Country and Pam Tillis at her/its Best
580088
This is one of the most enjoyable Country CD's I own, not to mention Pam Tillis' best outting yet, this is just great songs, on a great album where every song was a potential hit. The first release "Mi Vida Loca" raced up the chart straight to #1, then "When You Walked In The Room" which also went top 10, shows Pam getting in to the song, then "Spilled Perfume" a very worthy ballad that peaked at #11? But it also includes "I Was Blown Away" a suprise top 10 hit and finally, probably Pam Tillis' best song "In Between Dances" the CD's big winner also going to #1, this album produced 5 excellent songs, and could have been six with "Better Off Blue". Her voice on this album is also at its best. But after this album and her greatest hits album she seemed to lose some of her punch, but it is nice to see her still going.
725980
Like the Amazon reviewer said, it is maybe slicker than "hardcore" country, but I disagree with those who say it's not a country CD.  Lee Ann has too much twang in her voice to ever sound too pop,  and the intelligent song selection here perfectly matches her pristine  vocals. Most of the songs are mid-tempo or ballads and many of them are not  immediately catchy in an annoying way;  you need to listen a few times  until they sink in, which is fine with me.  Rodney Crowell's "Ashes by  Now" is one exception. It rocks.
3344817
I was shocked to discover she released this so soon after last years Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone...her bluesy country album which was spectacular. The Ghosts of Highway 20 is as wonderful as its predecessor but the mood is cool, thoughtful, poetry with a twang and some awesome guitar licks. She writes of love and loss and it is beautiful. I feel like I found hidden gold when I first discovered her music 20 years ago and she never disappoints me. With all the musical garbage made now, I'm thankful for her talent.
4366484
Even though her live shows are the best way to appreciate everything she has to offer, the CD is still a great way to hear some cool modern country music on the way to work, or whenever.  You can't quite peg her or the music ... although the roots are clearly country, she also brings in elements from other sorts to spice things up a bit.  She's an extremely energetic and dynamic person and it comes through in her performances.

The CD is packed with great songs; it's not just "one or two good ones" like most CDs out there.

I'm not from the South or a country music fan but her CD is addictive ... you'll be humming the songs at work in no time!
4280345
"Art and a Wife" is a favorite driving song, followed by "Prairie Girl". Sounds so fresh and rocking. Even though I live south of the Mason Dixon, makes me proud to be Canadian. Can't get them outta my head.
2814121
This is the first of four twofers released in Britain in the late nineties containing her three Columbia and five Warner albums. Here you will find the first two Columbia albums - Miss the Mississippi (from 1979) and These days (from 1980).

Although Crystal's style of music had pop influences in her United Artists recordings, these two albums showed a greater pop influence and alienated a lot of country fans. Listening to these albums now, there is more of a country feel to them than a lot of the music you hear now on American country radio although in each album, there is only one real country recording.

On the first album, the real country recording is, of course, the title track, a classic Jimmie Rodgers track that Emmylou also revived on her album, Roses in the snow. The big American pop hit here is Half the way (it didn't chart in Britain although it got plenty of airplay) but there are other great songs too, including It's like we never said goodbye, The blue side and A little bit of the rain as well as great covers of The other side of me (Neil Sedaka) and Dancing the night away (Amazing rhythm aces - also covered by the Oak Ridge Boys and Tanya Tucker).

The real country song on the second album is Help yourselves to each other, a cover of a Don Williams song. The rest of the album is further removed from country than its predecessor but is a very interesting album to those with broad tastes. It includes Lover man and What a little moonlight can do, two songs that were new to me when I originally bought the vinyl version of this album, but which show Crystal's interest in the Great American Songbook, something that has become much clearer in her more recent albums. Other outstanding tracks include If you ever change your mind and Take it easy (a cover of a Delbert McClinton song).

