Author: Various Artists

Format: Soundtrack

PartNumber: 7559-79637-2

Release Date: 2002-02-19

Details: Amazon.ca Based on the collection of short stories by Mississippi writer Larry Brown, actor Arliss Howard's directorial debut evokes a bittersweet Southern landscape of broken dreams, artistic ambitions haunted by alcoholic visions, and the toll they take on three generations of his character's family. Given the film's emotional and geographic landscape, it's hardly surprising to find its soundtrack deeply steeped in the blues. What distinguishes this collection is its compelling dichotomy, being as emotionally complex as it is musically spare. Though many of the coterie of late-discovered Mississippi Delta bluesmen at the soundtrack's core (RL Burnside and sideman/protégé Kenny Brown, Asie Payton, T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour, Junior Kimbrough) are 70-something, they're often showcased in raw-rhythmed live recordings whose gritty, evocative sense of humanity spans generations. That's especially true of Burnside's all-star take on Bob Dylan's "Everything Is Broken," which includes James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Teenie Hodges, and Kenny Brown. Equally gratifying is the way the album underscores the blues' deep influences on others, including Steve Earle's bleakly heartfelt original version of "Goodbye" and two tracks each by Tom Waits ("Long Way Home," "Jayne's Blue Wish") and Television's Tom Verlaine (the moody instrumentals "Sleepwalkin'" and "Spiritual," a stark, beautiful 2001 collaboration with the Kronos Quartet). --Jerry McCulley

UPC: 075597963724

EAN: 0521312699060

Model: 7559-79637-2

Languages: English

Binding: Audio CD

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood