Past the Point of Rescue

Hal Ketchum

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 7, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Curb Special Markets
• ASIN: B000000D09
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,767 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Small Town Saturday Night

2. I Know Where Love Lives

3. Old Soldiers

4. Somebody's Love

5. Past the Point of Rescue

6. Five O'Clock World

7. I Miss My Mary

8. Don't Strike a Match (To the Book of Love)

9. Long Day Comin'

10. She Found the Place

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With this 1991 album's opener, "Small Town Saturday Night," Hal Ketchum served as perceptive a slice of Americana as country radio had tasted in years. While he didn't pen this hit, its accompanying album (his second and best) shows he could write songs with salt-of-the-earth perspective and easy-going charm, whether dealing with the melancholia of love or the simple pleasures of relationships. He's not an especially original songwriter, nor does he cultivate a rooted country sound, but he has the common touch and a just-shy-of-smooth delivery that's effective on "I Know Where Love Lives" (another hit) and "Old Soldiers." --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Album by a classic songwriter!, October 11, 2001

By	Robert Vallecillo "bongoboy" (Metairie, LA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hal Ketchum's debut on Curb records offers up quite a succulent dish of Texas country at it's finest. Ketchum can write, and there's nothing better than a writer who performs his own material. You are guaranteed to get the best interpretation in this collection of ten songs, seven of which are written by Ketchum. The artist's talents are evident in the songs "Somebody's Love," "Long Day Comin'," and "She Found The Place," which was recorded previously as "Bobbie's Song" on Ketchum's independent album release, THREADBARE ALIBIS, on Watermelon records in 1986. "Old Soldiers" features Kathy Mattea singing background; "I Miss My Mary" is the reflection of a bar fly as he sees his true love fade away; and "Don't Strike A Match (To The Book Of Love)" tells of haunting dreams caused by a lover's leaving. "Past The Point Of Rescue" and "Small Town Saturday Night" are the hot tickets on the CD. I guess that's why Curb was smart enough to release them as singles and push the CD to the sales it achieved. This is by far my favorite Hal Ketchum CD.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evading the "Hat Act" trend, February 25, 2000

By	Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Too much country in the last ten years or so sounds exactly alike. Hal Ketchum has been unjustly neglected in the press of identical "hat acts" whose sound derives primarily from rock rather than true country. Ketchum harkens back to greats like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and also echoes contemporaries like Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock (q.v.) while maintaining his own strong sound. His social awareness is in evidence, too: Ketchum isn't just a singer, he believes in issues, and is willing to tell us what he believes. To hear Hal Ketchum is to hear one of the unfairly overlooked voices out of Nashville today.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hal- Nothing Better, November 4, 2004

By	Georgiann Kite "Music appreciator" (Napa, Ca) - See all my reviews

I have every album Hal Ketchum has ever done. To me there is no one better. His voice has a richness and range that cannot be surpassed. He is a master writer, guitar player and singer that transcends any certain category to attach him to. One minute its country, the next a little soul, the next pop etc. A master story teller and usually there is a spiritual side to his music. He can tell a story like no other and you know that he has lived them as well. Well done, Hal!