What's missing in modern country is true grit. In all of the glossed-upbeauty makeover tractor hunk nonsense they've missed the true point, ascountry started as the music for poor man's plight and economic blight.There's no dirt in New Country's teeth, no black under its nails, andno liquor in its veins. Just a vacant, vapid three part harmony andsome political nonsense that can't come close to the real issues athand. So leave it to country-obsessed former Geraldine Fibbers/EthylMeatplow vocalist Carla Bozulich to bring it back by covering WillieNelson's landmark concept album in its entirety. Sure, it's notoriginal grit, but it's authentic nonetheless, so much that Williehimself guests on guitar and vocals for several songs. Bozulich has theright voice for the material, raising hairs left and right with thetale of a preacher who killed his wife and her new beau. Nels Cline,Devin Hoff, and Scott Amendola also get points for their bare butchilling instrumentation that sets the perfect backdrop for thesesongs. There was a conscious decision to make this all sound authentic,I feel, from the nylon string guitars to the minimalist production andthe sparse nature of the music. It doesn't take much to bring acrossthis raw and rusty tale, and no lavish production could have made itsound better. "Time of the Preacher" is just as gorgeous as when Williehimself sang it, and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is better than theoriginal, with Leah Bozulich providing harmony vocal. The best, though,is the impact of "Medley," where autoharp and radio buzz are joined byelectric guitar and drum shockwaves. It shook me to the bone, theperfection of it all, and I felt like I wasn't going to make it outalive. Country needs to sound like this again, to take chances and tryfor a complex thought. It says it all that a singer went backtwenty-five years to find the right music for her soul. If othersfollowed suit maybe we could be spared. samples:
- Time of the Preacher
- Medley: Time of the Preacher/Blue Rock Mountain/Red Headed Stranger
- Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
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