Jimmy LaFave
TRAIL
Bohemia Beat 0009
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also available on amazon
This double disc set of live material traces 15 years of honing and refining a voice that is as vast as the wide open southwestern sky, carries as much thunder and lightening as one of the famed thunderstorms on the vast prairies of his land, or can be as tender and haunting as the soft brown eyes of a horse that is willing. He does this on this live (bootlegged by him) disc with a disclaimer about the sound being rough. Yes, at times the sound is, but this only improves the perspective of the songs and gives more the feeling that you are hearing him live. This man is a treasure that has not been appreciated yet. He is far and away one of the finest interpreters of songs, particularly Bob Dylan’s, he does a dozen here, I have ever heard. He takes the song, breaks it down and reassemblies it, so that it contains not only the writer, but also his take on the song. He makes it his own without stealing anything from the writer. (Quite a feat!) He does this as well as he does because he is also a craftsman that builds beautiful and meaningful songs of his own. These he has the temerity to thrust into the company ofsuch esteemed writers as Dylan, Joe Ely, Woody Guthrie, and Bruce Springsteen, and his own don’t stand down to any writer’s work. He, as the expression goes, can ‘turn a phrase’ with the best of them. I hesitate to say listen to ...., because there is not a weak song on either of the discs! Two favorites of mine that he wrote that conjure up vivid mind pictures are, THE OPEN ROAD, and the love expressed in HOW IT MUST REMAIN. His way with a song includes many surprises on how he will do the song. His unpredictability only adds to the vital quality his music carries. This carries over into his arrangements and the musicians he uses on the songs. Often doing one acoustically that had never been done that way before or perhaps using a full on a tender love ballad. Give a listen to his version of I THREW IT ALL AWAY. There are 30 songs on these two discs and better that 2 hours of music for your pleasure. Even if you have his discs the takes of the same songs here will only add to your pleasure. This one shouldn’t be missed.
PRODUCED BY Mark Shumate and Jimmy LaFave
Songs and writers
DISC -1
1 POSITIVELY 4TH STREET - Bob Dylan
2 RED DIRT ROADS AT NIGHT -Jimmy LaFave
3 BECAUSE THE WIND - Joe Ely
4 BURDEN TO BEAR - Jimmy LaFave
5 NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN & OUT - Jimmy Cox
6 GOING HOME - Jimmy LaFave
7 SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE - Bob Dylan
8 THE PERFECT COMBINATION - Jimmy LaFave
9 HOW IT MUST REMAIN - Jimmy LaFave
10 KEY TO THE HIGHWAY - Willie Broonzy
11 OH SISTER - Bob Dylan
12 LOVED YOU LIKE RAINBOWS - Jimmy LaFave
13 JUST LIKE TOM THUM’S BLUES
14 OKLAHOMA HILLS - Woody & Jack Guthrie
15 FOREVER YOUNG - Bob Dylan
DISC - 2
1 VALENTINE’S DAY - Bruce Springsteen
2 ELLIE’S SONG - Jimmy LaFave
3 IF YOU WANT TO SEE ME ROCK - Jimmy LaFave
4 IF NOT FOR YOU - Bob Dylan
5 I’LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT - Bob Dylan
6 THE OPEN ROAD - Jimmy LaFave
7 TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU - Bob Dylan
8 I THREW IT ALL AWAY - Bob Dylan
9 DOWN IN THE FLOOD - Bob Dylan
10 NEVER BE MINE - Jimmy LaFave
11 IT’S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE - Bob Dylan
12 HOVE YOU EVER LOVED A WOMAN - Billy Miles
13 THE LONE WOLF - Bob Childers
14 ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS - Bob Dylan
15 HOLD ON - Traditional