Customer Reviews

Yodeling Songs Of The Alps

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you like authentic-sounding European Alpine yodeling, you will absolutely love half of this CD...the second half. It seems that the producers have slipped in 10 cuts of yodeling from below the Mason-Dixon line in these here United States. While I actually enjoy Western yodeling, it has no business being on a CD entitled "Yodeling Songs of the Alps". But the alpine yodeling you do get is marvelous! Have you heard good triple-tone yodeling lately? No? Then you really need to listen to these cuts. Most of the songs are sung in their native language with at least passable accents by their American artists. All the negativisms aside, I like this CD...but I always start at cut #11.

The title of the CD should be changed to "Alpine Yodeling Songs". (Alpine - a little town in Texas about 200 miles west of Del Rio on Route 90).
How can you tell? Sure the references to saddles and such are a clue, but the real dead givaway is the dulcet quavering tones of the steel guitar.
Don't get me wrong, I too enjoy western yodeling. It just bothers me that the first 10 tracks are most definitely NOT from Switzerland or Germany no matter what the song titles might suggest.
There are three very well done instrumentals in the remaining 12 tracks, leaving only nine real "Yodeling Songs Of The Alps".
So, if you like to think of the glass as being half full, then you will no doubt enjoy those 12 as I do.

I Love this CD!!!! Even though the title is somewhat misleading this album is great for those who love Cowboy Yodelling, Alpine Yodelling, International Music or like me, All of the above! I also have the first ten selections on an audiocassette.The original title of the cassette was "Swiss Yodeling Songs". The cassette sounds home-made but the CD Is great!. The german selections are fun to sing-along to. By the way, I know the name of the artist who sings the cowboy songs. His name is Max MacCauley. Buy This CD Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was expecting to hear some authentic Swiss mountain music (ok, and German & Austrian)- not Texas cowboy music. The first 10 songs are in English and are annoying to listen to.
No.11 is "I am a Yodeling Girl", sung by a man. The rest are in German, Swiss-German, etc, though many sounded like they were sung by Americans learning a second language. A couple were decent performances of some good yodeling, but generally the rest were disappointing. I want my eight bucks back.

It seemed not professional; lacked "duets" or female yodeling; included two schmaltzy numbers by a little girl, many of the songs were not "authentic" and several did not have yodeling at all such as "Roll Out the Barrel." Four or five songs out of 22 seemed appropriate to the title.

- If your looking for an exclusively European style yodeling disc, this one is NOT it. - The first 10 cuts have words like "wagons" and "cattle" interspersed throughout. Nice cowboy yodeling if that's what you want. - The last 12 cuts are more in line with what I thought when I purchased the disc. Good stuff like oompah and Germanic vocals.

When I ordered this, I read the reviews, which complained about the fact that the album isn't Alpine yodels. Since I like any yodels, I didn't care. However, when I first started playing the album, I couldn't stop chuckling. It was all cowboy! If it was titled, " Yodels from Around the World," there would be no complaints. It's obvious that the recording company took two albums and stuck them together. In the first half, there are many Western and "folk" yodels followed by classic Alpine in the latter half. Additionally, there are a few English and Australian items. So, if you enjoy yodel music, it's a great value... two for the price of one. Just grin and enjoy!

It seemed not professional; lacked "duets" or female yodeling; included two schmaltzy numbers by a little girl, many of the songs were not "authentic" and several did not have yodeling at all such as "Roll Out the Barrel." Four or five songs out of 22 seemed appropriate to the title.

This CD was not as described. I asked for a CD with yodeling by Ruedi Rymann, and his name was displayed on the page with this CD, as was his most famous song, Dr Schacher Seppli, so I assumed they would be on the CD. Not so, and the first half of the Cd was in english with western yodeling and background slide guitar. So I enjoyed what I bought, but it was not what I expected. I would suggest that Rymann's name not be associated with this CD.

This CD could lead one to wonder whether there's such a thing as truth in advertising. It suggests that the producer just indiscriminately crammed a lot of stuff together, too much of which bore only the remotest connection to the title of the disk.

First of all, just write off tracks 1-10 if you're looking for yodeling songs of the Alps. These are American-style country-western songs with typical C/W instruments and performance style. They have nothing to do with the tradition of Alpine yodeling as it developed in south Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The songs' words may deal with yodeling, but that's about the only connection. (If you want a really good performance of the "Swiss Moonlight Lullaby," get Wilf Carter's ("Montana Slim") rendition on the ASV CD "I'm Hittin' the Trail." He's a great old-time Canadian-born singer of cowboy--often yodeling--songs.)

As for the remaining 12 tracks, three (17, 20, 21) are purely instrumental and one mostly instrumental (19). They are decent enough examples of Germanic music, but I wouldn't call them "songs"--they're closer to dance music. Track 19 (De Gumpesel) sounds like a nice, lively polka, with a brief but interesting solo yodel refrain.

The other 8 tracks (11-16, 18, 22) sound like genuine Germanic yodeling songs, all, I believe, performed by a male-female duo. They are sung in authentic dialect and are characteristic, traditional yodeling songs with appropriate accompaniment. They're nice songs well sung by pleasant voices, and hit the mark pretty well. (Too bad all the tracks are not like these.)

If you can be content with 8 or 9 decent yodeling tracks out of 22, then you might justify buying this CD for them alone. (The price is low enough, probably.) But if you don't want all the extraneous material, then you should look elsewhere for your Alpine yodeling. Otherwise, folks might start calling you a Gumpesel!