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High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project

4.7 out of 5 stars 65

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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1 High Wide & Handsome
2 Took My Gal Out Walkin'
3 I'm the Man Who Rode the Mule Around the World
4 My Mother and My Sweetheart
5 Bill Mason's Bride
6 Goodbye Booze
7 Old Ballyhoo
8 Little Waterloo
9 I'm Glad I'm Married
10 Mother's Last Farewell Kiss
11 Acres of Diamonds
12 Way Up in NYC
13 If I Lose
14 The Great Reaping Day
15 Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Goodnight

Disc: 2

1 The Man in the Moon
2 The Deal
3 No Knees
4 Moving Day
5 Old and Only in the Way
6 Ragtime Annie
7 Sweet Sunny South
8 The Letter That Never Came
9 Awful Hungry Hash House
10 Rowena
11 Didn't He Ramble
12 Ramblin' Blues
13 Charlie's Last Song
14 Beautiful
15 High Wide & Handsome (Reprise)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Loudon Wainwright III, together with producer Dick Connette, has created one of the most ambitious projects of his career with the 2 CD set High Wide & Handsome - a grand gathering of songs, both old and original, revisiting the life, times and recorded legacy of legendary singer and banjo picker Charlie Poole (1892-1931). The music ranges from old-timey to dixieland, from parlor songs to acapella gospel, a compendium of the strains that have created and continue to create American popular music. Greil Marcus wrote in his notes for the project, "Poole might have been waiting all these years for someone to talk back to him so completely in his own language; Wainwright might have been waiting since he first heard Charlie Poole to get up the nerve to do it." Guests on the album include Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Sloan Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, the Roches, and Chris Thile.This collector's version includes:*30 tracks on two CDs*75 page full color booklet featuring vintage photos, song lyrics and notes by Loudon and an essay by Kinney Rorrer*Deluxe 4 color cardboard jacket that houses both CDs and the bookletProduct shot of all the items.Cover art on the full color package.Loudon Wainwright has crafted a vibrant forty-year career, with over twenty-five albums and two GRAMMY nominations. He wrote "Dead Skunk" in 15 minutes in 1972 and it reached #12 in the Billboard chart. His songshave been covered by Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, among others. Loudon is also an accomplished actor and has appeared in films directed by Martin Scorcese, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe, andJudd Apatow, all while remaining one of the most original and impressive songwriters and live performers of our generation. MOJO Magazine calls Wainwright "lyrically compelling and emotionally overpowering."

Review

Heartfelt, funny and dead-on right. --News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)

Splendid. --The Washington Post

Gripping stories filled with black humor, genuine sadness, lost hope, as well as plenty of booze and women … This absolutely wonderful set of music is a real tribute indeed. --The Nation Online

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.46 x 0.43 x 7.48 inches; 6.56 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ StorySound Records
  • Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2009
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2009
  • Label ‏ : ‎ StorySound Records
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002JUP8GU
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 65

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
65 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2021
Louden Wainwright is, IMHO, very much under-appreciated as a songwriter. He has his own legacy to think about, which he ought to be burnishing, but instead he takes an opportunity to resurrect the legacy of songwriter, song interpreter, banjoist,and performer extraordinaire Charlie Poole. All of these songs by Charlie Poole and others' songs that Poole performed in his day are gems. They are catchy tunes with clever or poignant lyrics, and LW performs them with charm as is his custom.

As a musician interested in American roots music, I was immediately taken with this collection of songs that were first performed and recorded by Charlie Poole, and I think other American folk and roots musicians will be not only interested in this music but also want to perform it. I have been influenced as a musician by Doc Watson, David Bromberg, Ray Charles and other genre-crossing artists. After listening to this album, I realized Charlie Poole's music interests me in that way, too. In performing these songs, Louden is connecting to a long line of folk performers through the music of the great Charlie Poole.

Louden is "handing it down" to us, and I am happy to keep these songs alive by performing them as well.

I don't expect the general public will be much interested in this album, which is a commemoration to an obscure musician who is not much known to the general public, (I only just heard of Poole through this album), but anyone interested in the genre of Piedmont songs of the South, especially as played on banjo, will want to hear these songs, adopt and adapt them, and keep them in the public's ears.

