West Was Burning

Martha Scanlan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000LPR4EO
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,072 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #24 in Music > Country > Classic Country > Old-Time Country
  • #80 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Country Folk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Glad To Have This Collection, May 12, 2007

By 

M. C. Kersten - See all my reviews
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This review is from: West Was Burning (Audio CD)

Yes, I'm glad to have this collection of songs to listen to whenever I want. We saw Martha Scanlan perform at a Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, and her songwriting got to me. The venue ran out of her CDs that night, so I had to get it from Amazon. I remember loving one song in particular--how the words seemed to tumble down the chord, for lack of a better description. So I was so happy when that ended up being the first song on the CD--"The West Was Burning". Song after song will hook you. Her lyrics are evocative, her voice transporting, and her rhythms varied and familiar. Of course, since Levon Helm is her drummer, she had an advantage!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, February 10, 2008

By 

HS Attila "Lousy Sleeper" (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: West Was Burning (Audio CD)

Every single song in this CD works: the writing is terrific, the performances exactly right, the sequence/production (thank you, Dirk Powell) so good it grows on you as you listen--it all makes a download?CD to be treasured. You listen again and again. And after that, there's Levon!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little Minnesota Town, July 4, 2008

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: West Was Burning (Audio CD)

The review in "Dirty Linen" said of this CD, "The West Was Burning comes as a revelation, an instant classic and one of those rare albums that defies genre and generation." Producer Dirk Powell says in the liner notes, "She seeks and finds (and ultimately creates) work that reveals the divine where it might not have been perceived previously." That's a lot of gushing over this set.

Scanlan covers a Bob Dylan song "Went to See the Gypsy" from his 1970 album New Morning and re-creates the track with a loving vocal, "That pretty dancing girl, she could not be found; so I watched the sun come rising on that little Minnesota town." She turns in one instrumental, "Call Me Shorty," penned by Dirk Powell. The set concludes with a nice version of the traditional "Ten Thousand Charms." Of her originals, "Isabella" is a good track with its driving beat and stories of women. The opening title track is probably the very strongest with a unique fast rolling melody that accommodates the dense lyric, "On the window there are fields of wheat in Kansas that roll on forever." Levon Helm of the Band lends support on drums while his daughter Amy of Olabelle lends harmony vocals and drums. Martha's voice is one that comes across as weathered, much as the music she sings. This is a good set. Enjoy!