|
| |
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby - Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby
- Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby’s self titled first alliance is a true bluegrass album with an outright downhome appeal and that get-up-and-boogie vibe that fans of the genre will find impossible to resist. This fusion between Virginia pianist Hornsby and Kentucky dweller and multi-talented Skaggs is one that is sure to put a grin on your face as you jive to its beats.
“The Dreaded Spoon” has lightning fast fiddle work from Skaggs, Stuart Duncan and Andy Leftwich and wicked guitar play from Skaggs, George Kennedy and Cody Kilby. It seems the gist of the song is about one’s gluttony for sweets and unhealthy foods, with lines like, “Dreaded spoon, the dreaded spoon, Lord help us with the dreaded spoon…Says he doesn’t want a thing. He says he’s not hungry he says with a tiny wink. We come back with a big old cone, he makes his move…Wearin' out your ice cream cake, spillin’ sprinkles in his wake. Dreaded spoon, the dreaded spoon, Lord help us with the dreaded spoon…Apple fritters, curly fries…With the dreaded spoon.” This song will make you concoct images in your head of these mouth-watering delicacies, even though the object of the song is to dissuade you from such confections.
On “Gulf Of Mexico Fishing Boat Blues,” there is more guitar play from Skaggs, Kennedy and Kilby, but it's much more controlled than in the previous track, along with piano play from Hornsby. It is accompanied by mandolin work from Skaggs and Leftwich. The harmonizing from Skaggs, Hornsby and Paul Brewster brings a somber note to the song and listeners can feel the gloom and utter sadness, as they emote lines like, “I’m in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico workin’ on a fishin’ boat. How long I don’t know. Trouble behind me yes I hopin’ so. Finger in my back make me say oh wo.”
“Across The Rocky Mountains” talks about an odyssey across an unsteady terrain, with drum work from Sonny Emory, guitar play from Skaggs, Kennedy and Kilby and nimble banjo work from Skaggs, Jim Mills and Kilby. It looks as if the vocalist is reminiscing about a trip he took across a precipitous stretch, what he thought of during his voyage and with whom he crossed paths along the way, with lines like, “Across the Rocky Mountains, I walk for miles and miles, across the Rocky Mountains, I walk for miles and miles, I’ll never forget my mother, God bless her sweet smile. There was a rich old farmer that lived in town nearby, he had a lovely daughter…She was most tall and handsome…There’s no other girl in this world.” The vocalist wails at times which could detract some listeners, but this is a country song to its core with images of the boondocks and rugged living at its finest.
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby’s self-titled effort is one album bluegrass aficionados should not be without. Some of the songs are uplifting while others are true to the genre, with lyrics that wallow in misery and unhappiness.
Reviewer: Sari N. Kent
new
Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 7.00
Reader's Votes: 3
Added: 16-Apr-2007
Talk to other readers about this story.
|
|
|
|
|
