The Grateful Dead were already established as paragons of the free-form, improvisational San Francisco psychedelic sound when they abruptly shifted gears for the acoustic Workingman's Dead, a lovely exploration of American roots music illuminating the group's country, blues, and folk influences. The lilting "Uncle John's Band," their first radio hit, opens the record and perfectly summarizes its subtle, spare beauty; complete with a new focus on more concise songs and tighter arrangements, the approach works brilliantly. Despite its sharp contrast to the epic live space jams on which the group's legend primarily rests, Workingman's Dead nonetheless spotlights the Dead at their most engaging, stripped of all excess to reveal the true essence of their craft.

(by Jason Ankeny , All Music Guide)

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A radical and completely unexpected change in style - once and for all, the Dead suddenly cut short all the attempts to annihilate the differences between their live and studio sound and go off pursuing a more laid-back, mainstreamish country-rock direction. General musical philosophy usually ascribes this change of the Dead's musical philosophy to the passing of an era: the Altamont Massacre (which, by the way, was an event that had a deep impact on the band indeed - 'New Speedway Boogie' is sometimes said to be dedicated to the event) and the fade-away of the hippie ideology made them leave all their psycho jams for the live shows and concentrate on more concise, rational work in the studio.
That said, Workingman's Dead certainly doesn't deserve the 'classic' status so readily appended on it by most musical critics. It's a fairly good and enjoyable record, for sure, but by all objective means, there ain't that much special about it. The eight tracks on here more or less exploit the same two or three vibes (slow rambling acoustic country shuffle; mid-tempo mellow acoustic country boogie; mid- or fast-tempo soft electric country rocker), and the melodies aren't all that outstanding, either. And still, after repeated listens, I find myself liking this stuff much more than I really should, even considering my general subjective musical tastes which certainly aren't all that tolerant towards this kind of music.
In the end, I suppose this is due not to some kind of hidden magic (actually, I never believe in 'hidden magic' - leave that crap for Trout Mask Replica lovers), but rather to a number of small details, each of which is not too significant on its own, but taken altogether they make the record really work. There's Garcia's soulful, gentle, emotional voice that's very inviting. There's the lyrics, more often interesting and intriguing than not (by the way, the absolute majority of songs on here were penned by the Garcia-Hunter team). There's the fact that the melodies, while not being exceedingly catchy, are almost always a wee bit untrivial - it looks like the Dead were taking generic patterns and always taking care to make a few twists here and there so that they wouldn't turn out generic in the end, thus not only making the album sound more surprising, but also more personal. There's the sparse, economic instrumentation which always allows the listener to concentrate on one or two instruments (very well placed in the mix) and enjoy the fullness of their sound instead of just having to swallow the whole 'package' like some tasteless medicine. And finally, there's the playing, particularly Jerry's tasteful slide work.
I mean, sure, one could always object and say that Garcia's voice can get monotonous, the lyrics don't mean a lot, the melodies are unmemorable, the sparse instrumentation isn't varying all that much, and there were tons of more professional musicians whose slide work was far more tasteful than Garcia's. But like I said, it's the combination of all this that matters; simply put, this is one of the most carefully crafted roots rock records that I've ever heard, and the most amazing thing is, even with all that immaculate craftsmanship, it still does not sound slick and lifeless, like some generic sterile country recording.
Well, I suppose I just put all that lengthy analysis because I couldn't say all that much about the actual songs, could I? More or less so. Okay, first of all, despite all the praise, I could still easily live without the two slow acoustic shuffles, each on one side ('High Time' and 'Black Peter', two excellent cures for insomnia, although nowhere near as appalling as 'Attics Of My Life' on the next record). I'm also not terribly impressed by the album opener, 'Uncle John's Band', even it does have a nice, intimate vibe about it and went on to become one of the band's stage favourites.
But the rest is good. The faster songs boogie along and make you tap your foot and revel in their subtle malevolence, particularly 'New Speedway Boogie' which is quite malevolent indeed; and the guitar interplay on 'Cumberland Blues' really gets me going as well. 'Easy Wind' overdoes the chaotic jamming section at the end a bit, but at least it's not that chaotic jamming that we usually associate with the Dead; otherwise, it's another good mid-tempo rocker. But the real highlights of the album are, without a doubt, 'Dire Wolf' and 'Casey Jones'. 'Dire Wolf', in fact, gives me the creeps - it's structured as a pleasant, laid-back soft country rocker with homely slide guitar homely sliding in the background, but the chorus? 'Don't murder me, I beg you, you don't murder me, please don't murder me', sung in Garcia's nicest tone ever. Woof, pretty scary, and a worthy predecessor to the even more grappling 'Friend Of The Devil' on American Beauty. And 'Casey Jones'? It tells the story of an engineer who's driving a train "under intoxication" and gets into a lethal accident, but that would be hard to guess from the playful, 'lightweight' melody (the catchiest refrain on the album, for sure). Imagine that.
Of course, their next album would seriously build on this foundation, with the Dead somewhat expanding their territory and drawing on more styles and moods, so anybody looking for this band's "studio wonders" should first look up American Beauty. But no fans of American Beauty will ever be disappointed in Workingman's Dead, that's for sure.

