a Killer

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like the relationship between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Sofia Coppola’s film, Lost In Translation, the intergenerational bonding of Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez works in a way that eludes easy analysis. The elder former hit song writer ("Wild Thing," "Angel Of The Morning")/professional gambler and the younger singer/fiddler harmonize telepathically, while their vocal timbres compliment each other, matching his Billy Joe Shaver gruffness with her Lucinda Williams attitudinal twang. The Trouble With Humans builds on the back-porch feeling of their debut record with improved sonics that increases the intimacy to a point where the tunes feel almost accidentally overheard. While it would be wrong to call it a concept record, there is a strong theme running throughout. Lines like "don’t say words I understand" ("Don’t Speak In English"), "don’t say a word" ("Memphis, Texas"), and "some words should hit the air like silence" ("Curves And Things") speak of the failure of language, ironically on a CD rife with well-crafted lyrics. But truly, for Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez, it is their unique musical kinship that speaks greater volumes. --Michael Ross

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album of 2003, November 27, 2003

By 

Van DeLisle (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trouble With Humans (Audio CD)

I haven't listened to music radio in over twenty years. Why would I? No station here in Chicago is playing anything like this. Occasionally you might get something out of NPR, but overall it's a wasteland. So once again I thank John Conquest of 3rd Coast Music for bringing this to my attention. This is unbelievably beautiful music. As usual I noticed the uptempo songs first but it's the ballads that are extraordinary. I can't stop playing this. I was fortunate enough to see Chip and Carrie live last night at Fitzgeralds and I am so glad I went.(I live an hour and a half away) Chip Taylor said that he'd been out of the music business for over six years.. we are very lucky he's back. When he and Carrie are singing together it's just heavenly. And Carrie... for someone that isn't all that big she can really sing! Listen to 'Memphis, Texas' and tell me there's a finer voice anywhere. This is what it's all about.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They have done it again!, September 26, 2003

By 

Roger Jönsson (Lund, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trouble With Humans (Audio CD)

I thought Chip and Carrie's last album, "Let's Leave This Town", was one of the best things I've heard in a long time, so I had very high expectations on this follow-up. It is different - so it may take a while to get used to - but in the end it is just as great as their debut. The sound is softer and more varied this time around and there are more great ballads, like the beautiful "Memphis, Texas" or the tender "We Come Up Shining". On the rowdy side we have "All The Rain" and "Laredo" which are fine, but even better live. (I saw them perform in a café in Malmo, Sweden a few weeks back and they were fantastic! Can't wait to see them again). My favorite songs on this record, however, are the more laid-back, mid-tempo songs, like the opener "Don't Speak In English", the outstanding hard country song "Dirty Little Texas Story" and the smooth "Curves and Things". Chip is a great songwriter (Carrie also helps out on 3 tracks) and I can't get enough of miss Rodriguez' unique, wonderful voice. I only wish she would play some more of that great "Texas fiddle" on this record. I would have liked another "Sweet Tequila Blues" (a masterpiece from their first CD) in there somewhere, but I guess they wanted to do something a bit different, and that's fine too. I just hope they make more albums together. Or why not record a live show. Go see them, they are simply magic!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bone-deep resonance, February 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Trouble With Humans (Audio CD)

I once saw John Prine's best lyrics described as somehow sneaking in the back door of the mind and staying there, teasing you with meanings. That's how this team's music feels, but without Prine's sardonic edge. Lyrics like "some words should fall on the air like silence" are only part of the reason. You couldn't find two more different voices (I won't even add "that stay in key" because Taylor doesn't always; with his gruff, aging voice it hardly matters). They play this music with their voices, from their hearts. Her perfect voice and delivery combine with his rough edges to somehow amplify everything good about these mostly simple tunes, with their mostly not-so-simple lyrics. On a second or third hearing I got pulled into the music with a feeling like I was sharing something very personal. Not just listening to a couple of very original artists but actually sharing something with them that went deep into emotional territory. I wish I knew how they do that. I hope this unlikely duo is far from done exploring their potential together. They seem to just keep getting better.