Smartie Mine [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Dan Bern

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 1, 1998
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Chartmaker
• ASIN: B00000I7I7
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #237,597 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Folk

Track Listings

1. Smartie Mine

2. One Thing Real

3. Tiger Woods

4. Chelsea Hotel

5. City Of Models

6. Krautmeyer

7. Crosses

8. Colors

9. Airplane Blues

10. Freight Train Blues

11. Talkin' Woody, Bob, Bruce & Dan Blues

12. Ballerina

13. Simple

14. Beautiful Trees

15. Joe Van Gogh

16. Little Russian Girl

17. Gamblin' With My Love (Pete Rose)

18. Murderer

19. Alia

20. Two-Month Affair

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dan Bern's double-CD indie foray into clearing out his songwriting drawer yields a number of gems. His inimitable knack for critiquing (not to say rudely peering at) 20th-century antiheroism makes for some of Smartie Mine's most memorable moments, as well as one true masterstroke: "Krautmeyer," which finishes off the Charles Manson ("shitty album") hipster myth in bitterly hilarious fashion. Other, more sober highlights include "Airplane Blues," a long subterranean meditation on Lightnin' Hopkins, celebrity, and one fan's relationship with art; "Little Russian Girl," on an encounter with a sad coffee-shop clerk; and a flurry of noise called "Two-Month Affair." More than just a holding action, Smartie Mine makes a fine excuse for itself. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

Smartie Mine is an independent Dan Bern release, featuring 27 studio tracks.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It ain't braggin' if it's true. This is one great album., September 7, 1999

By A Customer

I first saw Dan Bern open up for the Jayhawks a few years back and I hated him. But I couln't forget him. And so, a few years later plus a lot of time with Bern's discs in my CD player, I am a confirmed believer. Bern lays it all on the line with this raw, almost-live studio effort. There are some songs on this album that are fun and novel, (Woody and Bob, Bruce and Dan), covers that are phenomenal interpretaions (Freight Train Blues, Cocaine/Blue Jay Way) and some tunes on this album that are downright inspired (Joe Van Gogh, Gambling With My Love). Where most songwriters can't get past the idea of even the most basic metaphors and tend to employ hackneyed and cliched lyrics, Bern is a true poet. On songs like "Gambling With My Love", Bern spins a yarn that operates on multiple leves of storytelling and metaphor all at once. Songs like that aren't written, they are divined through discipline and experience. You can compare Bern to Dylan just as easily as you can compare him to Elvis Costello, but the truth is, Dan Bern is just Dan Bern. He draws from a number of traditons (folk, rock, punk) and manages to come up with something rare: an origional sound. His influences come through from Tom Waits to Dylan to Costello to the Beatles and more, but there is no doubt that this man is no imitatior. Bern may well go unrecognized in a public eye that seems to have an ever increasing appetite for disposable pop. His sound is too raw, his message to brutally honest and real. But if you are interested in some unabashed ego, some biting satire, some valuable insight into the human condition, then you have to hear this man. You may not like who Dan Bern is but the power and authenticity of his art are undeniable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The man who saved folk music, May 16, 2000

By	Fred Neurohr (Cincinnati (by way of NYC)) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are absolutely no words to do this collection justice. The first time I saw Dan at in NYC promoting his first album, they hustled Elvis Costello into the club after the lights went down. He launched into "Tiger Woods" and my friend looked at me with horror and said "what the hell kind of concert did you take me to?"

Dan busted Folk music wide open. Why? Because its topic area was too small before he came along. When folksingers sung about "the world", they could only be bothered with stuff about politics, injustice, oppression, and other "noteworthy" topic areas. Enter Dan Bern, for whom anything is fair play: an imaginary chat between Bart Giamatti and Pete Rose, having Vincent Van Gogh's son as a roommate, longing for a Russian coffee shop waitress, or seeking the blessings of Bruce Springsteen by breaking into his house.

The music world has been bereft of originality since December 1993 when Frank Zappa died, but this artist filled the gap very nicely. He is simply the best thing to happen to folk/pop music in a very, very long time. Check out his first record to get your feet wet ... his song, "Marilyn" (which answers the musical question, 'what if Marilyn Monroe married Henry Miller rather than Arthur Miller?') is worth the price of admission.

And see him play live for goodness sake!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bern's "Smartie Mine" a rare gem for music fans, May 13, 2000

By A Customer

Dan Bern doesn't take himself terribly seriously. And for that reason, among others, you should. Every few years, an album comes along that reminds true fans of music that everything hasn't been done. There is new territory yet to be explored. While Bern has obvious influences (Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Elvis Costello, to name a few), he also has a unique voice and message that represents a refreshing change of pace from the cacophony of bubblegum, formulaic pop, so-called-alternative and loud statement-rock that dominates the airwaves. Bern's music is firmly grounded in the tradition of modern folk pioneered by the likes of Dylan and Woody Guthrie, but he's not so impressed with his predecessors and himself that he can't have fun with his songs. Another Amazon.com reviewer of this two-CD, 27-song set observed that upon practically every listening of "Smartie Mine," the listener finds a new favorite song - one he or she hadn't fully appreciated before. I agree. This is an album that listeners who "get it" will never get tired of listening to. Bern's raw vocals, harmonica and acoustic guitar add to the authenticity of most all the album's songs. The discs contain socially poignant tracks like "One Thing Real" and "City of Models" scattered among entertaining, funny and subtly masterful compositions like "Tiger Woods," "Krautmeyer" and "Gamblin' With My Love." Bern also is not above treating listeners to the occasional tender love song, as witnessed with "Alia," "Baby Love" and "Sculptor." And on tracks like "Chelsea Hotel," "Crosses" and "Talkin' Woody, Bob, Bruce and Dan Blues," listeners will swear they're hearing the second coming of Bob Dylan. However, no comparison to an existing artist is adequate to describe the album's coup de maitre and final track, "True Revoultionaries." From Timothy McVeigh to Nike, all bases are covered. Enough said. In summary, check out Dan Bern if you'd like to reminisce about a time when music meant something, or dream about a time when it can once again.