Rodney Crowell


Greetings fellow music lovers.

Received Rodney's new CD a few days back, now having the chance to listen, and it's magnificent.  It's titled Acoustic Classics, recordings of a dozen of his songs, each sounds amazing (thru my small system of Lux DO5u spinner, Lyric tubed integrated, VS Audio UniField 3 Mk2.  Great imaging, depth, full sound, no drums, voice, guitar,mandocello,mandolin, accordion, claviola.  Oh my G, I love new music when its a great as this is.
rpeluso
Rodney has decided to get really serious about his music the last few years, not that he was unserious about it before, and he has put out some great stuff.  I'm looking forward to hearing this one

Rodney ascended to the level he is on now (amongst the absolute top songwriters and music makers alive) with his 2001 release The Houston Kid, a great, great album. I consider it and everything he has released since a must-own.

By the way, Rodney executive-produced (whatever that means!) an album the same year by a writer and singer he very much respects, Michael Kelsh. The album is entitled Well Of Mercy, and it's a good 'un. "Regular"-produced by Bill Halverson (C, S, & N, Clapton, Albert King, Neil Young, Hendrix, The Beach Boys, many others), who has just produced Kelsh's first album since that one, Harmony Sovereign. Can't wait to hear it!

Saw Rodney in a small listening room in Richmond Virginia a few weeks ago.   Wow, he was fantastic!  Had a guitarist and a fiddler with him, both incredible artists.  
Just got this LP in the mail as a gift from a friend - and it is signed, too.
I’ve made it through the first side of my lp. I have to say, for me it doesn’t live up to the hype above. I like RC, I own several of his lp/compilations. I guess I’m not a big enough fan. I am unmoved.

I had posted on "Tune of the day" not too long ago "Shame on the Moon". This (redux) does not even come close to Bob Seger’s . RC's own "Ain't Living Long Like This" falls way short. What was he thinking?

For a minimally miked/acoustic recording such as this, there should be excellent sonics and maybe even more importantly...ENERGY. This lp lacks both.

If you’re a fan and want an OK recording, I recommend it.
I like the new one, it caused me to break out "The Houston Kid". I like that one as well. It caused me to break out "Sex and Gasoline". It's OK but then I stopped listening to Rodney and moved on to his ex-wife. 
Slaw, I assume you were addressing me. With a streaming service you can listen to an album before you buy it, avoiding the disappointment you felt in this case. Also, you can explore many albums you would never buy without hearing them first and decide that some of them are really good, good enough to buy. It also allows you to hear albums that you might want to listen to a few times but not buy. Streaming is a nice way to find the music you really want in your collection, to avoid buying albums you don’t want in your collection and to explore new music.
I gave this lp another listen. I admit it sounds better this time (I did just install a Synergistic Blue fuse in my phono-preamplifier however), I still have an issue with Rodney’s voice. I think the mixers, for what ever reason, have controlled his vocals so they sound, to me, like their somewhat muffled.

(I just don’t like "Ain’t Living Long Like This" as an acoustic song.)

The more I think about it, I wonder if this is Rodney's attempt at his one lp version of  "American Recordings"?
slaw, as with Dylan, the album may be a place holder until Crowell gets over a case of writer’s block. Songwriters have it rough when the muse disappears.