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ROB'S RECOMMENDED
RECORDINGS

The
All Music
Guide

Billboard
Magazine

As a 13-year veteran of the music retail industry, I'd like to offer some recommendations on music I've personally enjoyed, as well as links where you may obtain additional information on the artists. (A click on the artist's name alongside the album covers will usually lead you to a website devoted to that artist, provided I know of one.) For the convenience of those of you who try to leave the house as infrequently as possible, links with Barnes&Noble.com , to browse or purchase music on-line, will also be provided!

Aztec
Two-Step I first caught wind of these guys when they played in the gym at my college during Freshman year. Billed as "an acoustic retrospective," folk-pop duo Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman revisit their best songs with all new studio versions that sound better than the originals in many cases. I took in a show very recently and am happy to report that the harmonies are still very much in tact!
Tell you what, you do the bakin' and I'll do the makin'......
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

Eric
Andersen Best early material from one of folk's great troubadours collected on one disc. Great voice, great songwriter. Also recommended, although becoming hard to find, Stages, The Lost Album, featuring later material recorded for Columbia in the '70's, plus four tracks recorded in 1990 featuring Shawn Colvin on harmony/background vocals. Special thanks to Elizabeth's Mom for introducing me to Eric.
C'mon, take off your thirsty boots, and stay for a while......
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

Blue
Rodeo

Blue Rodeo, a Canadian treasure not well known in the states, is a fine country/rock band in the tradition of the Byrds and the Hollies. Lots of jangly guitars, neat harmonies, and fine songwriting from the team of Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy. Often upbeat and sunny, at times sullen (even brooding), Keelor and Cuddy cut to the heart of relationship issues as well as anyone on the scene today. They also put on a ferocious live show if you have a chance to see 'em!
Here's to half-finished bottles of inspiration!
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!
Visit my Nine for the Nineties page to find out which Blue Rodeo album made my list of the decade's best!

Jackson
Browne

Throughout his long career, Jackson Browne has maintained a consistency in his work that few can match. Here is an artist whose uncompromising integrity has led him in many different directions. He has at times been introspective, at others overtly political. He has explored the Folk, Reggae, World Music, and Rock genres with equal success. He has stood up for causes where he thought it appropriate, no matter the cost to his considerable commercial success. And survived the assaults of the tabloid press in the process. Ask me my favorite ARTIST, I'll say Fogelberg, but my favorite ALBUM... Jackson Browne, The Pretender. The Very Best of Jackson Browne is an outstanding collection released in 2004 for those who may not have many of the original albums on CD.
And take good care of your mother....
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!
Jackson is now featured on my Nine for the Nineties page. Why not stop by?

The
Burns
Sisters
I first came across these ladies in the late 80's at a Record World© company convention. They gave us a spirited performance of uptempo, synth-pop songs from their debut release on Columbia Records. These days, there are two less sisters in the band, and the music has taken a turn in the direction of acoustic folk pop, with a touch of blues and country here and there. Jeannie, Annie and Marie Burns take turns on lead vocals, while offering up the type of gorgeous harmonies you might expect of siblings. Most of the songs are penned by the sisters themselves. Nothing heavy in the lyrics here, this is just a fine collection of very melodic love songs.
Because the world needs harmony.....God made the Burns Sisters!!!
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

Mary
Chapin
Carpenter

Some say she's "country." I guess that's because she once got most of her airplay from country radio stations. To me it seems more as if she's carrying on the singer/songwriter tradition of say, Carole King, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Dan Fogelberg. Especially on the recent material. It's literate, it's poetic, it's melodic. Sometimes very intense, and other times quite light-hearted. The musicianship, thanks in large part to collaborator John Jennings, is first-rate. Her 1994 release Stones In The Road sits atop my Nine for the Nineties list. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that her body of work during the 1990's solidified her as one of my two favorite recording artists, all-time, alongside Dan Fogelberg.
Her latest album is The Calling, released in connection with the Rounder family of labels in March, 2007.
Anyway, why walk when you can fly???
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

