VARIOUS ARTISTS
''THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OF SONG: A MUSICAL JOURNEY DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, DISC TWO''
NOVEMBER 17 1998
127:46
DISC ONE (62:14)
1 - Chippewa Nation - Pow Wow Song 2:47
2 - Babes In Toyland - 22 3:15
3 - Spider John Koerner - Sail Away Ladies 3:24
4 - Soul Asylum - I Did My Best 3:53
5 - Skal Klubb - Red-Headed Swede 3:18
6 - Wang Chong Lor - The Singing Leaf 2:23
7 - Sounds Of Blackness - Medley I'll Open My Heart to the Lord;I'll Be Ready 1:51
8 - Karl Hartwich - Kim Marie 2:56
9 - Manny Lopez - Jazz Me Blues 4:27
10 - La Otra Mitad - La Unica Estrella 5:22
11 - Greg Brown - Flat Stuff 3:38
12 - John Hartford - Miss Ferris 3:51
13 - The Bob Lewis Family - Born To Be with You 2:12
14 - Eugene Redmond & Sylvester Sunshine Lee - Milestone 2:41
15 - Fontella & Martha Bass - I'm So Grateful 4:15
16 - Oliver Sain - Stop Breaking Down 5:06
17 - The Bottle Rockets - Get Down River 3:00
18 - Sainte Genevieve Guignolee Singers - La Guignolee 3:42
DISC TWO (65:32)
1 - The Boundless Love Quartet - The Sweetest Song I Know 2:26
2 - Sonny Burgess - Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas) 3:49
3 - Ann Peebles & The Memphis Horns - St. Louis Blues 5:44
4 - Levon Helm & James Cotton - Going Back To Memphis 4:36
5 - Robert Lockwood Jr. - Take A Little Walk With Me 2:45
6 - Big Jack Johnson - Catfish 3:25
7 - Big Jack Johnson - Shake Your Moneymaker 3:02
8 - Little Milton - Grits Ain't Groceries 4:18
9 - The Mississippi Mass Choir - We Praise Your Holy Name 5:47
10 - Kenny Bill Stinson - Taters And Gravy And Chicken Fried Steak 2:47
11 - D.L. Menard - The Back Door (La Porte D'en Arriere) 3:45
12 - Geno Delafose - Bon Chien 2:45
13 - David & Roselyn - Marie Lavaux 3:23
14 - Henry Butler - Basin Street Blues 3:54
15 - Irma Thomas - Time Is On My Side 2:44
16 - Eddie Bo & Henry Butler - Check Your Bucket 4:34
17 - Soul Rebels - Let Your Mind Be Free 2:51
18 - Ivan Perez - La Vida De Un Jaibero (The Crab Fisherman's Song) 2:47
REVIEW/AMG
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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''THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OF SONG: A MUSICAL JOURNEY DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, DISC TWO''
NOVEMBER 17 1998
127:46
DISC ONE (62:14)
1 - Chippewa Nation - Pow Wow Song 2:47
2 - Babes In Toyland - 22 3:15
3 - Spider John Koerner - Sail Away Ladies 3:24
4 - Soul Asylum - I Did My Best 3:53
5 - Skal Klubb - Red-Headed Swede 3:18
6 - Wang Chong Lor - The Singing Leaf 2:23
7 - Sounds Of Blackness - Medley I'll Open My Heart to the Lord;I'll Be Ready 1:51
8 - Karl Hartwich - Kim Marie 2:56
9 - Manny Lopez - Jazz Me Blues 4:27
10 - La Otra Mitad - La Unica Estrella 5:22
11 - Greg Brown - Flat Stuff 3:38
12 - John Hartford - Miss Ferris 3:51
13 - The Bob Lewis Family - Born To Be with You 2:12
14 - Eugene Redmond & Sylvester Sunshine Lee - Milestone 2:41
15 - Fontella & Martha Bass - I'm So Grateful 4:15
16 - Oliver Sain - Stop Breaking Down 5:06
17 - The Bottle Rockets - Get Down River 3:00
18 - Sainte Genevieve Guignolee Singers - La Guignolee 3:42
DISC TWO (65:32)
1 - The Boundless Love Quartet - The Sweetest Song I Know 2:26
2 - Sonny Burgess - Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas) 3:49
3 - Ann Peebles & The Memphis Horns - St. Louis Blues 5:44
4 - Levon Helm & James Cotton - Going Back To Memphis 4:36
5 - Robert Lockwood Jr. - Take A Little Walk With Me 2:45
6 - Big Jack Johnson - Catfish 3:25
7 - Big Jack Johnson - Shake Your Moneymaker 3:02
8 - Little Milton - Grits Ain't Groceries 4:18
9 - The Mississippi Mass Choir - We Praise Your Holy Name 5:47
10 - Kenny Bill Stinson - Taters And Gravy And Chicken Fried Steak 2:47
11 - D.L. Menard - The Back Door (La Porte D'en Arriere) 3:45
12 - Geno Delafose - Bon Chien 2:45
13 - David & Roselyn - Marie Lavaux 3:23
14 - Henry Butler - Basin Street Blues 3:54
15 - Irma Thomas - Time Is On My Side 2:44
16 - Eddie Bo & Henry Butler - Check Your Bucket 4:34
17 - Soul Rebels - Let Your Mind Be Free 2:51
18 - Ivan Perez - La Vida De Un Jaibero (The Crab Fisherman's Song) 2:47
REVIEW/AMG
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.
TO THE TOP
