Nelson, Haggard, Price - Last of the Breed CD

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

What can I say, I think it's a classic. Buddy Emmons on steel, Johnny Gimble on fiddle, Brent Mason on guitar, great Nashville rhythm section, produced by Fred Foster. It's great to hear Ray in this context.

If you're looking for overblown modern production, forget it. Great tune selection covering a wide time span, played the way they ought to be played. Classic country music in the best sense of the word, IMHO.

The good news is that I walked into my old guitar store today and the 22-year old luthier/repairman had just bought it and had it playing with thumbs up while working on a guitar. I think the clean production and sound quality helps make this style more accessible for younger listeners who are open to classic American music, but not too crazy about scratchy vinyl.

erik · Posted 21 Mar 2007 2:07 am

They are touring together, at least the artists.
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-johnson

Janice Brooks · From: Pleasant Gap Pa

Glad to see it getting local interest from a younger supporter.

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

I see that it is a double CD set!

Craig Stock · From: Westfield, NJ USA

I am supposed to go see them tomorrow night at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, have pretty good seats.

Asaleep at the Wheel backing them up, should be a great show.
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Regards, Craig

I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.

Today is tomorrow's Good ol' days

Carroll Hale · From: EastTexas, USA

well..how was the show.....
I saw some "good" and some "bad" reviews on other forums.......whether bad or good....no one can deny that all of these guys are classic performers...
long live western swing...

Craig Stock · From: Westfield, NJ USA

Carroll, I started a new post in Steel Players about the show, but to say it again, I thought it was great.

I didn't know that Ray Price was 81, man can he still sing, everybody makes a big deal about the Stones age, he's gottem beat by 20 years.

The sound was excellent, it wasn't loud, so you didn't get a headache, but most of all the separation was so good, you could hear the individual instruments perfectly.

The only complaint was AATW didn't get to do more of their own.
songs, but they seemed honored being the backing band.
I asked Eddie Rivers what he thought about the show and he said "it doesn't get much better than this"

The show was sold out which is amazing, my neighbor is the director of Ticket sales for MSG the Beacon Theatre and Radio City and he said it was tough to get anything from the promoter, so they did a good job of selling the show. I think most people really enjoyed the show from the comments I heard, maybe the suites will give us a country radio station around here. But as Merle said recently in an interview, he only listens to satelite since radio only plays garbage. I agree, this morning I put on Sirius Roadhouse and who was the first artist I heard?....Merle Haggard
_________________
Regards, Craig

I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.

Today is tomorrow's Good ol' days

Carroll Hale · From: EastTexas, USA

cant go wrong with merle.....and he has recorded so many songs that most folks dont know about....I have lots of his records/cds that have some really wonderful...lesser known tunes....

my wife gave me a new AATW cd last week....some realy great stuff on there.......they do a good job on the old western swing stuff.....so popular down here in the lone star state......

I will check out your other posts..
thanks,

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Just got my copy from Amazon today. I've only had time to listen to the first CD, but my impressions are:

All three of these guys are still great singers. There are some signs of age in their vocals, but the voices themselves, and the phrasing and feel, are at a level above almost any normal mortal. (Apologies to those who hate Willie's singing, but I've always dug him.) Ray Price, in particular, for my money, sounds the best he ever has!

The instrumental work is the epitome of taste and economy, by all concerned, obviously including the Big E.

But, and I say this as a guy days away from his 56th birthday, I hope I'm not quite that laid back when I'm as old as the singers and players on this album. It's kind of sleepy. I love the kind of tunes they're doing, and I love taste and restraint, but I wouldn't mind a few things that made me sit up and say "Wow!" mixed in.

Just my two cents' worth. As the title says, they're the last of the breed, and I'm sure going to miss them when they're gone.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Given the fact that an amazing amount of musical virtuosity has crept into popular music in the last several decades, I think many people may well expect more WOW kind of stuff. It's almost as if we're so jaded that we can't appreciate a completely straight performance anymore - I catch myself in this same mode sometimes. But I think what I like so much about this record is they realized that it's just fine to just sing and play the songs, and let the chips fall where they may. To me - in this context - great songs, great singing feel, and appropriate, tasteful backup and solos are enough. In fact, to me, instrumental hot-dogging would have detracted from the feel of this record.

When I go back and listen to my favorite early country records by Hank, Lefty, Faron, Webb, Ray and Merle themselves, George, Patsy, and others, as well as so much other great stuff in other styles - instrumentation and solos are great. But there is, IMO, almost zero emphasis on hot-dogging or trying to make the listener go WOW. Listening to this record, I felt transported back in time, as if I was listening to songs produced with that same ethos, but with modern production techniques. I played this CD back-to-back with my old records, and I felt this CD was a natural progression in all areas but one - the excellent audio quality and lack of record scratches.

Younger listeners and players periodically go through a purge of more sophisticated and virtuosic stuff and want to get back to the roots sometimes. In many ways, this is what the Beatles, the punk-rock revolution, and the grunge movement were about - a fresh, stripped down approach that focused on the overall feel and music, and away from the fancy trimmings that make listeners go WOW. That's why I think that a good string of country records like this have the potential to draw in new audiences who think country has gotten too slick, rock-oriented, and away from its roots, a very common complaint I have heard among younger roots-oriented listeners who listen to people like Gillian Welch, Neko Case, Steve Earle, Townes van Zandt, Ryan Adams, Wayne Hancock, Big Sandy, and others.

Just my opinions, of course.

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Dave, I think you're making a wrong assumption about what kind of thing would make me sit up and say "Wow". (Perhaps I should have said "sit up and take notice".)

Most often it's a simple, exquisite, perfectly chosen phrase that expresses the feeling of the music deeply, but using notes that might not occur to the usual player accustomed to the common pathways of the instrument and the musical style. The kind of thing that makes Lloyd Green's playing so special--and I don't think anyone would ever accuse him of hotdogging.

That, and a lack of performances with a sense of, for lack of a better term, rhythmic liveliness are what I felt lacking a bit on this album. Relaxed is good, don't get me wrong, but there's a certain sameness that got to me a little bit.

I like the album a lot. And I still haven't heard disc 2.

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