Beth
Nielsen
Chapman
Beth Nielsen Chapman is another of those singer/songwriters who tends to blur the boundaries between country, folk, and adult pop. Already well known as a writer for many years, she achieved some commercial success as a recording artist in 1991 when "All I Have," a track from her self-titled Reprise album released the previous year garnered significant airplay on many adult-oriented radio stations. 1997 saw the release of Sand and Water, her third album for the Reprise label, a collection of songs written in response to her grieving the loss of her husband Ernest in 1994. To Beth's surprise, the album received an endorsement from Elton John, who mentioned it on numerous talk shows, and who began performing the album's title track in concert in lieu of his own "Candle In The Wind '97," which he said he would no longer perform in public. Beth has since fought and won her own battle with breast cancer and has some excellent information on her website regarding diagnosis and treatment. I had the pleasure of speaking to her on the phone one time as part of her promotion work for one of the albums, and I must say she was most gracious and personable, and I wish her and her family all the best.
Life holds on, given the slightest chance......
Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!
Also available: Hymns and Look.

This page created in 1998 by Robert F. Waters. Latest update November, 2007

This page hosted by Get your own Free Homepage

Aztec Two-Step		I first caught wind of these guys when they played in the gym at my college during Freshman year. Billed as "an acoustic retrospective," folk-pop duo Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman revisit their best songs with all new studio versions that sound better than the originals in many cases. I took in a show very recently and am happy to report that the harmonies are still very much in tact! Tell you what, you do the bakin' and I'll do the makin'...... Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!
Eric Andersen		Best early material from one of folk's great troubadours collected on one disc. Great voice, great songwriter. Also recommended, although becoming hard to find, Stages, The Lost Album, featuring later material recorded for Columbia in the '70's, plus four tracks recorded in 1990 featuring Shawn Colvin on harmony/background vocals. Special thanks to Elizabeth's Mom for introducing me to Eric. C'mon, take off your thirsty boots, and stay for a while...... Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo, a Canadian treasure not well known in the states, is a fine country/rock band in the tradition of the Byrds and the Hollies. Lots of jangly guitars, neat harmonies, and fine songwriting from the team of Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy. Often upbeat and sunny, at times sullen (even brooding), Keelor and Cuddy cut to the heart of relationship issues as well as anyone on the scene today. They also put on a ferocious live show if you have a chance to see 'em! Here's to half-finished bottles of inspiration! Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping! Visit my Nine for the Nineties page to find out which Blue Rodeo album made my list of the decade's best!

Jackson Browne
Throughout his long career, Jackson Browne has maintained a consistency in his work that few can match. Here is an artist whose uncompromising integrity has led him in many different directions. He has at times been introspective, at others overtly political. He has explored the Folk, Reggae, World Music, and Rock genres with equal success. He has stood up for causes where he thought it appropriate, no matter the cost to his considerable commercial success. And survived the assaults of the tabloid press in the process. Ask me my favorite ARTIST, I'll say Fogelberg, but my favorite ALBUM... Jackson Browne, The Pretender. The Very Best of Jackson Browne is an outstanding collection released in 2004 for those who may not have many of the original albums on CD. And take good care of your mother.... Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping! Jackson is now featured on my Nine for the Nineties page. Why not stop by?

Mary Chapin Carpenter
Some say she's "country." I guess that's because she once got most of her airplay from country radio stations. To me it seems more as if she's carrying on the singer/songwriter tradition of say, Carole King, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Dan Fogelberg. Especially on the recent material. It's literate, it's poetic, it's melodic. Sometimes very intense, and other times quite light-hearted. The musicianship, thanks in large part to collaborator John Jennings, is first-rate. Her 1994 release Stones In The Road sits atop my Nine for the Nineties list. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that her body of work during the 1990's solidified her as one of my two favorite recording artists, all-time, alongside Dan Fogelberg. Her latest album is The Calling, released in connection with the Rounder family of labels in March, 2007. Anyway, why walk when you can fly??? Click on cover art for additional information and on-line shopping!

ROB'S RECOMMENDEDRECORDINGS

ROB'S RECOMMENDED
RECORDINGS