(by George Starostin, Only Solitaire)

Robert Hunter's Grateful Dead writing partner Jerry Garcia took a major role on his second album, producing and arranging the songs and playing guitar. The result was a more consistent, listenable album than Hunter's debut, Tales Of The Great Rum Runners. Hunter sang in a somewhat more natural, assured voice on these mostly country-flavored tracks that sometimes recalled the Dead's Workingmans Dead and American Beauty albums, though he continued to strain to reach high notes. As usual, the imagery in Hunter's lyrics was rich and poetic, with a Western tone. (Despite the improvement in his singing, Hunter took the occasion of a Rykodisc reissue of Tiger Rose in 1988 to record new vocals over the instrumental tracks. Released in 1989, this version of the album is reviewed separately.)

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

Run for the Roses is the last of the studio albums to have come from the Jerry Garcia Band, even though the combo would continue to tour for another 13 years. Sadly, it is also Garcia's most lightweight effort as a bandleader. The disc certainly features a few distinct and redeemable moments; however, taken as whole there are far too many marginal performances for it to be deemed as thoroughly captivating as any of his previous solo work — especially the wholly inspired Cats Under the Stars (1978). Along with John Kahn (bass/fretless bass/synthesizer/piano/clavinet/guitar/slide guitar/electric guitar/co-producer), Garcia chose some interesting cover tunes — such as the impotently executed "I Saw Her Standing There" and the underachieving "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" — the latter of which would become increasingly effective as a live vehicle for the Garcia Band as well as the Grateful Dead during the ensuing years (an ultimate acoustic rendition can be found on the highly recommended and infamous Pizza Tapes from 2000). There are several highlights from the Garcia/Robert Hunter canon, whose brilliance ultimately makes Run for the Roses a justifiable release. Chief among them is the title track, which bops along at an agile pace and formally introduces the effusive organ fills and licks that typify Melvin Seals' style of aggressive interaction with Garcia. Hunter is up to his old lyrical insinuations and poetic ambiguity on "Run for the Roses." Couplets such as "If you got the do-re I got the mi/And I got a notion we're all at sea" are as poignant and poetic as they are Dadaist, reflecting the inherent beauty of Hunter's lyrical prowess. "Valerie" is another standout track; it's a slightly tweaked song dealing with the extremes of an unrequited love. Garcia's vocal is one of his best on this release and perfectly fits the hang-dog mood and persona that Hunter so aptly depicts in the narrative. Both tracks quickly became enthusiasts' favorites and remained in the core rotation of the Garcia Band's performance songbook. On an aesthetic level, Run for the Roses is also notable for the disconcerting artwork by Bay Area visual artist Victor Moscoso. While die-hard enthusiasts may feel as if the disc has more to offer than mentioned above, when contrasted with the material's perpetual on-stage evolution this album falls short of the high standards set by Garcia's earlier studio efforts.

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Maybe it was the addition of Jerry Garcia as lead guitarist or just Hunter's growing experience as a singer/ songwriter, but Liberty was a quantum leap from his earlier albums. The backup band was lively and tight (special kudos to drummer David Mann), and Hunter had written a set of playful lyrics, carefully never overwriting and often alluding to earlier folk and rock tunes. (Amazingly, the excellent, album-closing "When A Man Loves A Woman" did not refer to the '60s hit—Hunter claimed never to have heard it when he wrote his song.) He sang with a propulsive energy, such that, on a major label with proper promotion, a song like "Do Deny (Lying Man)" might have had a chance on radio. (If the Grateful Dead had cut it, it would have made a great followup to their 1987 Top Ten hit "Touch Of Grey," co-written by Garcia and Hunter.) Unfortunately, Liberty was the last album of new song material Hunter had produced as of 1996.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

