VARIOUS ARTISTS
''DEAD MAN'S TOWN: A TRIBUTE TO BORN IN THE U.S.A.''
SEPTEMBER 16 2014
46:57
01 - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires - Born In The U.S.A 3:30
02 - Apache Relay - Cover Me 4:07
03 - Quaker City Nighthawks - Darlington County 4:49
04 - Blitzen Trapper - Working On The Highway 3:02
05 - Joe Pug - Downbound Train 4:03
06 - Low - I'm On Fire 2:58
07 - Holly Williams - No Surrender 4:16
08 - Ryan Culwell - Bobby Jean 3:35
09 - Trampled By Turtles - I'm Goin' Down 3:35
10 - Justin Townes Earle - Glory Days 3:27
11 - Nicole Atkins - Dancing In The Dark 4:51
12 - North Mississippi Allstars - My Hometown 4:38
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
When Bruce Springsteen's album Born in the U.S.A. was released in the summer of 1984, it became an immediate smash hit and confirmed Springsteen's status as one of the biggest and most important stars in American rock. But it was also a widely misunderstood work, especially the title song, embraced by many as a patriotic celebration of America when it was in fact a bitter condemnation by Springsteen of how his nation betrayed the soldiers who returned from Vietnam with few options and little hope. The messages of the songs were sometimes hard to hear through the bombast of the performances (Springsteen uses bombast to better advantage than practically any musician of his generation) and the polish of the production (especially the sharp report of the drums and the layers of keyboards), so producers Logan Rogers and Evan Schlansky decided to give the songs of Born in the U.S.A. a new spin by inviting a handful of contemporary roots rock artists to cover them in their own styles. On Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A., the performers strip the songs down to their basics, letting acoustic instruments carry the bulk of the melodies and putting the lyrics up front. Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires' interpretation of "Born in the U.S.A." (inspired by an arrangement Springsteen has used in his acoustic performances) certainly kicks off the album on an impressive note, making the song just as dark and tragic as it was meant to be, but most of the rest of the tracks are considerably less effective. Say what you want about Springsteen as a performer, but his work has never lacked passion, and passion is what drives much of his best music. And that's what's missing from much of Dead Man's Town; most of the artists have not only cut back on the guitars and drums, they've also dialed back on the emotional intensity of the songs, and that does them no favors, making this music sound sleepy instead of quietly forceful. There are a few exceptions, most notably Justin Townes Earle's mournful "Glory Days," which truly sounds like the musings of a man stuck in a midlife crisis; Low's tense and atmospheric take on "I'm on Fire"; Joe Pug's gutsy if minimal version of "Downbound Train"; and Quaker City Nighthawks' "Darlington County," which treats the tune like a loose-limbed shaggy-dog story. But ultimately, Dead Man's Town is a good idea executed poorly, an effort to peel back the veneer from Springsteen's songs that manages to toss away much of the core at the same time.
ABOUT
“When I first heard the songs from Born In The USA, as a nine-year old, I thought, ‘Uh, no, this is not for me. I prefer Huey Lewis,’” says Evan Schlansky, the co-executive producer of Dead Man’s Town: A Tribute to Born In the U.S.A. Eventually, though, Schlansky discovered “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” on a mixtape and fell in love with Springsteen. “There’s something great about discovering Bruce Springsteen when you’re growing up. His music really became the soundtrack to my teenage years,” he noted.
More
Watch Ellen DeGeneres and Kristen Wiig Completely Butcher ‘Let It Go’ in the Best Way PossibleLea Michele Will ‘Let It Go’ on Glee’s Final SeasonPlaying Defense: Can Four Women Save the NFL From Itself? NBC NewsRobin Thicke: I Was Too High to Write 'Blurred Lines' NBC NewsISIS Killing a Warning to One Country in Particular NBC News
To pay homage to his musical hero, Schlansky struck on the idea of putting together a tribute album, giving an alt-country twist to Springsteen’s album. “I’ve always thought that Bruce Springsteen is secretly a country artist, just without the accent,” he says. He approached Logan Rogers, owner of Nashville’s Lightning Rod Records, to produce Dead Man’s Town, a tribute album, featuring artists such as Low, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Justin Townes Earl, Blitzen Trapper and Trampled by Turtles covering songs from Born In the U.S.A., just in time to mark the seminal album’s 30th anniversary.
All twelve artists took liberties with the melodies and the arrangements — stripping down the songs, adding a country twist or traveling in a different direction altogether, which is just what Schlansky and Rogers wanted. “I thought the songs could work as well as Woody Guthrie-style folk anthems as they did as Reagan-era radio smashes,” says Rogers, who trusted the artists to stay true to Springsteen’s vision.”Everyone involved takes such care in their own lyrics that I knew they would do Springsteen’s justice in a re-imagined way,” he says .
The artists were given creative control over their covers, but the overall sound comes across as fewer jangle and horns as in Born in the U.S.A. with a result more reminiscent of another Springsteen classic — his 1982 album, Nebraska. “It’s like everybody got the same memo to change things up, except there never was a memo,” says Schlansky.
Highlights include Justin Townes’ Earle’s acoustic take on “Glory Days,” Low’s stripped down take on “I’m on Fire” and Holly Williams (a singer-songwriter and the granddaughter of Hank Williams) giving a Nashville twist to “No Surrender”.
Dead Man’s Town drops Sept. 16th, just in time for Springsteen’s 65th birthday on Sept. 23.