As we know, on most every album there are the inevitable "filler" tunes that fill the album up with so-so music that punctuates the better songs. But nothing on this double album is filler. Some songs are poignant, as in the song written from Charlie Poole's long-suffering wife's point of view about her husband, for example. Others are riotous and raucous. Some are foot stompers.

Louden Wainwright has done a service to American folk musicians in general by producing this album, which probably will not make Wainwright much money but WILL do much to undergird the value of American folk and roots music. Once again, thanks to LW for his understated influence on American folk music.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2009
I saw Loudon several months ago live in concert in Asheville, NC where spoke about at length and sang a few songs from the upcoming Charlie Poole concept album. He spoke of Charlie's life and how the project came together. At the time I found it odd that Loudon would attempt such a project about a 1920's bluegrass musician. The songs made little impression on me at the time and I quickly forgot about it. But when I saw the announcement the other day in Rolling Stone of the release of this 2 CD set set, and the first rate album art, I immediately got a strong gut feeling that this was going to be something magical. That my friends was an understatement!! In a nutshell, this CD is pure genius! I can't express in words how much I like this CD! Brillantly conceived and executed right down to the choice of studio musicians, album art, and liner notes, Loudon really belts one out of the park! I just hope that enough people hear it and can appreciate the gargantuan effort to put this tremendous project together. (check out the documentary on the making of this CD on YouTube) I have been a huge fan of Loudon since Album I and throughout his history his releases have oftentimes been uneven. However, If you have ever seen him in concert you know that his performances are always first rate and his showmansip is second to none. With this CD however, Loudon has clearly outdone himself. Everything here is firing on all pistons. The band and guest musicians just add the right flavor on every track. No overproduction here. If you like old time bluegrass or gospel music, or are just a fan of Loudon's music, I think there is something here for everyone. This CD gets 5 solid stars! My favorite tracks are "Didn't He Ramble", "Beautiful" and the title track "High Wide and Handsome" which also has a beautiful reprise at the end. Also an old time gospel number, "The Great Reaping Day" which literally brought tears to my eyes. The paltry $15. I spent for this brillant CD set will give me hours and hours of listening pleasure.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2010
Loudon Wainwright has created much easier to listen to renditions of Charlie Pool's music than the original, even though I like the original a lot. I have listened to High Wide & Handsome over and over again and haven't yet gotten tired of it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2010
I never really liked Loudon Wainwright, never gave him a chance because he wrote Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road. That song was catchy and funny, but I wrote him off as a sort-of Roger Miller type. Friends made CDs for me, but I hardly listened to any of them. The screen now shows clock hands spinning around to denote the passing of time. About a month ago I heard Wainwright on the radio, probably on Robbie Ossman's Sunday music show, Across the Great Divide, on KPFA in Berkeley. I was instantly captivated. He played one very sad song about a young man waiting his whole life for a letter from his childhood sweetheart which never came. He also played The Man Who Rode A Mule Around The World, a weirdly funny song that has nothing at all to do with riding a mule around the world. It contains the line (which I remembered my father used to sing in another song) "I saw Peter, Paul and Moses playing ring around the roses snd I'll whup the man who says it isn't so." Some songs are mournful, songs about deaths and mother and lost loves. Some songs are very funny.

The banjo was Poole's forte, and the player on this CD is amazing, moving from rag-timey to mournful to sprightly with ease. It brought back memories of Jim Kweskin and Maria and Jeff Muldaur of the old jug band as well as the Memphis Jug Band (Stealin').

The whole Wainwright clan (and they are numerous and talented - McGarrigles and Roches, too) joins in on lots of songs.

To steal a line from Seinfeld..."You gotta hear the WAINWRIGHT!" I'm making up for all the years I dissed him by listening to his songs almost non-stop for the past 2 weeks. You NEED this CD.
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Top reviews from other countries

