Stacey Taylor writes:
> Forgive my ignorance, but after witnessing Ranger Doug in Nashvegas
>at that Bill Monroe tribute I've been wishing I had some Riders in the
Sky
>in my collection. Where to start? I looked through AMG to Country and
>half of the cd's listed at the CD NOW site aren't in it. I noticed also
that
>the Best of the West, and Best of the West Rides Again are listed as
>having favorites from their first five Rounder releases. Am I missing
>them being different tracks or is this review incorrect? Also, AMG
listed
>an album called Cowboys In Love that sounds right up my alley...is it
>out of print?
They're easily one of my favorite live acts. Always entertaining,
great musicianship, and embarassingly well-educated. I haven't seen
today's Phoenix yet, Stacey, but I'm almost positive that they're playing
(or just played?) around here real soon. Take your kid, as they're an
excellent act for the whole family.
I strongly recommend that you start with the two "Best of the West"
collections. They're generous collections - each an hour or more in
length- and include a lot of songs that are still live favorites: "Here
Comes the Santa Fe," "As Soon as the Roundup's Through," and a whole mess
of others.
Of the more recent albums, I'm fond of all of the albums they've
recorded for Rounder since they left Sony a few years back (which is
everything since '95 or so). You honestly can't go wrong with any of
them. And I hate to say it, but since Rounder is a local label, used
copies are easy to come by 'round these parts.
Say, does anyone know if they've *ever* recorded a song called "This
Ain't the Same Old Range?" I'm 99.9% positive that they never have,
which is a real shame. It's a gorgeous piece of music. They did it once
on their old TNN show (a friend has a videotape of it) and he got them to
do it at a show I saw about three years back. Breathtaking, in spite of
the fact that they apparently hadn't played it in more than five years.
Sorry for the non-Blodwyn Pig content, gang. I'll try to stick
closer to the topic at hand in the future.
--Jon Johnson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wollaston, Massachusetts
