Under the Wishing Tree

Charlie Sexton

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 28, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002OVC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,156 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Neighborhood

2. Wishing Tree

3. Ugly All Day

4. Everyone Will Crawl

5. Billy

6. Dark

7. Sunday Clothes

8. Plain Bad Luck and Innocent Mistakes

9. Home Sweet Home

10. Railroad

11. Spanish Words

12. Broken Dream

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The only redeeming thing about the demise of the Arc Angels, who flamed out in classic drugs-and-rock-&-roll fashion in 1994, is that they freed this preternaturally gifted 26-year-old to establish himself finally as a major-league star. Joined by a crew of Austin soulmates, Sexton delves for surprisingly mature, though restrained, and deceptively hard-hitting rockers unlike anything he's done before. Coproducer Malcolm Burn's risky and indelible spirit haunts the music, which conjures dreamy images of Dylan ("Billy"), Del Amitri ("Everyone Will Crawl"), Mellencamp ("Sunday Clothes") and ultimately no one but Sexton himself ("Neighborhood," "Wishing Tree"). --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Engrossing Emotional Experience, June 5, 2001

By	John Andrews (Nashua, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most great albums, this one is best when all you're doing is listening to it - not Web surfing, not doing dishes, not reading a book - just listening for 73 minutes. It's also not just a collection of random songs; there are clearly discernible arcs of character development, social commentary and emotion.

The songs seem to get more passionate as the album goes on, from the more straightforward (but by no means mundane) rock of "Neighborhood" and "Wishing Tree" to Sexton's poignant stories about his family in "Sunday Clothes," "Plain Bad Luck and Innocent Mistakes" and "Spanish Words" to the intense expression of hope in the face of despair in "Home Sweet Home" and "Broken Dream." "Home Sweet Home," in fact, does an amazing job of continuing the story and keeping the tone of the album going after the immersive experience of the 12-minute epic "Plain Bad Luck and Innocent Mistakes" could've ended a lesser collection. The entire album is exquisitely produced, with tracks weaving in and out of audible range at the perfect moments.

If I were forced to insult this CD, I could only point out the rather odd dividing line between tracks 9 and 10. Everything else is quite simply marvelous.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly one of the best albums ever!, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

An album by a super-talented virtuoso named Charlie Sexton and his compatriots brought home this possibly once-in-a-lifetime achievement. I have literally played this CD into the bedrock since its release in 1995. An epic of sorts that is long as it is broad in scope, encompassing many moods, colors and textures, but mostly of an earthy variety. Afterall, this is a CD that, in this reviewer's opinion would make a great soundtrack to the exceptional Texas-based film Lone Star. Charlie takes us thru his neighborhood and along the way we meet it's inhabitants as we make it out the other side: thru the neighborhood, past the fields up to the wishing tree, past the woodframed house and the prison, across the railroad tracks to the nightclub called Sanctuary where Charlie declares God is watching over this broken dream of all of ours.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars truly brilliant, beautiful, rich music, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This is an amazing CD - I cannot believe that more people have not discovered Charlie Sexton. The songs are personal and beautifully written. The music rocks, and yet it's different than any of Sexton's other music. He is a brilliant artist and this is a brilliant work