From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V12 #85 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Sunday, December 18 2011 Volume 12 : Number 085 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [RS] Review of the new album: my thoughts. [Peter Booth Subject: Re: [RS] Review of the new album: my thoughts. I would add that (after only one listen so far) Fishing is the song that struck me as powerfully different. The song is so slow and seems to be sung with something like regret that this version makes it seem like the song is about the Border Security Officer and his feelings about his job, life, father. In this version it felt like the story of the illegal immigrant was almost secondary to the struggles of the officer. The other versions have all seemed to paint the officer as an angry, hateful person but this version seems to reframe the story. At least for me. And again this is after only one listen. Peter Vermont Sent from my iPhone. On Dec 17, 2011, at 8:09 PM, "Matthew Bullis" wrote: > So here are my thoughts about the new album of re-recordings. If you've not heard this yet, you may want to save this e-mail and read it after you've had a chance or two to listen to the new cd, since I get really specific about the changes in the songs. > > You Stay Here is down a half step from the original recording. It's a quieter version, even though the original is still pretty quiet in itself. > Transit is sung up two steps from the original, and in the key Richard has been singing it for years. He evens it out by just singing Democrats and Republicans, without specifying or dating the words with a particular name. > Fishing is much better here, with the soft electric guitar, the song sung down a whole step from the original, and with no drums on this version. He also, whether intentionally or not, takes a breath and gives emphasis on the You Indians" line, so that it makes you think one way rather than another about where the punctuation in that phrase should be. > The Last Fare Of The Day is sung down a whole step, and gets the country fiddle treatment, but I prefer the original in this case. > I can't decide which version of The Ballad... I like best. This one is in the same key, but now played on the bouzouki. Good thing I don't really have to decide, as I can play either version if I feel like it. > Beyond The Iron Gate gets the most radical change, and I honestly don't think I'll listen to the original any longer, after hearing this version. It's sung down a whole step, and slowed down, and the slower tempo is what cinches it for me. It's the best thing on the cd, in my opinion. > Are You Happy Now is an interesting recording, though I can't say I'll play this one over the original. In this one, he's down a whole step, from F to E, and it sounds like he's singing this with a snippy tone of voice. He really puts more emphasis on the words here, but I do prefer the normal tone of voice on the original, where he's just relating the events, rather than jeering, like it seems in this version. > Satellites may sound a bit out of place to you here, because it's the only song on here which has drums. I just don't find it all that interesting though. It must have been recorded in a different session than the others. > Sparows Point is a solo acoustic version here, played down a step and a half, and I really like the solo he plays in the parts where the original has the fiddle. I also see a non-uniform spelling. Sometimes I find Sparrows, and other times it's Sparrow's. > Fenario is sung way down in A minor, so it's down two steps. Since this is sung from the point of view of Peggy-O, if she was supposed to be whispering so as not to wake William up, she's really whispering now in this lower key. > Waiting For The Storm is in the same key as the original, and the fiddle stands out here. I prefer the original, since his phrasing on this version is different, and not quite what I'm used to. > Reunion Hill gets the bouzouki treatment, and quite interesting. It's in F sharp, so down a half step from the original, and no drums or electric guitar here, so a version which is much more quiet. > The Next Best Western is sung down two steps, from G now down to E. There's tasteful electric guitar here. > > So that's my review of the new album. I'm glad he recorded this, and wonder what the next installment in the re-recordings series will bring. His latest newsletter, which arrived in my inbox today, says that the response has been amazing, and that they're offering a bonus download of Cold Missouri Waters, for both digital and physical album purchases. I assume that we'll get an e-mail with the link in it, so I'm awaiting that, and assume it will be great. > > Matthew ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V12 #85 ***********************************