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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, but good in parts,
By Chris Jones "deadeasy" (York, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Friends of Mine (Audio CD)
I've been after this CD for a while and finally got it for a Christmas present, but I have to say that it didn't match my expectations. I hadn't heard anything else by Jack, but bought it on the basis of his friends. With accompaniment by the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Peter Rowan, Norton Buffalo, Emmylou Harris, Tom Waits, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Guy Clark, and Bob Weir (amongst many others) how could it possibly fail?
Unfortunately there are several ways in which it fails to hit the spot for me. The first is that some of the songs are weak (particularly Me & Billy the Kid and Bleeker Street Blues). Many of the songs are covers which have been performed better elsewhere - Friend of the Devil and He Was a Friend of Mine are both particularly poor in comparison to other versions. It's also self-indulgent. Before starting a couple of the songs, Jack indulges in a bit of banter with one or other "friend". This adds nothing to the music, and will grow increasingly tedious the more you hear it. There are some pluses, and for me the stand-out track is Dark as a Dungeon - a song about coal miners with Guy Clark sharing guitar and vocal parts. Overall, though, the feel of the album is rather sad. It smacks to me of an artist who is past his prime (at least on the vocals) and maybe has financial problems. Accordingly he has rustled up as many of his famous friends as possible to make an album with him which will sell largely on the basis of his friends. Interestingly the All Music Guide describes this as "thoroughly enjoyable" but gives it only 3 stars out of 5. On Amazon.com you'll find (at the time of writing) seven reviews, three 5-star, three 4-star, and one 3-star. So maybe I've got it all wrong.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The old guy can still come through...,
By William E. Adams - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Friends of Mine (Audio CD)
Most who would be reading this review already know that Jack has been more famous for his friendships than for his own performances. Woody's last protege, Dylan's first personal mentor, and all that. But in this recent album, he shows he can still create moments that are deeply touching. "Walls of Redwing" and "Rex's Blues" are the gems here...I listened to them over and over and over the first couple of months I owned the disc. There are three or four other fine selections as well, and then there are the misfires..."Me and Billy the Kid" and "Last Letter" and "Bleeker Street" didn't work for me. I bought this on impulse because I didn't even realize Jack was still making records, and I had not bought one of his albums since about l970. Despite it being a mixed bag, I don't regret paying full price for "Friends of Mine." What's good on here won't ever be done better by anyone...and what isn't great is still interesting. A new RJE fan should buy the reissues of his early work...but if you are in the upper 50's like me, and remember the birth of the folk revival in l957-58, it is kind of a kick to buy Jack's album and savor the fact that he has survived and still turns out good work.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Elliott further establishes himself as a vital link in folk,
By hyperbolium - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Friends of Mine (Audio CD)
We should all be lucky enough to have Jerry Jeff Walker, Emmylou Harris and Tom Waits for friends. We should all lucky enough to have lived and toured with Woody Guthrie or influenced Bob Dylan early in his career. And while most of us can't count these among our personal experiences, we're blessed to share them through the life and music of Ramblin' Jack Elliot.As a human confluence of forty years of people, places, and songs, Elliot draws from a bottomless well of experience in this series of duets. He recalls his earliest influence with Guthrie's "Hard Travelin'," and his Greenwich Village days with Dylan's "He Was a Friend of Mine." He harmonizes with Rosalie Sorels ("Last Letter"), trades verses with John Prine ("Walls of Red Wing"), and blends his vocals with Tom Waits on the newly penned lament, "Louise." Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith help conjure the spirit of Townes Van Zandt on "Rex's Blues." With his latest, Elliot once again proves himself a vital link in the chain of folk-music tradition. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but mixed,
By Eric Antonow - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Friends of Mine (Audio CD)
About half the songs are gems, the other half either don't seem to work. Falls pretty squarely in the traditional 'folk' category so fans won't be disappointed. Only a few of the collaborations seem to really bring the best out of both parties (Rex's Blues) while the others, unfortunately, seem muddled. A slightly more successful experiment like this was Rob Wasserman's Duets. First timers to Ramblin' Jack should probably try one of the other albums.
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