Customer Reviews

Where'd You Hide the Body

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have all James McMurtry's albums, have seen him several times over various releases, and this is still the acme for me. This album continues to resonate after all these years. When my Ipod hits a song from this album in its shuffle I invariably turn the volume up. This is a beautiful album, but one that does not take a cheery view of life. These are not songs that will make you smile or brighten your day. McMurtry's world is populated with the desperate, the failed, and those just hanging on. The songs "Down Across the Delaware", "Levelland", "One More Winter", and "Where'd You Hide the Body" are so lovely and so bleak. And if you are ever driving across west Texas, this is part of the soundtrack you need to play (see also Terry Allen and Jimmie Dale Gilmore). Give a listen to a great singer-songwriter and his best album (so far).

. . . but this is as close as you're likely to come. In all seriousness, I put *Body* on my personal shortlist of all-but-perfect albums, alongside Lyle Lovett's *Joshua Judges Ruth,* Patty Griffin's *Living With Ghosts,* Freedy Johnston's *Can You Fly* . . . even Dylan's *Blood on the Tracks* is an apt comparison. Several of the songs on this record -- "Levelland," "Down Across the Delaware," "Melinda," "Iolanthe" -- are, in my estimation, as good as any songs ever written by anybody, anywhere.

I don't want to regurgitate the praises offered by previous reviewers; they're all true, and all warranted. Instead, I'd like to use this space to draw particular attention to "Rachel's Song," which is one of the most powerful and affecting things I know. Written and sung from the perspective of an abandoned woman -- addressing in absentia the man who left her -- it's unlike anything else on the record: elsewhere McMurtry is sardonically funny and basically generous of spirit; this, however, is a long, level stare into the abyss -- a depiction of a cold, bottomless, almost inarticulate hatred that's so utterly pure as to consume or negate everything outside of itself. Absolutely stunning; I've never heard anything else remotely like it. To quote Jorge Luis Borges (on Robert Graves) -- this fable deserves to be very ancient.

This is his best work as far as I am concerned, although all of his work ranks higher than most song weavers. His real world lyrics compete strongly with those of one of my other favorite musical poets of the day, Jeff Holmes of the "Floating Men". Both of these gents take you back to things that you remember in life with exceptional detail. The opening track, Iolanthe, is awesome and all the cuts grow on you with listening. From " mama had no sense with cars, she drove a sunbeam and drove it hard... on Fuller Brush Man to,..."I probably ought to quit my drinkin, but I don't believe I will." Lord knows I can relate to the Title track of "Where'd you hide the body?" This was my anthem during my divorce last year. Buy this if you live in the real world, you won't regret it!

Where'd You Hide the Body is a spell binding and intriguing album. James McMurtry hit his stride with this release and his guitar work, using a myriad of alternative tunings is impressive. I have been surprised at the longevity of the CD, as time goes on each track reveals new secrets in song and lyric. His lyrics and melodies stay with you day in and out, and come to provide an anthem for the thoughtful. James explores the seemingly hum-drum and passers-by of life and ends up revealing the beauty of life and people of rural America. Wonderful work and the single most important cd I own.

If you were the son of the guy who wrote "The Last Picture Show" (father Larry McMurtry), what would you do? Paint houses, build houses, tend the bar, and generally pretend like you're not your father's son so that you don't have to live up to the expectations. But lucky for us, the younger McMurtry eventually got around to writing songs in his late 20s, and he had a hell of a lot to say. Thankfully he took the high road and didn't pre-judge every last podunk town and oddball hick in the Texas outlands that were his home. Rather, he told it like he saw it, maybe because he himself had stayed "too long in the wasteland" (ironically the title of his 1988 debut album.) By the time McMurtry hit his mid-30s, both his songwriting and guitar chops had matured to the point that I think this album can be favorably compared to Bob Dylan's opus "Blood on the Tracks" (also written in his mid-30s.) Yes, I say favorably, because "Where'd You Hide the Body" has absolutely no filler, whereas "Blood on the Tracks" suffered from the inclusion of "Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" and out-of-tune instruments on some tracks. The title track here is indeed the standout, but the songwriting quality is outstanding throughout. Plus, McMurtry's got the dusty voice (and the gritty guitar, a Fender VI electric) to match the content.

This album starts out with six of the finest examples of songwriting that you are bound to encounter, anywhere. The next seven (including the instumental) fall just a notch below the openers in terms of quality.

With a knack for illuminating the tiniest details, James McMurtry has the ability to boil a short story down into a song. The songs themselves, detail lives in small towns and on the margins of society with empathy, but without romanticizing them into cliches. They are just like mini-documentaries delivered in the authors weary, been there-seen that voice.

Don Dixon's production is inventive and does an outstanding job of throwing these tales into high relief. If you admire anyone who can be considered a songwriter's songwriter, and are unfamiliar with James McMurtry's work, Start here.

I have most of his albums...buy them just because they're by him. Whenever he shows up in the northwest, I'm there. Why he isn't more popular is a mystery, but I guess the same could be said for a lot of my favorite singer/songwriters...Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle (STEVE EARLE), Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson...but maybe that's not their intent. Thank God for that and them.

This is my favorite. I love the title song, and 'Right Here Now', my favorite of all his songs, just makes me smile.

If you thought "Candyland" was a good offering by this Texas singer/songwriter, then you are in for a treat with "Where'd You Hide The Body". There is a miniature movie in every song. Each song has its' own atmosphere and is worth a return visit again and again. McMurtry has a spectacular ability to write stories of characters who's positions in life seem hopeless and remote, but they almost don't seem to mind. Standout tracks are "Off & Running", "Rachel's Song", "Levelland" and the title track.

I found this to be one of James's best efforts in his fine catalog of music. James sing's with heartfelt conviction and some highlights are "Levelland" "Fuller Brush Man" and "Melinda". As a singer songwriter, he has an uncanny ability to take you too the places in his songs. A perfect discription of that would be "Levelland" here we are taken to the flatlands of where ever throughout the south. You can allmost taste the dust as it plays. Anyone who likes the singer songwriter stamp of heartland music will enjoy this record, and his others. As a listener I have enjoyed all his recordings and I feel his music has a place among the great's of our time. In closing, pic it up, sit back and enjoy. I think you will feel better for it.

This CD truely refects the Talent of Texas singer /songwtiter James McMurtry. Most of the songs keep getting better with every listen. This is one of my Favorites in the McMurtry collection. All of his other releases are well worth the purchase price as well.