Jimmy LaFave
buffalo return to the plains
Bohemia Beat 0005
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also available on amazon
This is the third of Jimmy LaFave's albums, and each one just adds new dimensions to this singer songwriter. He is gradually and gently stretching out before you his vision of living a life in the wide open times we call our own. The songs build upon his dreams and ideals without being the least bit melancholy. His voice has that rasp that comes from some living near an edge, and is one of his best assets. With it he can take a sad ballad and make you feel the pain that lies in the heart of the singer, listen to i'm thinking of you and never be mine. You can feel that he has felt those same tears burn furrows down his cheeks while he has made his passage. Then listen the tenderness, joy, and love in going home, the gentleness and caring now in the voice brings home the meanings in the words. His singing has become more evocative with the passage of time. Then there are the times he just puts his foot down and rocks out with the western rhythm that so effectively drives the work of his contemporaries like Joe Ely, and the one who started the West Texas sound Buddy Holly, take a listen to that i can't control. His insight into the troubles rampant today are not necessarily new, but the pain and weariness of the song are effective mirrors of what is happening in the society. His band is only getting tighter and tighter. They stay with him at all times, but are never hidden behind him, he allows them out to the front of the stage and they step out and show their licks in ways that effectively highlight the songs. He is one of the few people whose new albums that I look forward to as I do to ones by such people as Daniel Lanois, and the long overdue Robbie Robertson. That is some sure fine company to keep, but I have been consistently happy with each new offering from the three of them.
Songs and writers - all written by Jimmy Lafave except where noted
1. burden to bear
2. last train
3. sweetheart like you - Bob Dylan
4. amsterdam - Kevin Welch
5. i'm thinking of you
6. never be mine
7. buffalo return to the plains
8. going home
9. foolish pride
10. that i can't control
11. i walk along with you
12. rock & roll land
13. worn out american dream
Players and instruments
Jimmy LaFave - guitar/vocal
Rick Poss - guitars/lap steel/mandolin/dobro
Stewart Cochran - organ/piano
Randy Glines - bass/acoustic bass/harmonica
Chris Massey - drums
Debra Peters - piano 4 5 8 10 11/accordian 13
Gene Elders - violin
producer - Jimmy LaFave