From: killops@ssd.intel.com (Scott Killops)
Subject: Best Folk Album of the ... Night! :)
Followup-To: rec.music.folk
Keywords: Ramblers Dylan Clapton Colvin
Organization: Supercomputer Systems Divison, Intel Corp.
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 21:30:22 GMT

After missing the Shanachie Singer Singer-Songwriter Showcase on Saturday
night and Alasdair Fraser on Sunday night due to domestic responsibilities,
I finally made it out of the house on Monday night to catch Sugar with
Throwing Muses only to find that the show was sold out :(.  I was sufficiently
frustrated that I stopped at Millenium on the way home and bought:

     Bob Dylan - Good As I Been To You
     The Red Clay Ramblers - Rambler
     Shawn Colvin - Fat City
     Eric Clapton - Unplugged

And the pick of the litter is ... Rambler! (naturally)

I've had a couple of my (slightly yuppie) friends just rave about the
Clapton album.  And it's a good album; probably all Clapton fans will
enjoy it.  But it's mostly a workmanlike accoustic blues outing.  When I
listen to it, I can't help but think that I might have been happier had
I picked up that Rory Block or Paul Gerimia instead.  But it's solid and
it's the only Clapton I've picked up on disc, so it'll probably get player
time when I want a Clapton fix.  (One of my friends said that the Clapton
album was better than the latest John Prine.  No way!)

"Good As I Been To You" is the first Dylan I've bought in over ten years.
Had to get used to the voice all over again. :)  (At first I couldn't figure
out who he sounded like on this album.  Then it hit me.  Wow! It sounds
like Tony Bird doing a Dylan imitation! :)  I like this album.  It grows
on me the more I listen to it.  Dylan has good folk sensibilities, he's
covering a few of my old favorites, and it's interesting to listen to
(one of my main criteria for liking albums).  Still, I don't know if
I would recommend it to non-Dylan fans.  (I can't help asking myself how
much notice an album like this would get if a young unknown folkie put it
out instead of a legend like Dylan.)

"Fat City" is another solid Shawn Colvin album.  It doesn't really break
any new ground, but it does include many of the songs she did when she
opened for Richard Thompson.  If you enjoyed Colvin's first album, you'll
enjoy this one, too.  (I prefer both Shawn Colvin and Patty Larkin the
way I saw them live - voice and guitar.  They are both solid players, 
singers, and songwriters.  But they would probably get less notice if
they put out their albums that way.)

The main reason that "Rambler" is the pick of the night is that it sounds
fresh.  It opens with an interesting rendition of "Cotton Eyed Joe", which
I find interesting after Michelle Shocked's recent rendition.  Other tunes
like "Queen of Skye", "Ninety & Nine", "Milelong Long Medley", "Ryan's/Jordan
Reel", and "One Rose" are delivered with a clear, timeless feel to them.
If you like old timey music in general, or the Red Clay Ramblers in particular,
or even if you don't (yet), buy this album!  (Buy it before New Year's and
you can vote for it in Ken Josenhans' "Best Folk of 92" poll! :)

Chow, Scott "hoping he can (finally) make it out of the house to see Claudia
Schmidt tonight" Killops

-- 
Scott Killops                     Intel Supercomputer Systems Division CO1-01
killops@ssd.intel.com             15201 Greenbrier Parkway
(503)629-4325                     Beaverton, OR  97006-5771
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk