Urban Folk music reviews

I just recently received the entire lot of ani's 'official bootleg' series (yes, there are seven others that you gave purchase via her site), and I have to say that Carnegie Hall is, by far, one of the best.

While there are only a few songs from way back in the day, it's a fine compilation of some of her best work. After years of being an Ani fan, I still find myself astounded by her brilliance and talent as an artist and musician.

Carnegie Hall is a solo album...just Ani with her guitar. Though many of the songs are new, it is very reminescent of a lot of her earlier work.

For new Ani fans, get this CD and listen to: The first three tracks, Gratitude, and, of coursre, Out of Range.

In the nineties, after Dolly parted company with Columbia, she recorded one album for the short-lived Rising Tide label (Treasures) and one album for MCA (Hungry again) before teaming up with Sugar Hill for a series of immensely successful albums beginning with Grass id blue. This compilation contains nine of the eleven tracks from Treasures together with all twelve from Hungry again, but the tracks have been jumbled up a bit - tracks 1 to 5, 7, 9, 10 and 12 are from Treasures while 6, 8, 11 and 13 to 21 are from Hungry again, but I'll review the tracks based on their original albums.

By the time Dolly recorded Treasures, her new singles were no longer being played on radio, so she took the opportunity to record covers of some of her favorite songs. With a star-studded cast of guests, the results are impressive.

On Peace train (a Cat Stevens song), Dolly is backed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Some of Dolly's fans may feel that the arrangement is a little over the top, but anybody who has listened to LBM's own music (as I have) will appreciate it. The other tracks from Treasures sound more typical of Dolly's music, including excellent covers of Today I started loving you again (the often-covered Merle Haggard song that provided Sammi Smith with a top ten American country hit in the seventies), Before the next teardrop falls (Freddy Fender), Behind closed doors (Charlie Rich), Don't let me cross over (Carl and Pearl Butler), Satin sheets (Jeanne Pruett) and For the good times (Kris Kristofferson).

After the goldrush (a Neil Young song) was recorded by Dolly with Linda and Emmylou for their second Trio album, but after a decision was taken not to release it, Dolly recorded a solo version and included it on this album. The second Trio album was eventually released, several years after it was originally recorded, complete with the Trio version of After the goldrush. All those songs are wonderful, but best of the lot is Just when I needed you most, a Randy Van Warmer hit from the seventies, which features Alison Krauss and John Sebastian. Dolly originally wanted this to be a Trio song, but it didn't work that way. However, it works superbly here. Dolly's versions of Something's burning (Kenny Rogers and the First edition) and Walking on sunshine (Katrina and the waves) appeared on Treasures but were omitted from this compilation.

For some, Dolly's current credibility began with the outstanding Grass is blue album, but the Hugry again album is the one that re-launched her career. It was with the Hungry again album that Dolly returned to her country roots, beginning with the excellent title track and continuing with a whole series of outstanding songs, all in a traditional country style with only a little contemporary flavor. Some have a touch of bluegrass, showing the direction her music would take next. My particular favorite is Blue valley songbird, which was the inspiration for a movie of the same title, and which was about a struggling singer and songwriter. At the time of its release, this was the best Dolly solo album for 20 years, and it's also just as good as those that followed.

If you missed out on the original albums when they were previously available, you now have another chance to buy them, this time at a budget price.