White Mansions/The Legend of Jesse James [EXTRA TRACKS]

Paul Kennerly, Various Artists - Country, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 27, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B00000839H
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,820 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #49 in	Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Rockabilly
  #72 in	Music > Rock > Roots Rock
  #92 in	Music > Country > Outlaw Country

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This double-disc reissue documents one of the more curious careers in country music. Both 1978's White Mansions and 1980's The Legend of Jesse James are Southern song cycles that were conceived by Britain's Paul Kennerley, then an unknown songwriter who somehow recruited a high-profile cast for each. A Civil War saga from the Southern perspective, White Mansions suffers from caricature and cliché but benefits from signature contributions by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Eric Clapton. Jesse James has more focus and narrative momentum, with Levon Helm, Johnny Cash, and Emmylou Harris in lead roles. Though the albums are more noteworthy for artistic ambition than memorable material, Kennerley subsequently became a successful Nashville songwriter and Harris's husband from 1985 to 1993. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The CD to save if your house was on fire!, December 3, 2005

By	Yvette Charbonnet "Sensitive Poet, Dog Lover" (Red Feather,CO) - See all my reviews

White Mansions and especially The Legend of Jesse James gives me chills when I listen to it. I grew up in Clay County,Missouri right up the road from the James Farm. This music is so authentic in the style and the way the voices sound as if they are truly Missouri locals. Anybody who knows the true outlaw story of the James Boys knows this cd is so dead on it will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Jesse James is not just a train robber but a true southern farmer turned guerilla who just wanted his money back from the Yankee Feds. This CD has the best I believe of Waylon & Jessi, Johnny Cash and Levon Helm singing in a southern rock style that will have you swilling sweetea out of a mason jar. If you like hog callers and mules, tobacco and whiskey culture and realize the Civil War really started on the southern Frontier in Missouri, buy this you will play it for years!!!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars high water mark of country music, brought to you by a Brit, May 21, 2005

By	Joseph C. Thomas "book bandito" (Suffolk, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very often, the best music of any genre is produced by outsiders who are impressed with the purity of sound and seek to replicate and pay homage to that genre. Such is the case with Confederate Tales. Both original ablums, White Mansions and Jesse James, were written and produced by Paul Kennerly, a Briton a long way from Nashville. His compositions however are more country than what Nashville has produced since these ablums came out. His songs weave tales from history, amplifying the anguish and destruction of the War Between the States from the Southern perspective, and reminiscing the romance of the outlaw James Gang.

Guesting on these recordings were Nashville heavyweights, like Cash, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, and some non-Nashville rockers like Clapton and Levon Helm of the Band. Each puts in an absolutely astounding performance. Listening to Jesse James, in particular, is far more enjoyable than watching the movie Frank and Jesse.

Highly recommended to history buffs, country music fans, and fans of the individual performers.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Civil War and American West concept albums by a British Guy., August 10, 1999

By A Customer

Paul Kennerly wrote two country music "concept albums" that were released in the late seventies on A & M records. "White Mansions" was a song cycle about the Civil War "narrated" in song by Waylon Jennings with a cast of characters that included Jesse Colter and Bernie Leadon of the Eagles and some guy called Eric Clapton on guitar. A fine pedigree indeed, but I like "The Legend of Jesse James" much better. Released around '79 or '80, this took the White Mansions modus operendi to the Jesse James legend, with Levon Helm of the Band as Jesse James, Emmylou Harris as Jesse's wife Zerelda, Johnny Cash as Frank James and Charlie Daniels as the James boys associate Cole Younger. The songs are all excellent and the slide guitar work of Charlie Daniels and Jesse Ed Davis is exceptional. I have to say that I've been waiting for this particular album since the CD format was introduced years ago. Too bad you can't buy them seperately.