The West Was Burning

Martha Scanlan

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2007)
• Original Release Date: February 13, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000LPR4EO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,547 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With a delicate trill that occasionally recalls Iris DeMent's, the former singer for the Reeltime Travelers (who appeared on the Cold Mountain soundtrack and tour) teams with producer/multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell for an impressive solo debut. With stellar support from musicians including father and daughter Levon and Amy Helm (from the Band and Ollabelle, respectively), Martha Scanlan delivers songs that combine deep roots, striking imagery, and spiritual transcendence. With its electric-guitar propulsion, her call-and-response rendition of James Cleveland's "Get Right Church" evokes the Staple Singers, while steel guitar and piano frame the classic country balladry of "I Don't Even Have to Ask." Her breathy understated reading renews Bob Dylan's "Went to See the Gypsy," with the bluesy "Walkin'" suggesting another dimension to her musical range. The results are more visionary than anachronistic. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 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 (REAL NAME)

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!

5 of 5 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

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!

4 of 4 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 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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!