While I prefer Crystal's music with United Artists, these two albums are interesting in their own way and, judged on their own merit, are well worth hearing. Just don't expect to hear much country music here.
163222
I really enjoyed this disc.  The lyrics and music are very original.  Some of it has a alt-country bent to it but I also notice a 60's british feel.  The backing band is excellent and Gini's voice really gives the lyrics passion.  A definite must buy.
1531877
This is my go-to country CD right now. I can listen to it over and over. Brett has a great voice with just the right amount of emotional investment in each song. I love the song "Raymond" for its feel good message. Need more songs like this and less of the "let's have a beer and party" songs that are being overdone right now. My personal favorite, though I like all of them, is "One Mississippi". There is just something about that song....very much makes you feel like you are in the midst of the "wreckage" yourself. Great stuff-great artist.
1516130
Miss Harris is in excellent voice and Mr. Crowell vocal character reminds me of Grahm Parsons. They blend beautifully.  the steel guitar work is excellent and pure "country" in the best way.
1379037
FOREVER YOUNG, originally released in 1974, was Kitty Wells' first album away from Decca/MCA after more than 20 years at that label, much of that time undisputed as the most popular female vocalist in country music. Originally issued on Warner Brothers' southern-rock label Capricorn, this album was an attempt to show just how versatile Ms. Wells is as a song stylist and on that level it suceeds beautifully.  The album sold poorly though, Kitty was then well into her fifties and she hadn't had a top 40 country hit since 1968 (although she remained very popular as a touring artist) overshadowed on radio by the new generation of country girls for whom she had paved the way.  The album did not generate interest in non-country markets and Kitty's longtime hard-country fans were probably taken aback by her covering folk/rock and soul and blues songs.  What nobody seemed to notice at the time was she was doing a fabulous job doing so!!  Country Music has often been called "the white man's blues" and here is the proof - country's queen Kitty doing a magificent job with such blues numbers as "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (yes, the Otis Redding song), "The Loving's Over", and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (unlike Barbara Mandrell's hit  sugary country cover of it from 1971, Miss Kitty sings it in it's original blues arrangement.)  And Kitty's performance on Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" is deeply moving and remains one of the best Dylan covers anyone has ever done.  There's plenty of country music here too (naturally anything Miss Wells sings is country on some level), mostly of the 70's pop-country variety such as "Too Much Love Between Us", yet the hard country stuff is here like her cover of the old Johnny & Jack song "What About You".  Miss Kitty's voice is in fine shape and she seems completely as ease whatever musical format she tackles despite being the most "country" of any female vocalist before or since.  This album is a wonderful recording for anyone who enjoys good music period and does not demand a label on it or that it stick too closely to one format. (My only complaint is that for the cover photograph of this CD the reissue record label decided to use a Kitty Wells' publicity shot that is on the cover of at least three other Wells CDs!!  C'mon guys, this lady has been famous for 50 years you certainly can find another picture of her.)  If you think Kitty Wells is "too country" for you, give this one a try and see how multi-faceted an artist she is!!
2770026
Mary Chapin Carpenter has always been a refreshing counter point to the wave of grrl power in country music, a real live woman, if you will who understands that the best thing about being a woman has nothing to do with the length of your skirt or the color of your hair.  Unlike female songwriters of the mainstream, Carpenter is unafraid to slip easily into unfashionable middle age, nor to have insecurities unrelated to boyfriends or diets.  She provides point of view life stories from a modern day every woman.
"What Would you Say To Me" opens the album with the age old question of what would happen if one ran across an old lover one day.  This I followed by the delightfully ambiguous tune "Luna's Gone," which documents the loss of a friend, lover or pet, yet, much like Tift Merritt's "Virginia, No One Can Warn You," leaves the listener wondering if the chanteuse is not also referring to a younger version of herself.  "My Heaven" on the other hand is very literally a musing view of Carpenters view of heaven.  "Good Night America" is a travel log about a woman, slightly alienated from her society ("I'm a stranger here, no one you would know), yet still looking out the window of her bus with affection.  "Between Here and Gone" finds this creature of wanderlust contemplating her new settled lifestyle, musing "I wonder how we know where we belong/is it in a photograph or a dashboard poets song/will I have missed my chance to right an ancient wrong/should I find myself between here and gone."  "One Small Heart" is a typical Mary Chapin Carpenter song, in much the same vein as "Why Walk When You Can Fly."  Following this is the song which takes up where "This Is Love" and "Late For Your Life" leave off, the pretty and contemplative "Beautiful Racket."  "Girls Like Me" is an open look at girls who "live alone inside our heads" and like "boys who aren't afraid of what they see, inside the eyes of girls like me," but "if somehow you love us back, we think there's something wrong with that."  "Grand Central Station" is a powerfully haunting ballad about a construction worker.  Next comes the very lovely "The Shelter of Storms" about a loved ones incessant hunting of troubles and what has been lately termed drama.  Elysium is a pretty and rambling song about the twists and turns that traveled to find the place that winds up being home.
Mary Chapin Carpenter has never been traditional country, however she has always been at her heart real country.  There is a heavy folk and pop influence to her work, highlighted by a stunning harmony vocals by Garrison Star, however the occasional fiddle and mandolin bring her firmly into the country realm.  When even names like Tim O'Brien and Stuart Duncan turn up, it is hard to argue where she belongs.  Unfortunately, right now that place is not  anywhere on mainstream radio, however, the good news is that there is a growing independent radio scene nationwide which seems primed and ready to embrace her.
4475710
I first heard a couple of cuts of this CD a couple of weeks before it went into public release on KVMR, a full-spectrum radio station out of Nevada City, CA. Susan Werner was a guest on the radio show and was talking about the upcoming release in between songs and she mentioned that the CD was produced by Rodney Crowell -- which in and of itself should tell you that this is going to be a winner... The title track is one of my favorite songs of the year so far -- both musically and also lyrically it hits the spot for what so many people need to do these days -- "kick the beehive just to make sure your alive"--hah hah. A couple of the slower ballads are personal and introspective, but still touching, and when she gets into a s**t-kicker stride this album shines. She gives Miranda Lambert and some of the newer country-folkie ladies a serious run for their money.  Check her out on Amazon's samples for the CD and get a feel for what the CD has to offer.
1188175
This C.D. is more country than the last couple Tim McGraw albums.  They were starting to get a bit pop, which was great, but this album brings out more of the country.  I heard the song red rag top and I had to have the cd!  It's an incredible song!  I also have to say that about the rest of the cd after I have listened to it all.  I highly recommend this cd!
2438489
This is a great selection of pure country.  Mostly soft songs with good story telling.  A colleciton of "pretty" songs done in Guy Clark's unique style. All selections were enjoyable---didn't skip over any.  "Cat Ballou" was frisky and fun and "L.A. Freeway" starts out slow and easy but picks up energy later on.  Mellow is an over-all discription.  I loved it.
3277024
Mark knopfler gets his country freak on with help from the one and only Emmylou Harris and his fantastic band that was born to play country. I'm not a big fan of country, but many people are and they will no doubt eat this album up!
2437145
What a wonderful, intoxicating album. His voice amazing, and the lyrics and songs are incredibly well writen. Lorretta Lynn, what a woman. I am a young female, who likes country music, but not most of the pop country thats out today. This is good old fashion, tear jerkin, honky tonkin, Country music. Someone said that Country music is three chords and the truth, and I couldn't agree more. Fav track, "The want to in your eyes".

Great, Grand, Wonderful, Buy It!
510255
Recently in our local paper, was an article from two writers in Texas who made a list of the 100 best country songs of all time. For my part the fact that there was nothing from this great album was proof enough that the two reporters were, to say the least, under informed.

As a hard core Rock and Roll teen-ager, this was an album that my parents and I could agree to at dinner time back in the 70's, and for me at least, every song is just as fresh today as it was back in high school.

Every year, when American Idol has country week, I hope to hear some contestant try one of these classics, but alas, I am always disappointed.

The performance here of Silver Threads and Golden Needles, to me, has to be top 5 country all time, but that's just me. "Sail Away", "Colorado",the heart wrenching "Love Has No Pride" and of course "Desperado" are some of the best recordings from a lady (whom despite being severely politically opposite from me) that I feel is the best vocalist of all music genres, I mean think about it, she has done Country, Rock, Pop, Swing, Light Opera and Spanish music, and now Cajun? And still this remains my favorite from her way over 30 years later. Remastering is a bonus, but she sounded good on my cheap stereo when I was a kid.