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LC
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on January 18, 2016
I was very pleased to be able to buy this CD.
Marc Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars Einfach genial
Reviewed in Germany on October 26, 2009
Auf High Wide & Handsome" von Loudon Wainwright III finden sich neben dessen Sprösslingen Martha und Rufus auch noch Sloan und Lucy Wainwright. Sloan ist Loudons Schwester, Lucy das jüngste Kind. Kompliziert, nicht wahr? Aber durchaus passend, denn Wainwright und seine Familie sind auf diesem opulenten Boxset als Team bestens aufgestellt, geht es doch knietief in die amerikanische Musikgeschichte: The Charlie Poole Project" ist die Doppel-CD untertitelt. Poole war ein amerikanischer Banjospieler und Countrysänger, der seine größten Erfolge zwischen 1925 und 1930 feierte und dem bereits von John Mellencamp und den Chieftains gehuldigt wurde.
Als grand gathering of songs", also erhabene Song-Sammlung, beschreibt der Künstler selbst die 30 Songs. Die allermeisten davon stammen aus der damaligen Zeit, sind Klassiker oder Traditionals - einige schrieben Wainwright und sein Kollaborateur Dick Connette aber selber, immer unter der Prämisse, thematisch Poole und seinem Kosmos gerecht zu werden. So ist etwa Charlie's Last Song" ein wunderbarer Abgesang auf den Musiker, in dem Wainwright geschickt den Ton der damaligen Zeit trifft. The Man On The Moon" indes wird von Maggie Roche (angeheiratete Verwandtschaft, aber das nur am Rande) gesungen und beschreibt die Ehe Pooles aus der Sicht seiner Frau.
Bemerkenswert ist ohnehin die Art und Weise, auf die hier Stimmungen erzeugt werden. Wainwright und Connette sind Profis genug, um die Abgründe in den einzelnen Songs herauszuarbeiten. Sie zeigen die dunkle Seite eines Mannes, der sich im Alter von nur 39 Jahren buchstäblich zu Tode soff, verlassen dabei aber niemals die Wege einer traditionalistischen Instrumentierung. Schön auch: Alle Texte der Songs und eine sehr ausführliche Biografie finden sich in dem Heftchen, das den CDs beiliegt. In der erfährt man unter anderem, was Poole so während der Prohibition trieb (Schwarzbrennerei), wie seine ersten Plattenverträge dotiert waren und wie sein Abstieg begann. Eine traurige, aber spannende Geschichte, die eigentlich verfilmt werden sollte.
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Ronald Devlin
5.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite package
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2009
I gotta admit to a little trepidation when I ordered this - just how would I feel about one of my favourite artists paying homage to a banjo player whom I had never heard of?

Well, one spin of two packed disks on the CD player and I'm absolutely enthralled. Loudon, the assembled masses of the Wainwright / McGarrigle / Roche dynasty and Dick Cornette have pulled together an exquisite mixture of songs that Charlie Poole played in his short career and some new songs written about Poole or from his point of view. There's able assistance from others also such as David Mansfield and Chaim Tannenbaum who will be well known to Wainwright fans.

There's a real sense of respect for Charlie Poole and his music on these recordings. The old songs are wonderful - and sound fresh today almost 80 years after Poole's passing. There's a clear insight into a strong influence that Poole's kinda music had on Loudon's own career. And for an Irishman, there's a clear insight into the links between the folk music of the US and the traditional music that he Irish emigrants brought with them to new lands.

It's almost impossible to pick highlights - Old and Only in the Way could have been written by someone from this generation; it's followed by an amazing traditional instrumental Ragtime Annie. And High Wide and Handsome is a new Loudon song that I reckon hits the spot for him and for Charlie Poole's ghost.

A final word about the whole package - the 2 CDs are accompanied by a fascinating booklet on the project, Poole himself and the songs. All in all, this is a piece of work that everybody that was involved in can be proud of.

The Jimmies
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PS Rapaport
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply masterful....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2009
I confess that as a LWIII devotee I was worried when I read that his forthcoming double-CD was to be a biographical concept album - a homage to somebody I'd never even heard of, with CD1 consisting of covers of songs written in the 1920s. Like most Loudon addicts all I crave is more of his own fantastic compositions. He has consistently proved himself to be America's greatest songwriter of the past 40 years following Dylan's descent into tired, clichéd mediocrity back in the eighties.

And surprise surprise! What a revelation this set turns out to be - full of utterly absorbing, lovingly crafted songs and all beautifully packaged, complete with a mini-paperback including full lyrics and Charlie Poole life story. To anyone familiar with Loudon's music it is clear to see why he recognises so much of himself in Poole.

Loudon's work just maintains an incredibly high standard. The latest in a long line of masterful albums. Superb.
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Hans Jürgen Manthei
3.0 out of 5 stars Geht so!
Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2014
Es ist für meinen Geschmack doch ein bisschen zuviel Banjo!
I`m Alright ist da echt um einiges besser. Und Tschüss !