|
Teddy comes from talented stock -no wonder he is so good. This is a great CD if you like a touch of country.
He has the perfect voice for these country classics. I love Linda Thompson, Teddy's mother and I love Teddy's parents Richard and Linda Thompson together (sadly, they're divorced and no longer perform together). Who knew something like this would come from a singer from the UK. After hearing Teddy on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, I fell in love with his voice as well. In his new CD, a collection mostly of cover songs by such Nashville (and Bakersfield) legends as George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Dolly Parton, and Merle Haggard Teddy Thompson excels. Last year another favorite of mine, the great Van Morrison did a CD of country classics and although very good, I think Teddy has eclipsed him. Of course it doesn't hurt that he employs the fabulous Iris Dement on one cut.
Had it been Up Front I probably would have stopped there.Remakes of b-side country songs.What's the point. I first heard Teddy Thompson's Separate Ways while visiting my sister and didn't stop playing if for about 3 months straight. FORTUNATELY I listened to Separate Ways first. It doesn't show off his songwriting and incredible voice at all. Pass on this one and get Teddy Thompson and Separate Ways instead.
But whatever, it's Teddy's excellent choice of material and his very own musical personality that's stamped on these thirteen tracks, encompassing a basic honesty of approach and harnessing a gentle power that's very attractive indeed. (Just for the record "No One's off the Hook" on Wainwright's album "Release the Stars" was written for and about Teddy, who continues to tour with Rufus as an opening act ).
On this record, "Upfront & Down Low" he covers country songs of the classic era. Judging by the quality of his two previous solo albums, Teddy Thompson's "son of folk legends Richard and Linda Thompson" tag will soon become redundant: he's a singer and songwriter of very high quality in his own right, with a rich voice and some choice songs that moves easily between pop, folk and rock.
"My Blue Tears," also from the album, sounds great with minimal instrumentation, because Rufus Wainwright contributed a "wacky" string arrangement for the piece. These finely crafted pieces, marked by mournful wit, were penned by writers like Ernest Tubb, Dolly Parton and Boudleaux Bryant and made famous by singers like Merle Haggard, George Jones and Elvis Presley.
Though a first-rate songwriter himself, Thompson only put one of his own pieces into the mix, "Down Low", in which he sings "You're better off dead/ with a bullet in your head/ than comin' back to me." He hired the renowned Robert Kirby, the man who distinctively and innovatively scored the prim strings on Nick Drake's albums, to arrange a tidy clutch of cello, violin and viola on the tracks. No doubting, of course, that Teddy's choice of guest musicians sets a hell of a seal on the proceedings too - there's his illustrious father Richard Thompson on guitar, his mate Rufus , guitarist Marc Ribot, David Mansfield, Jenni Muldaur, Tift Merritt and Iris DeMent on vocals , Greg Leinz for a start.
tracks, encompassing a basic honesty of approach and harnessing a gentle power that's very attractive indeed.A Piece of What You Need Separate WaysRelease the StarsSweet WarriorVersatile HeartI Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
Teddy's voice gives it the right tenderness without making it sound sappy. I liked the TT song "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye" on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. I went out and bought "Up Front." and have been listening to it every day. It was quite simple. Voice, fiddle, drums, guitar in 4/4 time. I really enjoy the first two tracks. "Change of Heart" and "Touching Home." I guess my interest in country music has started when my friend encouraged me to go line dancing with him last month.
|
