Mickey Newbury "An American Trilogy" 2011

This is a terrific collection of a criminally underrated singer-songwriter. Mickey Newbury is one of the very few artists able to blend supreme songwriting skills with a great ear for melody and an even greater voice. His eloquent and melancholic brand of country music lifts him far above the mainstream of the genre, and would raise and move the heart of any music-lover.
As a lyricist, he ranks with the very greatest, with a profound gift for precise and uncompromising poetry. Just listen to the simple and heartbreaking truths he utters in a song like Frisco Depot: `When you're alone there's nothing as slow as passing time, / When you're afoot, there's nothing as fast as a train.' Or take the unashamedly poetic description that opens `How Many Times must the Piper':
Morning came and found her at the window
With her nose pressed to the glass
The dew was like a broken diamond necklace
Left scattered on the grass
Yet for all his lyrical talents, it's his voice that stays with me in the night. If there's any singer that can `bring strong men to tears' surely this is the guy. I won't even try to describe his singing, except by saying that Mickey Newbury reminds us that the human voice remains the most expressive and moving of all human instruments. (No Depression)During his lifetime, Mickey Newbury was always regarded more as a songwriter than as a singer or recording artist. Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt, Charlie Rich, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, and Joan Baez all recorded his songs. That said, Saint Cecilia Knows (the Newbury estate's label) and Drag City are seeking to change that impression with An American Trilogy. It's a deluxe, limited-edition, four-disc box set collects the albums Looks Like Rain (1969), 'Frisco Mabel Joy (1971), Heaven Help the Child (1973), and a disc of rarities; it contains a poster lyric sheet/map and a 100-page booklet, with Newbury quotes, interviews, and more. The albums, whose tapes were thought lost in a fire, have been pristinely remastered. Looking back, it was a small miracle that Elektra let Newbury make these records at all. Through his shrewdness as a negotiator and his track record as a songwriter, he convinced the label to allow him to make three conceptually linked records. The sound on them is like nothing in country music before or since: they are full of sound effects, spatial ambiences and melodrama, delivered with subtlety and a novelist's attention to detail. The music merged minimal country tropes with Texas songwriter storytelling and Southern gospel, and employed contemporary folk and pop arrangements. Looks Like Rain reveals Newbury’s writing range and production savvy. The sound effects (such as an incessant rain falling throughout) and delicate psychedelic embellishments etch the record in its time, but there is so much silence surrounding "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye," "33rd of August," and "San Francisco Mabel Joy" that they stun with quiet intensity. Newbury's grainy tenor and elegant phrasing keep the album from descending into desperation. On 'Frisco Mabel Joy, the studio becomes more of a musical instrument. It opens with Newbury's "An American Trilogy" which contains the Civil War-era songs "Dixie," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "All My Trials." Elvis may have (over)blown it as a theatrical patriot's anthem, but Newbury's version is restrained and elegiac; as if the promise and hope expressed in those songs has been lost -- or even erased -- along history's way. It introduces the rest of the album, where rain continues to fall, women continue to depart, and problems mount; the characters in these songs question life metaphorically and literally. In lieu of the opener, it's easy to hear "How I Love Them Old Songs" and "The Future's Not What It Used to Be" are insightful questions to a nation at large. The instrumental interludes, and the depth of emotion in "'Frisco Depo" and "How Many Times (Must the Piper Be Paid for His Song)," are devastating personal narratives. Heaven Help the Child is a progression; it feels more more like a Jimmy Webb record than anything else. Its pop arrangements are more pronounced, but the songs, whether historical tales (the title track, which takes place in 1912) and "Cortelia Clark," broken love songs ("Sweet Memories" and "Good Morning Dear"), or even the lone redemptive paean to romance ("Song for Susan" -- Newbury's wife), lose none of their power. The re-recording of "San Francisco Mabel Joy" that closes the disc underscores the personal vision of the songwriter who inhabits each song on these three albums. The rarities disc is just that. It contains demos, unreleased tracks, and a radio performance, and is well worth inclusion. What Newbury displayed on these records was an American life, whose experiences crossed race, class, and even historical boundaries. The set is an essential document that places Newbury in the pantheon of singer/songwriters where he has always belonged. (Tom Jurek, Allmusic)

INFO

http://www.amazon.com/An-American-Trilogy-Mickey-Newbury/dp/B004Y6CUKO

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15473-an-american-trilogy/

http://www.popmatters.com/review/148886-mickey-newbury-an-american-trilogy/

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6490

trax Looks Like Rain '69:

01 Write A Song A Song_Angeline 02 She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye 03 I Don't Think Much About Her No More 04 T. Total Tommy 05 33rd Of August_When The Baby In My Lady Gets The Blues 06 San Francisco Mabel Joy 07 Looks Like Baby's Gone.mp3

trax Frisco Mabel Joy '71:

01 An American Trilogy 02 How Many Times Must The Piper Be Paid For His Song 03 Interlude 04 The Future's Not What It Used To Be 05 Mobile Blue 06 Frisco Depot 07 You're Not My Same Sweet Baby 08 Interlude 2 -09 Remember The Good 10 Swiss Cottage Place 11 How I Love Them Old Songs

trax Heaven Help The Child '73:

01 Heaven 02 Good Morning Dear 03 Sunshine -04 Sweet Memories 05 Why You Been Gone So Long 06 Cortelia Clark 07 Song for Susan 08 San Francisco Mabel Joy

trax Better Days (Demos, Rarities, Unreleased) 1969-1970:

01 If You Want Me To I'll Go 02 Sunshine 03 Sad Satin Rhyme 04 Why Have You Been Gone So Long 05 I Don't Wanna Rock 06 Let Me Stay Awhile 07 Flower Man 08 Good Morning Dear 09 On Top Of Old Smokey 10 Interlude_ How Many Times (Has The Piper Been Paid For His Song) 11 Better Days 12 How I Love Them Old Songs 13 I Don't Wanna Rock 14 I Don't Want No Big City Woman 15 You're Not My Sweet Baby

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