 
|
|
 |
|
Mockingbird
by Watertower Music
| List Price: |
$15.98 |
| Price: |
$13.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: |
$1.99 (12%) |
|
|
Audio CD
Allison
Publisher: Watertower Music
Working with producer and acclaimed roots artist Buddy Miller on this release, Moorer has conjured a rich pastiche of the phases of women's hearts, lives, needs, and yearnings on this recording of other peoples' songs. It's about honoring the women who inspired her. "Mockingbird" is an album of subtlety, sensuality, and grace. Moorer is a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (Steve Earle & Allison Moorer).
One of the most technically gifted vocalists in contemporary country, Allison Moorer sharpens her interpretive chops through this selection of songs from other female artists. After setting the tone with her self-composed, bittersweet title track, framed by chamber strings and punctuated with a saxophone solo, she and ace producer-guitarist Buddy Miller find revelatory dimensions in material by artists ranging from Nina Simone (the sultry, torchy "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl") to Joni Mitchell (an older-and-wiser "Both Sides Now") to June Carter Cash ("Ring of Fire," which she wrote for her husband, Johnny, and which here features a languid vocal over a rhythm loop). You’d expect Moorer to do fine by her sister Shelby Lynne ("She Knows Where She Goes"), Gillian Welch ("Revelator"), and Julie Miller ("Orphan Train"), but it’s a real surprise to hear her connecting from the inside out with Patti Smith’s hypnotic "Dancing Barefoot" or channeling the blues of Ma Rainey ("Daddy, Goodbye Blues," featuring Moorer’s husband Steve Earle). Moorer shouldn’t give up writing, but she obviously doesn’t need to write much to make inspired music that sounds very much her own. --Don McLeese
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| More Than Just The "Duchess Of Earle" |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
Every bit as big a firebrand as her husband, the uber-maverick Steve Earle, Allison Moorer has shown herself capable of immersing herself in very roots-oriented music throughout her careeer, usually that combination of rock, R&B, folk, and country called "Americana." Her last two albums, 2004's THE DUEL and 2006's GETTING SOMEWHERE, were tremendous examples of her approach. Her newest one, MOCKINGBIRD, continues that tradition of hers.
Ironically enough, given her considerable songwriting pedigree, which would leave Nashville beet-red with her intelligent approach, only one song on this twelve-song CD, namely the title track, is written by Allison herself. Assisted here by producer and Americana master Buddy Miller, Allison largely weaves her way through favorite cover songs, including a slowed-down version of Johnny Cash's 1963 smash "Ring Of Fire", and the Joni Mitchell classic "Both Sides Now" (immortalized by Judy Collins in 1968), alongside more contemporary material like Gillian Welch's "Revelator" and Julie Miller's "Orphan Train." There's enough country instrumentation on here to give MOCKINGBIRD the required rootsiness that is part-and-parcel of Allison's approach, but there's also the Memphis/Muscle Shoals R&B influences that have informed her music too.
Having one heck of a deep voice that can handle country and R&B about as well as any contemporary female artist this side of Sheryl Crow, Allison has been a genuine force to be reckoned with for a long time now; and MOCKINGBIRD continues down that path brilliantly.
|
| Good Stuff |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
There's a great variety of songs here. She doesn't lose her country roots but she has definitely branched out. As usual, her voice is top quality. Several reviewers have dogged Ring of Fire. I totally disagree, this is a fine, original take on the song. People tend to get hung up on the original, just listen to it for what is. Great slow violins and guitars in the background, her voice patiently and beautifully carrying the tune.
Embellishing the cd are the great musicians on hand including husband Steve Earle.
|
| Another Great one from Allison |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
I love Allison! I can listen to her anywhere, anytime and I always just love her music and her voice. She's never made a bad album and this is no exception, it's fantastic. I might start thinking this is my favorite, but when I think of all the great songs on the albums, I realize it's just one more great album full of great songs. I love you Allison!
|
| Good covers album |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
While some of these songs don't really fit Allison's voice, her voice is strong enough to prevent any of these from being a true dud. Strongest cover is of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." I'd even put that cover up with the original.
|
| And your bird can sing |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
 |
|
I recently caught Alison Moorer in concert as she opened for her firebrand husband, Steve Earle, on his Washington Square Serenade tour. Other than the fact that she is Mrs. Earle and Shelby Lynne's sister, I didn't know much about her. But I was impressed enough by her performance to pick this disc up after the show.
"Mockingbird" is a covers album that rises and falls like most, on the strength of the interpretations. Moorer has a beautiful, clear voice that works when she digs to the core of the song's emotion, like her spatial vibe on "Ring of Fire." Like her husband, she is also unafraid of putting a rocker's pulse to songs that would naturally accommodate it, as she does here to Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot." On her own composition (the title track) Moorer connects the way the cool female singers of the 70's like Carly Simon or Joni Mitchell (who pops up with "Both Sides Now.") used to.
However, there are a few misses. The scratchy psuedo-old-timey production of "Daddy Goodbye Blues" is irritating. Some of the songs just lack spunk. All is forgiven with the closer (and concert highlight) "Looking for Blue Eyes," a lament that shows Moorer's country gifts to perfection. "Mockingbird" falls into the same league as, for instance, kd lang's Hymns of the 49th Parallel, where a really gifted singer works a promising turf but can't always hit the mark.
For an example of this type of album done just right, check out Slaid Cleaves' Unsung.
|
Mockingbird
Ring Of Fire
Dancing Barefoot
I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
Go, Leave
Revelator
Both Sides Now
Daddy, Goodbye Blues
She Knows Where She Goes
Orphan Train
Where Is My Love
I'm Looking For Blue Eyes
|
