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For any fan of Danny Kaye this is a must. 18 of his best loved tracks including many memorable tunes from his fabulous films such as The Ugly Ducking from Hans Christian Andersen and The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing from White Christmas (still brings a tear to my eye whatever time of year it's on!). Classic tongue turning lyrics in tunes such as Tongue Twisters and the Maladjusted Jester, mixed in with Danny's dulcet tones on Happy Times and Anywhere I Wander. A delight for young and old alike. : ~ Amazon Customer Comment

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Second album from Welsh male voice choir. A masterclass in choral singing that will blow away fans of the genre, this album does for male voice choirs what Paul Potts did for opera. Includes the tracks 'Yesterday', 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'Amazing Grace'.

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As strong as Joe Ely's self-titled solo debut was, his second album, 1978's Honky Tonk Masquerade, actually managed to top it, and the album remains one of the great creative triumphs of the Texas singer/songwriter community, as well as a high-water mark in Ely's career. Displaying a very Texan sense of eclecticism, Honky Tonk Masquerade's ten tunes run the gamut from beer-stained weepers (the title cut) and late-night declarations of loneliness ("Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown") to barrelhouse rock & roll ("Fingernails") and honky tonk dance numbers ("West Texas Waltz" and "Cornbread Moon"), and Ely's simple but expressive delivery makes the most of every song he sings. Ely's band deserves a special nod as well, especially steel guitarist Lloyd Maines and Ponty Bone on accordion, who can seemingly conjure up an orchestra or a horn section at will. And as strong as Ely's songs are, he has the good sense to also accept contributions from fellow ex-Flatlanders Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, whose more introspective lyrical approach makes for a satisfying contrast to Ely's more down to earth style. Smart without sounding pretentious, and musically ambitious without losing focus or drive, Honky Tonk Masquerade is a superb album that captures Ely and his band at their best. Mark Deming, AMG

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Have a Holly Jolly Christmas is a compilation of holiday songs performed by Burl Ives. The award-winning actor performed the definitive version of the title track, thus forever cementing his place in the genre. The other songs here (many of which have also gotten quite a lot of radio play) are all standards for the most part, and are all sung in Ives' sweet, fractured croon. Fans of the title track will probably enjoy the rest of the album, and any other curious listeners may also want to give this a try. Bradley Torreano

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First of all let me say this album is a country classic, the last of only 4 albums released in Patsy's lifetime, in 1962. The album leads off with her then-current hit single "She's Got You", a definite Cline classic. What would have been the lead-off single on the side 2 of the original record album is "Strange" a song that should have been a bigger hit, with it's timely Orbison-like quality. The album ends with the haunting "Lonely Street" a last nod to the Four Star Records writing crew. What's left is 3 Hank Williams covers that are done with sophistication yet respect to the original compositions, and 6 other covers of pop classics from different eras all of which you could argue are better than the original with Patsy Cline, legendary Nashville producer Owen Bradley plus the famous Nashville A-Team studio band featuring the likes of Grady Martin, Floyd Cramer, Bob Moore, Buddy Harmon, Harold Bradley and vocal quartet The Jordanaires all at the peak of their powers. ~: Amazon Customer Comment.

Pure Texas country with a little laid-back blues sound. After a seven-year wait, Lovett defied expectations with My Baby Don't Tolerate. His new songs proved not to be wry, ever-so-clever setpieces like some of his most popular '80s tunes, but more economical creatures full of small observations and very little of Lovett's trademark stylistic quirks. Aside from the occasional oddball touch, like name-checking German director Wim Wenders in a song about trucks, this is a pretty straightforward affair. The Western Swing-tinged arrangements are too tasteful (and tasty) for mainstream Nashville, but otherwise this is the most accessible Lyle Lovett album to date. ~: Amazon

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Ollabelle are a six-person, New York City-based band that celebrates rural American roots music, as well as the joys of group singing. What started as a side project became a bona fide group, named in honor of country singer and songwriter Ola Belle Reed. They mix traditional songs (including "Jesus on the Mainline," "Soul of a Man," and "John the Revelator") with originals, the latter sounding every bit as timeless as the former. Lead singer Amy Helm has had no shortage of exposure to honest music, her father being Levon Helm of the Band. The rest of the band includes singing instrumentalists with varied but nicely overlapping backgrounds. While a number of the songs wrap themselves in spare and acoustic simplicity, they also embrace the more urban bearing of unobtrusively electric blues and funky gospel. Singing over a pulsing rhythm section or an organ-based combo, Helm sounds strikingly (and surprisingly) like Julie Driscoll (later Tippett), who fronted Trinity with Brian Auger in the 1960s. This debut is post-Harry Smith, post-Alan Lomax music at its finest. David Greenberger

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After the break up of The Band, Levon Helm released a handful of solo albums, but this excellent disc represents his first solo disc for 25 years, and a return to his rich Southern roots. The 13 songs have a natural and organic American feel, with country blues, dirt road folk and Cajun influences sharing the playlist with a scattering of songs from more contemporary writers such as Steve Earle and Buddy & Julie Miller.Produced by master multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell and Amy Helm (Levon’s daughter and member of Ollabelle), the overall quality of the musicianship and craft is exceptional. As you’d expect the album uses traditional American instrumentation with guitar, fiddle, accordion and mandolin featuring heavily throughout in addition to Levon’s distinctive drum work.A great mixture of songs and an excellent set of musicians, but what really stands out is Levon’s delivery – these songs have roots and a sense of place, and the way he communicates this across the whole album is superb, there’s a genuine honesty throughout.The mix of traditional and contemporary songs sit together perfectly, the words, tunes and music evoke the struggles, dirt roads and open spaces of rural America, and the superb musicianship throughout all meld together to create a memorable album. Those with any interest in American music, be it traditional folk or contemporary singer/songwriters should investigate ‘Dirt Farmer’, this is a genuinely excellent disc. :~ Fish Records

Frontier Folk Nebraska hail from Covington, Kentucky and play sparse Americana/Folk music. Touching on the dark acoustic sounds of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, Frontier Folk Nebraska create a rich journey through the trials of the common man. Their debut EP, The Devil’s Tree shows a great deal of promise for such a young outfit. Frontier Folk Nebraska are definitely one to watch.

Columbia Records will release I'm Not There, the soundtrack album from the upcoming Todd Haynes film, on Tuesday, October 30. Featuring songs from and inspired by one of the year's most wildly-anticipated films, the double-CD I'm Not There collection premieres new interpretations of Bob Dylan songs performed by an eclectic cavalcade of acclaimed and celebrated contemporary musicians including Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth, Jim James, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power, Jack Johnson, Sufjan Stevens, John Doe, Karen O, Iron & Wine, Mason Jennings, Jeff Tweedy, Willie Nelson, Antony, Los Lobos, Yo La Tengo, Mark Lanegan, Rambin' Jack Elliot, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova and more. Many of the album's performances include backing from the Million Dollar Bashers, an ensemble created for I'm Not There by Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo, featuring Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, Wilco bassist Nels Cline, guitarist Smokey Hormel, keyboardist John Medeski and long-time Bob Dylan band bassist Tony Garnier. Eddie Vedder, Stephen Malkmus, and Karen O. are among the artists backed by the Million Dollar Bashers.Other tracks on the album feature the alternative-country band Calexico backing up artists including Jim James, Iron & Wine, Roger McGuinn and Willie Nelson. I'm Not There includes two versions of the enigmatic title track, a new interpretation performed by Sonic Youth and the original Bob Dylan recording, a rare oft-bootlegged outtake from "The Basement Tapes" sessions which has been previously unavailable on any official release.

Kendel Carson - she's a name, voice and fiddler/violinist who will indeed be remembered from a first listen to Rearview Mirror Tears, her delightful and alluring debut album on Train Wreck Records, produced by Chip Taylor. Already a musical veteran at age 22, she's been capturing ears and wowing audiences across her native Canada and around the globe with her prodigious talent and luminescent aura since she joined her first musical group at nine years old. So it's no surprise that Rearview Mirror Tears sounds like the assured work of a veteran artist, rich with an uncanny and winning familiarity, seducing listeners to spin it again and again. After all, it's the work of a true artistic natural whose soul is suffused with music, and then on Rearview Mirror Tears is paired with another equally musical soul, master songwriter Chip Taylor, composer of such indelible classics as "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning" and eminence grise of Americana music and the contemporary folk-rock and singer-songwriter scenes. It's a collaboration that at first glance may seem like a seasoned veteran mentoring a gifted protege, but the album soon reveals something else at work that's even more vibrant and exciting. The way Carson inhabits the album's songs with a full, rich presence and stamps her identity into the music with her vocals and playing tells a different tale: An artistic union of two friends and kindred musical souls. There's a spirit and life that pervades Rearview Mirror Tears that can only come between two talents in prime form enjoying their creativity in full flow.

Remember The Sun is delivered with a solid Memphis punch that brings to mind the best of Cat Power or Shelby Lynne, yet never loses sight of the traditional musical forms Pieta grew up with. Lyrically and musically poetic, Brown's deceptive simplicity and seductive purity combine to create songs that meet somewhere between Johnny Cash and Neko Case. On each and every track the touches of old-school folk, soul and country are clear, but they are given the modern twist of a Jeff Buckley or the latter-day Loretta Lynn.

This re-interpretation of the Cowboy Junkies' seminal original 'Trinity Session' from 1988 features guests such as RyanAdams and Vic Chesnutt. A full twenty years on from the original date of recording, the band's sibling mainstays revisited the same church in which the original was captured and decided to experiment with its familiar formats. The result is 'Trinity Revisited' which, although maintaining the same track listing, has a slightly different feel. The spontaneousjam-like aspects remain, but they are given a different personality by the contributions from Adams and Chesnutt, among others. - Amazon

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The only thing that doesn't come with this unprecedented, multi-artist 4 CD boxed set chronicling the San Francisco sound of the 1960s is the flowers for your hair! Released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the psychedelic, free-spirited Summer Of Love - that began just after the historic Monterey Pop Festival in June '67 - Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965 - 1970 weighs in at 77 tracks totaling over 4-hours of music. Rhino Records - Plus 2 BBC Radio Summer of Love Documentaries.

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Ely's first album came out while country's outlaw movement was in full swing, but Joe Ely took it one better. This is a roots-rocking country album with tunes by Jimmie Dale Gilmore ("Treat Me Like a Saturday Night") and Butch Hancock ("She NeverSpoke Spanish to Me," "If You Were a Bluebird") that deserve the near-classic status their cult of fans has bestowed on them.
Brian Mansfield