''DEAD MAN'S TOWN: A TRIBUTE TO BORN IN THE U.S.A.''
SEPTEMBER 16 2014
46:57
01 - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires - Born In The U.S.A 3:30
02 - Apache Relay - Cover Me 4:07
03 - Quaker City Nighthawks - Darlington County 4:49
04 - Blitzen Trapper - Working On The Highway 3:02
05 - Joe Pug - Downbound Train 4:03
06 - Low - I'm On Fire 2:58
07 - Holly Williams - No Surrender 4:16
08 - Ryan Culwell - Bobby Jean 3:35
09 - Trampled By Turtles - I'm Goin' Down 3:35
10 - Justin Townes Earle - Glory Days 3:27
11 - Nicole Atkins - Dancing In The Dark 4:51
12 - North Mississippi Allstars - My Hometown 4:38
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
When Bruce Springsteen's album Born in the U.S.A. was released in the summer of 1984, it became an immediate smash hit and confirmed Springsteen's status as one of the biggest and most important stars in American rock. But it was also a widely misunderstood work, especially the title song, embraced by many as a patriotic celebration of America when it was in fact a bitter condemnation by Springsteen of how his nation betrayed the soldiers who returned from Vietnam with few options and little hope. The messages of the songs were sometimes hard to hear through the bombast of the performances (Springsteen uses bombast to better advantage than practically any musician of his generation) and the polish of the production (especially the sharp report of the drums and the layers of keyboards), so producers Logan Rogers and Evan Schlansky decided to give the songs of Born in the U.S.A. a new spin by inviting a handful of contemporary roots rock artists to cover them in their own styles. On Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A., the performers strip the songs down to their basics, letting acoustic instruments carry the bulk of the melodies and putting the lyrics up front. Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires' interpretation of "Born in the U.S.A." (inspired by an arrangement Springsteen has used in his acoustic performances) certainly kicks off the album on an impressive note, making the song just as dark and tragic as it was meant to be, but most of the rest of the tracks are considerably less effective. Say what you want about Springsteen as a performer, but his work has never lacked passion, and passion is what drives much of his best music. And that's what's missing from much of Dead Man's Town; most of the artists have not only cut back on the guitars and drums, they've also dialed back on the emotional intensity of the songs, and that does them no favors, making this music sound sleepy instead of quietly forceful. There are a few exceptions, most notably Justin Townes Earle's mournful "Glory Days," which truly sounds like the musings of a man stuck in a midlife crisis; Low's tense and atmospheric take on "I'm on Fire"; Joe Pug's gutsy if minimal version of "Downbound Train"; and Quaker City Nighthawks' "Darlington County," which treats the tune like a loose-limbed shaggy-dog story. But ultimately, Dead Man's Town is a good idea executed poorly, an effort to peel back the veneer from Springsteen's songs that manages to toss away much of the core at the same time.
ABOUT
“When I first heard the songs from Born In The USA, as a nine-year old, I thought, ‘Uh, no, this is not for me. I prefer Huey Lewis,’” says Evan Schlansky, the co-executive producer of Dead Man’s Town: A Tribute to Born In the U.S.A. Eventually, though, Schlansky discovered “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” on a mixtape and fell in love with Springsteen. “There’s something great about discovering Bruce Springsteen when you’re growing up. His music really became the soundtrack to my teenage years,” he noted.
More
Watch Ellen DeGeneres and Kristen Wiig Completely Butcher ‘Let It Go’ in the Best Way PossibleLea Michele Will ‘Let It Go’ on Glee’s Final SeasonPlaying Defense: Can Four Women Save the NFL From Itself? NBC NewsRobin Thicke: I Was Too High to Write 'Blurred Lines' NBC NewsISIS Killing a Warning to One Country in Particular NBC News
To pay homage to his musical hero, Schlansky struck on the idea of putting together a tribute album, giving an alt-country twist to Springsteen’s album. “I’ve always thought that Bruce Springsteen is secretly a country artist, just without the accent,” he says. He approached Logan Rogers, owner of Nashville’s Lightning Rod Records, to produce Dead Man’s Town, a tribute album, featuring artists such as Low, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Justin Townes Earl, Blitzen Trapper and Trampled by Turtles covering songs from Born In the U.S.A., just in time to mark the seminal album’s 30th anniversary.
All twelve artists took liberties with the melodies and the arrangements — stripping down the songs, adding a country twist or traveling in a different direction altogether, which is just what Schlansky and Rogers wanted. “I thought the songs could work as well as Woody Guthrie-style folk anthems as they did as Reagan-era radio smashes,” says Rogers, who trusted the artists to stay true to Springsteen’s vision.”Everyone involved takes such care in their own lyrics that I knew they would do Springsteen’s justice in a re-imagined way,” he says .
The artists were given creative control over their covers, but the overall sound comes across as fewer jangle and horns as in Born in the U.S.A. with a result more reminiscent of another Springsteen classic — his 1982 album, Nebraska. “It’s like everybody got the same memo to change things up, except there never was a memo,” says Schlansky.
Highlights include Justin Townes’ Earle’s acoustic take on “Glory Days,” Low’s stripped down take on “I’m on Fire” and Holly Williams (a singer-songwriter and the granddaughter of Hank Williams) giving a Nashville twist to “No Surrender”.
Dead Man’s Town drops Sept. 16th, just in time for Springsteen’s 65th birthday on Sept. 23.
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