Maurice Hope – August 23, 2016 at 02:00PM
Tags:_AMERICANA
Contemporary act Dan Fogelberg on the first of the two albums featured not only does he take one step towards country music, but keeps on going till he is right in the middle of acoustic bluegrass surroundings. For those into Herb Pedersen (banjo, harmony vocals), Ricky Skaggs (harmony vocals), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Chris Hillman (harmony vocals) and David Grisman (mandolin) with a little pedal steel (Al Perkins), bass (Emory Gordy, Jr) fiddle, (Jim Buchanan), drums (Russ Kunkel), harmonica (Charley McCoy) plus a guest or two more this will definitely whet the palate.
High Country Snows is a beautifully primed release, one that could just as easily be lauded as one of the first (1985) and best New Traditionalist country album releases made.
Awash in genial picking and inspired harmony vocals, as one came to expect from Hillman and Pedersen in particular the album is also loaded in fantastic story-telling from Fogelberg. Seven songs on the record are his and with them aided by two from Bolotin; “The Outlaw” and “Go Down Easy” plus covers of Scruggs – Flatt’s “Down The Road” and Carter Stanley’s “Think Of What You’ve Done” the record flies! His version of “Down The Road” that has Skaggs and Pedersen (one of the finest around of the art) excel on harmony vocals sets a benchmark hard to equal. It’s one Fogelberg and the players strive to attain on every song such the standard of work. One they come close to achieving on a few occasions. As on his own “Sutter’s Mill” (arguably the best track bar non on the album !), “The Outlaw” and laid-back “Go Down Easy”.
Traditionalist could not be better served than on an a cappella opened “Wandering Shepherd”, and with Pedersen and Skaggs once again providing some of finest harmony vocals imaginable “Think Of What You’ve Done” ticks all the boxes. Others of note include the title track “High Country Snows”, its melody isn’t too far away from Gram Parsons’ “Hickory Wind” (delightful it is too), fiddle and mandolin driven “Mountain Pass” and with Doc Watson’s beautiful supple acoustic guitar picking and Douglas’ dobro, Grisman’s mandola, mandolin and Buchanan’s fiddle matched by Gordy, Jr and Kunkel’s incessant rhythm the instrumental “Wolf Creek” it too is superb.
Exiles that partners High Country Snows sees Fogelberg return to the rock pop idiom, one he had become entrenched in and served him well till he found his roots via a visit to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1983. But that era seemed short lived and in the past by the sound of the record. The opening track and title-cut “Exiles” could just as easily be something arranged for Bruce Springsteen (good it is too) with full-on horns and powerful harmony vocals (Oren, Julia and Maxine Waters); the same urgent feel is replicated, and with some style on “Beyond The Edge” as a big contemporary sound takes over.
In between it all thee isn’t a great deal to get excited about. Despite the fine work of the likes of Kunkel. Michael Landau, Mike Hanna, Larry Klein, Bob Glaubb and Mike Porcano among others unless you are completely sold on Dan Fogelberg and his music. Although “What You’re Doing” and heart-tugging ballad “The Way It Must Be” do score heavily in all departments. Shame he hadn’t stayed true to his roots and made something else of the High Country Snows ilk; however, the package despite any misgivings it’s still well worth checking out.
Maurice hope
—
Feed: http://ift.tt/1J7TdNm
Inoreader Page: http://ift.tt/2bfR7AZ
Blog post: http://ift.tt/2bC1blY