LOUNGE-A-PALOOZA  -  VARIOUS ARTISTS

YEAR:  1997
LABEL:  Hollywood Records
TRACK LISTING:  Miniskirt - Combustible Edison and Esquivel,  This Guy's In Love With You - Fastball,  She Don't Use Jelly - Ben Folds Five,  A Rose Is A Rose - Poe,  Black Hole Sun - Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme,  The Girl From Ipanema - Pizzicato Five,  Zaz Turned Blue - Polly Jean Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman,  I'm Not In Love - Fun Lovin' Criminals,  Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell & Michelle Shocked with Texas Tornados,  Witchcraft - Edwyn Collins,  Love Will Keep Us Together - Jimmy Scott & Flea,  Music To Watch Girls By - The James Taylor Quartet,  The Good Life - Cassandra Wilson,  Robert Goulet (On the River Nile) - Chris Ballew (of the Presidents of the United States of America)
IMPRESSIONS:  During the mid-90s, there was an explosion of interest in lounge music aka space-age bachelor pad music aka exotica aka whatever other moniker slapped on this genre of music.  This was also the heyday of so-called "alternative music" and the Lollapalooza concerts.  So naturally somebody thought of combining the two.  This album is the very definition of a "mixed bag".  There are some absolutely top-notch songs here and there are some extremely forgettable kitsch.  The album kicks off appropriately with the master of space-age bachelor pad music Esquivel and his classic tune "Miniskirt" performed with Combustible Edison.  Although, no one's gonna convince me that it isn't simply the original Esquivel recording with Combustible Edison playing over it.  Still, it's good fun and a nice way to start the album.  The album continues in an even stronger fashion with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic "This Guy's In Love With You" nicely covered by Fastball.  Next is a classic version of the Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly" by Ben Folds Five, Poe's cover of her brother's "A Rose Is A Rose", Steve & Eydie's hilarious cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun", Pizzicato Five's quirky cover of Jobim's "The Girl From Ipanema" and an absolutely fabulous cover of Mel Torme's "Zaz Turned Blue" by PJ Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman.  Next there's the rather uninspired Fun Lovin' Criminals cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" followed by a truly terrific version of Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman by the man himself teamed with Michelle Shocked and Freddy Fender's Texas Tornados.  From here on out, the album peters out.  But up to this point, for the most part, we have a nicely idiosyncratic listen and a snapshot of the mid-90's music scene.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  This Guy's In Love With You - Fastball,  She Don't Use Jelly - Ben Folds Five,  A Rose Is A Rose - Poe,  Black Hole Sun - Steve & Eydie,  Zaz Turned Blue - Polly Jean Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman,  Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell & Michelle Shocked with Texas Tornados
FACT SHEET:  LOUNGE-A-PALOOZA is a compilation of lounge music mashed up with alternative music.  Or something.

ARKANSAS TRAVELER - Michelle Shocked

YEAR: 1992

LABEL: Mercury

TRACK LISTING: 33 RPM Soul, Come A Long Way, Secret To A Long Life, Contest Coming (Cripple Creek), Over the Waterfall, Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy), Jump Jim Crow/Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Hold Me Back (Frankie & Johnny), Strawberry Jam, Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe), Blackberry Blossom, Weaving Way, Arkansas Traveler, Woody's Rag

BONUS TRACKS: (In 2004, a special edition of the cd was released with the following bonus tracks): Worth the Weight (Live at Mountain Stage), Come A Long Way (acoustic studio demo), Blackberry Blossom (Live at Steamboat Springs), Weaving Way (alternate version), Down In the Arkansas (Live at the Folk Music Hall of Fame), Introducing Dollar Bill (Live at Vienna), C-H-I-C-K-E-N (The Way To Spell Chicken)

IMPRESSIONS: Here we have a major Papa Razzi album. A girlfriend/co-worker at the time was heavily into this album and introduced me to it. The album was spectacularly unsuccessful sales-wise no doubt because of its "hillbilly" sound and the "Appalachian Mountain" album cover. However, I thought it was pretty good! It was certainly unlike anything else being released at the time and I was a fan of old folk/country/country blues music typified by what was found on Harry Smith's monumental "ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC". So I was predisposed to like it. My absolute favourite songs on the album are the exquisite "Come A Long Way" and the bluesy funk of "33 RPM Soul" featuring the distinctive guitar work of Pops Staples. This album is also something of an all-star affair with every track seemingly bursting with major talent from the folk, blues, country and bluegrass world.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: 33 RMP Soul, Come A Long Way, Secret to a Long Life, Contest Coming (Cripple Creek), Over the Waterfall, Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy), Strawberry Jam, Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe), Blackberry Blossom, Arkansas Traveler, Woody's Rag

GUEST ARTISTS: Pops Staples (on "33 RPM Soul"), The Band (on "Secret to a Long Life"), The Red Clay Ramblers (on "Contest Coming"), Hothouse Flowers (on "Over the Waterfall"), Uncle Tupelo (on "Shaking Hands"), Taj Mahal (on "Jump Jim Crow"), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (on "Hold Me Back"), Doc Watson (on "Strawberry Jam"), Mark O'Connor (on "Strawberry Jam"), Alison Krauss and Union Station (on "Prodigal Daughter"), Norman Blake (on "Blackberry Blossom"), The Messengers (on "Weaving Way"), Jimmy Driftwood (on "Arkansas Traveler" and "Down In the Arkansas"), Dollar Bill Johnston (on "Woody's Rag" and "C-H-I-C-K-E-N"), The String Cheese Incident (on "Blackberry Blossom (Live)")

FACT SHEET: ARKANSAS TRAVELER is Michelle Shocked's fourth album. The album received critical acclaim at the time -- the word "ambitious" was often used -- but didn't sell well. There was a great deal of controversy at the time due to Shocked's assertion that American music today derives a great deal from blackface minstrelsy; in fact, Shocked originally wanted to appear on the album cover in blackface. In her own words: "Why remind people of a painful, shameful past? Here's two reasons: American music today is still being created from the rich traditions of blackface minstrelsy...also, for many, putting on blackface was, and still is, an opportunity to express a soulfulness their own culture couldn't provide..." Whatever. Whether or not you buy the "blackface" rationale, the music here is indeed a celebration of "old-timey" music by an artist who obviously loves it and obviously has the best, most respectful intentions. "Woody's Rag" is a cover of a song by Woody Guthrie.