To: Kate - A Benefit for Kate's Sake

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 18, 2005)
• Original Release Date: October 18, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thirty Tigers
• ASIN: B000BC8SRO
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,010 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Consider this the Christmas gift that keeps on giving, as a constellation of many of the brightest stars in alt-country brighten the season with this collection to benefit a three-year-old Nashville girl suffering from a rare genetic disease. Rather than an assortment of castoffs, the inspired tracks befit the generous spirit of the holiday. Highlights include the spiritual reverence of Buddy and Julie Miller on "Away in a Manger," the rockabilly playfulness of the Big Happy on "Gift Wrapped Boy," the border cantina arrangement of Bob Dylan's "Winterlude" by Joe Ely, the Orbison-esque rendition of "Pretty Paper" by the Mavericks' Raul Malo, and the hard-rocking intensity of Jason and the Scorchers on "Oh! Holy Night." The album also features the husband-and-wife debut of Steve Earle and Allison Moorer, as the newlyweds harmonize on his "Nothing But a Child." Amid holiday-themed originals from Jim Lauderdale, Bob Delevante, Henry Gross, and Rosie Flores, more traditional fare finds BR549 recasting "The Christmas Song" as dancefloor swing, John Prine providing a bittersweet tinge to "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and Jeff Black rendering "Winter Wonderland" as smoky nightclub balladry. --Don McLeese

Product Description
This benefit album is a wonderful collection of Christmas songs both old and new. Featuring Steve Earle & Allison Moorer, John Prine, Joe Ely, Buddy and Julie Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Bob Delevante, Jeff Black, BR549, Henry Gross, Raul Malo, Rosie Flores, John Corbett, the Big Happy and Jason and the Scorchers. All record company profits go to help Kate Kirk, a 3-year-old from Nashville who is afflicted with a rare and fatal genetic disorder called Niemann-Pick Disease Type A/B.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The *BEST* Christmas album of the year!, December 1, 2005

By	Liza Jane (1000 miles from nowhere) - See all my reviews

If you're looking something to get you into the spirit you've found it! Besides the fact that all profits go to a more than worthy cause, this ecclectic CD is one no Christmas collection should be without! Plenty of classics, mixed with some new soon-to-be favorites. No joke, just listen to the rockin' sounds of "gift-wrapped boy" or the upbeat twang of "Holly and her mistletoe." Save the Elvis collection for next year, buy for Kate and you'll be glad you did! (...)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent alt-country Christmas offering, November 28, 2005

By	Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

A mighty fine Christmas offering, with a humanitarian twist... Kate Kirk is a 3-year old Nashviller with a rare genetic disorder called Niemann-Pick Disease, Type A/B; her older sister Caroline also has the disease and doctors say it is too late to treat the 6-year old, but believe that a marrow transplant may help in Kate's case. Hence, this tribute album, which seeks to raise the money to pay for the operation. You may quibble about the person-by-person, band-aid approach that a lack of a national health care plan has brought to so many lives (I have a friend here in the Bay Area who had an auto accident and has a similar album out in his honor...), but it's hard to argue with the artistic successes of this disc... A lot of high-powered Americana luminaries pitch in on this one, including Joe Ely, John Prine, Buddy & Julie Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Raul Malo and Rosie Flores, and the tone of the album is surprisingly upbeat and life-affirming, considering the downbeat nature of the album's origin. Highlights include a duet between Steve Earle and Allison Moorer on his "Nothing But A Child," Jim Lauderdale's "Holly And Her Mistletoe" and a Guy Clark song covered by actor John Corbett, who has a promisingly gruff "old man" voice (and an album coming out soon...) This is a really nice record, with only a couple of songs that seem out of place (like a jarring rock song from Jason & The Scorchers... A welcome addition to the country Christmas canon, and a nice choice a holiday stocking stuffer. Recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lives up to its good intentions...., December 23, 2005

By	Travis Dubya McGee Bickle "elitist duffer" (Texas Quail Hunting Camp) - See all my reviews

Sometimes collections like this, for good causes, don't come through on the actual music. But this one does, splendidly...Excellent x-mas originals by top notch songwriters such as Jim Lauderdale and Henry Gross, mixed with very tasty covers by some beloved and supremely talented artists, like your Joe Ely, your John Prine...

If only all x-mas CDs were this good...this, and the current McGarrigles' Christmas Hour have elevated the genre....