|
Album Description: For the last thirty years, the Taylor family has woven their unique blend of pop, folk, and American roots music into the fabric of our collective musical consciousness. Kate Taylor continues that tradition with the release of her highly anticipated album, Beautiful Road. Combining influences from R&B, Appalachia and soul, Kate’s album is a truly unique and accomplished collection.
Customer Reviews:
- Nice Stuff: This disk is a taste of classic American music, by James' sister. I was pleasantly surprised by the melodies and harmonies, then realized the illustrious backing staff that includes her brother and Levon Helm. Lovely music that is very enjoyable.
- Great cd from out of nowhere : Thank you Rolling Stone for your review of "Beautiful Road". I wouldn't have come across this gem if I hadn't read the review buried in the back of the magazine. (3 stars is too low, though).
"I Will Fly" and "Beautiful Road" are 2 of the most beautiful folk-rock songs I have ever heard. In between, there are traces of Creedence, a little of Emmy Lou, with a great ecletic mix of folk, rock-abilly, and country. It's always a pleasure to hear brother James harmonize on any album, and the harmonizing is especially poignant on this one. If you're a fan of acoustic music with thoughtful lyrics and a nice blending of folk, country, rock, and rock-abilly you will enjoy this cd. This cd is an unexpected pleasure that seem to come from nowhere.(the cd came out in 2002 so why is Rolling Stone reviewing it just now ?).
- Rolling Stone review: THIS REVIEW APPEARS IN THE JANUARY 27th ISSUE OF
ON NEWSSTANDS THIS FRIDAY JANUARY 14th
BEAUTIFUL ROAD *** 3 STARS
Lost and found: A heartfelt folk-rock gem from James Taylor's sister
An overlooked gem that was originally released in 2002, Kate Taylor's
first full-length since 1979 has a handcrafted aura and a bittersweet
back story. Beautiful Road was co-produced and largely written by
Taylor's husband, Charlie Witham, who took ill during its making and
died shortly after. Yet
Taylor projects spiritual resilience on ultimately uplifting songs such
as the chiming, heavily allusive title track: the folk-gospel lament, "I
Will Fly" (on which she's joined by her famous brother, James); and
Randall Bramblett's redemptive anthem "Flying in the Face of Mr. Blue."
She's aided throughout by a talented cast, including bassist and
co-producer Tony Garnier (from Bob Dylan's band), Levon Helm, Chuck
Leavell and Mavis Staples, whose participation tacitly attests to the
healing power of community.
Key Track "I Will Fly"
its great to have Rolling Stone acknowledge this GREAT CD two years after its release--it IS that good! - Kate's BEST!.....so far!: I have loved Kate's music since the LP (and I'm lucky to own it on CD!) 'SISTER KATE'.
Her voice has always communicated a soulful, wise 'git down' passion!--
Kate's singing makes me move!
BEAUTIFUL ROAD is her most personal, her most passionate, and her best to date, IMHO.
The title song ranks in my ALL TIME top 10 songs EVER!
Her late husband, Charles Whitham, wrote most of the songs and produced the CD with Tony Garnier.
This collection differs from her first 3 in that Kate seems to set this collection to thematic musical genre.
Problem is, I'm still trying to define it!....country-rock....folk-rolk....bluegrass-rock....soul-rock.
I give up. It must be all 4! But it don't matter!---get ye some KT 'BEAUTIFUL ROAD'! - Beautiful Road - A timeless addition to any collection: Kate's tremendous talent and warmth set this album above and beyond any album I've personally purchased in the last two years. Kate's voice is so true and familiar, especially on songs like Beautiful Road and I Will Fly, it's as if she were sitting in your living room with a cup of tea and her guitar, rather than her voice emanating from the stereo speakers.
And when she decides to rock out, well I don't know how well that awesome band would fit in my living room, but it still has that personal touch just the same. It's still that warm and friendly Kate, but it seems she ditches the hot tea for a good cold beer on songs like Blue Tin Suitcase and Rain on the Water, deftly demonstrating yet another facet of her multi-dimensional talent. This album has music on it to satisfy every mood. It is a quintessential collection of top-flight performances by Kate, her band, and her distinguished list of guest musicians. If I had to whittle my collection down to five cds (knocking on wood that I never have to), this would be one of them. Thank you, Kate, for such a truly classic contribution.
|
