Kacey Jones - Kacey Jones Sings Mickey Newbury (2006)

With a voice that wavers with eternal beauty from a bygone era, Kacey Jones uses her powerful pipes to pay homage to her favorite songwriter, and one of America's greats: Mickey Newbury.


01. Song of Sorrow
02. Some Memories Are Better Left Alone
03. Ramblin' Blues
04. Lie To Me Darlin'
05. Apples Dipped In Candy
06. Blue Sky Shining
07. What Will I Do
08. Lovers
09. Time Was
10. San Francisco Mabel Joy
11. You've Always Got The Blues
12. Why You Been Gone So Long
13. Remember The Good
14. Amen For Old Friends
15. Goodnight


Personnel: Kacey Jones (vocals, acoustic guitar); Brent Moyer (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet); Mark Dreyer (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dobro); Eddie Dunbar (bass instrument, background vocals); Chip Davis, Toni Jolene Clay (background vocals); Jimmy Nichols (piano, keyboards); Paul Scholten (drums).





The name seeped into the country music mainstream courtesy of Waylon Jennings' "Luckenbach, Texas" - "Newbury's train songs." This was who Waylon was singing about - a songwriter so diverse he defies description. His songs rise above genre categorization; he's penned hits for blues, country, rock, and pop artists; in fact, he's had a different song in each category on the charts at the same time. Now Kacey Jones turns a voice to Newbury's songs. The result is striking.
"They call me a fool and a dreamer/ Tell me I'm wasting my time/ How I will search for the rest of my life/ For a rainbow I never will find." These are the words that open this disc, a masterful melody with exquisite lyrics sung by a voice that captured me almost instantly, a powerful, dusky, sultry voice (somewhat reminiscent of Judy Garland, actually); and that was all I needed to get me completely hooked on this disc. Jones handles the subtleties, the complexities, of Newbury's melodies with magnificent style and grace, bringing the power of the tunes out with a raw strength that's a simple joy to hear. Jones, better known for funny work ("Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead") and producing (Kinky Friedman's "Pearls in the Snow"), demonstrates here that she is also a deft hand at the serious (although no matter what people may think, it's always far easier for a comedian to be serious than for the dramatic to turn a hand at comedy). Woven together under Jones' own skillful production, with gentle rain effects between some tracks (as though we were sitting in a warm room on a rainy day listening to music), the entire album is a work of art.
For the most part, she chooses Newbury's less-known songs (with the exception of "San Francisco Mabel Joy"), leaving more iconic tunes where they are, such as the many-times recorded "An American Trilogy," "Funny, Familiar Forgotten Feelings," and "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." Instead, she opts for beauties like the bluesy "Apples Dipped In Candy," the sweetly beautiful "Song of Sorrow," surprisingly elegant love song "Lie to Me, Darlin'," and canny "You've Always Got the Blues." With the wealth of selections available to her, Jones has chosen songs eminently suited to her that work together beautifully as a whole, a real album of music in every sense of the word. The arrangements are spare and attractive, a dramatic setting for the rich elegance of Jones' voice. The beauty of Newbury's tunes don't really need a lot of words other than their own to recommend them. Kacey Jones does a grand job of demonstrating why. : - Kathy Coleman


Still Available:

Mickey Newbury - I Came To hear The Music (1974)

Mickey Newbury - Rusty Tracks (1977)

Mickey Newbury - In A New Age (1988)

Mickey Newbury - The Triad Studio Sessions (1991)