VARIOUS ARTISTS
''THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OF SONG: A MUSICAL JOURNEY DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, DISC TWO''
NOVEMBER 17 1998
130:01
DISC ONE
1. Pow Wow Song/Chippewa Nation/2:50
2. 22/Babes In Toyland/3:20
3. Sail Away Ladies/Spider John Koerner/3:30
4. I Did My Best/Soul Asylum/3:58
5. Red-Headed Swede/Skal Klubb/3:23
6. The Singing Leaf/Wang Chong Lor/2:28
7. I'll Open My Heart to the Lord / I'll Be Ready (medley)/Sounds Of Blackness/1:56
8. Kim Marie/Karl Hartwich/3:01
9. Jazz Me Blues/Manny Lopez/4:31
10. La Unica Estrella/La Otra Mitad/5:26
11. Flat Stuff/Greg Brown/3:43
12. Miss Ferris/John Hartford/3:55
13. Born to Be with You/The Bob Lewis Family/2:17
14. Milestone/Eugene Redmond And Sylvester "Sunshine" Lee/2:46
15. I'm So Grateful/Fontella And Martha Bass/4:20
16. Stop Breaking Down/Oliver Sain/5:10
17. Get Down River/The Bottle Rockets/3:05
18. La Guignolee/Sainte Genevieve Guignolee Singers/3:43
DISC TWO
1. The Sweetest Song I Know/The Boundless Love Quartet/2:30
2. Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)/Sonny Burgess/3:54
3. St. Louis Blues/Ann Peebles And The Memphis Horns/5:49
4. Going Back to Memphis/Levon Helm And James Cotton/4:41
5. Take a Little Walk with Me/Robert Lockwood, Jr./2:50
6. Catfish/Big Jack Johnson/3:31
7. Shake Your Moneymaker/Big Jack Johnson With Frank Frost And The Jelly Roll Kings/3:06
8. Grits Ain't Groceries/Little Milton/4:23
9. We Praise Your Holy Name/The Mississippi Mass Choir/5:52
10. Taters and Gravy and Chicken Fried Steak/Kenny Bill Stinson/2:52
11. The Back Door (La Porte d'en Arriere)/D.L. Menard/3:49
12. Bon Chien/Geno Delafose/2:49
13. Marie Lavaux/David & Roselyn/3:28
14. Basin Street Blues/Henry Butler/3:58
15. Time is on My Side/Irma Thomas/2:47
16. Check Your Bucket/Eddie Bo And Henry Butler/4:39
17. Let Your Mind Be Free/Soul Rebels/2:55
18. La Vida de un Jaibero (The Crab Fisherman's Song)/Ivan Perez/2:49
REVIEW
by Richie Unterberger
River of Song is a companion double-CD set to a four-part 1999 PBS television series of the various styles of music found along the Mississippi River, from northern Minnesota to the river's mouth in Louisiana. It has 36 complete performances that the documentary makers recorded as part of the project, encompassing Delta blues (Robert Lockwood, Jr.), Native American powwows, Cajun (D.L. Menard) and zydeco (Geno Delafose), New Orleans soul (Irma Thomas), rockabilly (Sonny Burgess), singer/songwriter folk (Greg Brown), bluegrass, gospel, polka, jazz, and less expected things like traditional Swedish, Laotian, and norteño music. There's even alternative rock, via Babes in Toyland (whose selection is frankly ill-fitting), Soul Asylum, and the Bottle Rockets. This might be better seen on film than heard all at once: it covers a full smorgasbord of American music in one go, and although in concept that might be appealing, remember that when you actually eat at smorgasbords, you don't try to sample every last damn dish in the course of one meal. The most unusual items are the Skal Club Spelmanslag's "Red-Headed Swede," with its eerie musical saw; Sonny Burgess' "T for Texas," on which he sounds far more like a genuine soul man than a cult rockabilly singer; and the Memphis Horns and Ann Peebles' "St. Louis Blues," done without a rhythm section. Little Milton, Henry Butler, Levon Helm, James Cotton, Fontella Bass, and John Hartford are some of the other recognizable names contributing to the album. If you're interested, the project also generated a book with the same title as the CD, written by Elijah Wald and John Junkerman, and published by St. Martin's Press.
''THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OF SONG: A MUSICAL JOURNEY DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, DISC TWO''
NOVEMBER 17 1998
130:01
DISC ONE
1. Pow Wow Song/Chippewa Nation/2:50
2. 22/Babes In Toyland/3:20
3. Sail Away Ladies/Spider John Koerner/3:30
4. I Did My Best/Soul Asylum/3:58
5. Red-Headed Swede/Skal Klubb/3:23
6. The Singing Leaf/Wang Chong Lor/2:28
7. I'll Open My Heart to the Lord / I'll Be Ready (medley)/Sounds Of Blackness/1:56
8. Kim Marie/Karl Hartwich/3:01
9. Jazz Me Blues/Manny Lopez/4:31
10. La Unica Estrella/La Otra Mitad/5:26
11. Flat Stuff/Greg Brown/3:43
12. Miss Ferris/John Hartford/3:55
13. Born to Be with You/The Bob Lewis Family/2:17
14. Milestone/Eugene Redmond And Sylvester "Sunshine" Lee/2:46
15. I'm So Grateful/Fontella And Martha Bass/4:20
16. Stop Breaking Down/Oliver Sain/5:10
17. Get Down River/The Bottle Rockets/3:05
18. La Guignolee/Sainte Genevieve Guignolee Singers/3:43
DISC TWO
1. The Sweetest Song I Know/The Boundless Love Quartet/2:30
2. Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)/Sonny Burgess/3:54
3. St. Louis Blues/Ann Peebles And The Memphis Horns/5:49
4. Going Back to Memphis/Levon Helm And James Cotton/4:41
5. Take a Little Walk with Me/Robert Lockwood, Jr./2:50
6. Catfish/Big Jack Johnson/3:31
7. Shake Your Moneymaker/Big Jack Johnson With Frank Frost And The Jelly Roll Kings/3:06
8. Grits Ain't Groceries/Little Milton/4:23
9. We Praise Your Holy Name/The Mississippi Mass Choir/5:52
10. Taters and Gravy and Chicken Fried Steak/Kenny Bill Stinson/2:52
11. The Back Door (La Porte d'en Arriere)/D.L. Menard/3:49
12. Bon Chien/Geno Delafose/2:49
13. Marie Lavaux/David & Roselyn/3:28
14. Basin Street Blues/Henry Butler/3:58
15. Time is on My Side/Irma Thomas/2:47
16. Check Your Bucket/Eddie Bo And Henry Butler/4:39
17. Let Your Mind Be Free/Soul Rebels/2:55
18. La Vida de un Jaibero (The Crab Fisherman's Song)/Ivan Perez/2:49
REVIEW
by Richie Unterberger
River of Song is a companion double-CD set to a four-part 1999 PBS television series of the various styles of music found along the Mississippi River, from northern Minnesota to the river's mouth in Louisiana. It has 36 complete performances that the documentary makers recorded as part of the project, encompassing Delta blues (Robert Lockwood, Jr.), Native American powwows, Cajun (D.L. Menard) and zydeco (Geno Delafose), New Orleans soul (Irma Thomas), rockabilly (Sonny Burgess), singer/songwriter folk (Greg Brown), bluegrass, gospel, polka, jazz, and less expected things like traditional Swedish, Laotian, and norteño music. There's even alternative rock, via Babes in Toyland (whose selection is frankly ill-fitting), Soul Asylum, and the Bottle Rockets. This might be better seen on film than heard all at once: it covers a full smorgasbord of American music in one go, and although in concept that might be appealing, remember that when you actually eat at smorgasbords, you don't try to sample every last damn dish in the course of one meal. The most unusual items are the Skal Club Spelmanslag's "Red-Headed Swede," with its eerie musical saw; Sonny Burgess' "T for Texas," on which he sounds far more like a genuine soul man than a cult rockabilly singer; and the Memphis Horns and Ann Peebles' "St. Louis Blues," done without a rhythm section. Little Milton, Henry Butler, Levon Helm, James Cotton, Fontella Bass, and John Hartford are some of the other recognizable names contributing to the album. If you're interested, the project also generated a book with the same title as the CD, written by Elijah Wald and John Junkerman, and published by St. Martin's Press.
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