After the passing of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and the venerable band's demise, it was percussionist Mickey Hart who proved to be the most creatively resilient. As Deadheads and appreciators of world music can attest, Hart — who is also an author and learned ethnomusicologist — has been fusing genres ever since his debut release, 1972's Rolling Thunder, which included Native American sounds and motifs along with rock and jazz. Mickey Hart's Mystery Box harks back to that project with his first album of pop-oriented material in nearly a quarter-century. He combines the seemingly disparate world of percussion-based rhythms with traditional "Western-style" structures containing lyrics by Grateful Dead wordsmith Robert Hunter. All the more diverse are the contributions of the Mint Juleps. This female vocal sextet features siblings Debbie Charles, Elizabeth Charles, Marcia Charles, and Sandra Charles as well as Julie Isaac and Debbie Longworth. Collectively, their paradisaical harmonies support Hart's occasional leads, while they're effectively incorporated as primary participants on the infectious groove of the opener, "Where Love Goes (Sito)," and the new wave vibe of "Full Steam Ahead," which is reminiscent of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. The Hart-sung "Down the Road" offers a nod to the late Garcia and provides a focal point for Hunter's obviously heartfelt tribute. "Only the Strange Remain" resembles something similar to a latter-era Dead song, bringing to mind "West L.A. Fadeaway" and "Days Between," both in terms of Hunter's piercing insight and a practically tangible noir feeling permeating throughout. The bombastic "John Cage Is Dead" is a masterful amalgam of percussive-heavy world beats in an undulating modern context. "The Last Song" is an apt conclusion as cultures once again collide, yielding a tune that wouldn't have sounded out of place on urban contemporary radio. As the name of this 1996 release suggests, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box has a little something for every taste and reinforces the Grateful Dead adage "Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Zero's self-titled fifth album is their second collaboration with the Grateful Dead's songwriter Robert Hunter. This phenomenal work showcases the music diversity of the band as well as Hunter's brilliant lyrics. The album's upbeat opening number "Pit o' Thunder" is a hard-driving blues-rock tune about racing. Songs like this are balanced out with the psychedelic ballad "Spoken Four," which ends with a brilliant spiraling guitar solo by Steve Kimock. The album also tackles political issues with the song "Possession." It has more of a grunge rock feel than most of the group's other work. The lyrics take aim at the problems of mandatory sentencing on drug charges: "I never had a nose for crime/But someone passed a joint one day/Now I'm doing federal time." In the years before Zero joined up with Hunter they were mainly an instrumental outfit, but for this album they only included two, the traditional Latin song "Sun, Sun, Sun" and the group's own "Kissing the Boo-boo." Zero contains no weak tracks and is definitely one of the artistic high points of Zero's career.

(by Curtis Zimmermann, All Music Guide)

seit etwa 5 Jahren arbeitet Lauderdale phasenweise mit dem ehemaligen Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead-Obertexter Robert Hunter zusammen, auf allen jüngeren Alben ist mindestens eine derartige Teamarbeit zu hören gewesen. Nun der große Showdown: Alle 13 Tracks sind brandneue Kompositionen der beiden Musiker, die eigentlich aus sehr unterschiedlichen Ecken der Americana-Historie stammen. Nicht nur in den stark umrissenen Charakteren von 'Sandy Ford (Barbara Lee)', 'Trashcan Tomcat', 'Crazy Peg And Darby Doyle' oder 'Joanne' ist Hunter's deutliche Handschrift gut zu hören. Lauderdale singt wie immer göttlich in seinem ganz eigenen Kosmos zwischen Folk, Country und Bluegrass, verbindet Tradition und Moderne wie kein anderer in diesem Bereich! Die Begleitung ist wieder exzeptionell: Darrell Scott, Bryan Sutton, Byron House, Tim O'Brien, David Rawlings & Gillian Welch, Pat McGrath, Bucky Baxter, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Allison Moorer und auf 'Upside Down', der einzigen elektrischen Roots Rock-Nummer, Donna The Buffalo. Wieder sehr, sehr empfehlenswert!!

(Glitterhouse)

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One of the most immediately notable things about the ever-prolific Jim Lauderdale's Headed for the Hills is who's not listed on the cover: lyricist Robert Hunter. Hunter does not perform on the set, but he co-wrote every song. If you are incredulous in wondering why Hunter should receive a billing credit, the answer is simple: there is an elegance and beauty to this album that would never have existed without him. Lauderdale is a fine songwriter, but he does not possess the romantic historical classicism and formalism that Hunter does. In fact, with the possible exception of Bob Dylan, no one in American roots music does. On first listen, what grips the listener is how much of a piece these songs are. They feel like a song cycle of life slices from the rural edges of American life. Rich with guitars, fiddles, harmony vocals, mandolins, and a distinct lack of drums, this is back porch, Saturday night music, played among friends while observing the passing day, the surrounding terrain, legends, and the places in the heart that are not easily given over to conversation. Hunter is a master at communicating the interconnectedness of all three; he has the ability to make the commonplace epic, which he does with Lauderdale's stunning, out-of-antiquity melodies. But this is a stretch for Hunter too; there is no slow California stroll in his approach because Lauderdale's melodies are rooted in the urgency of rural and mountain music from the Civil War as well as modern bluegrass and antiquated American folk songs derived from Anglo-Celtic balladry. Lauderdale understands tradition in a way few modern songwriters do -- he's not interested in taming it for the sake of palatability, or taking away its weird, unsettling alien power. There are a boatload of guests on this set, including instrumentalists Darrell Scott, Tim O'Brien, Donna the Buffalo, and David Rawlings, as well as singers Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Allison Moorer. While there are at least three core bands on these sessions, almost all the songs feel like they were recorded in a single session with the exception of the closer, "Upside Down," with Donna the Buffalo providing their own quirky brand of accompaniment. While there are no thruway tracks, standouts include "Paint and Glass," "Headed for the Hills," "Tales From the Sad Hotel," "High Timberline," and "Joanne."

(by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)

Eigentlich hatte man erwartet, dass Dylan mit Album Nummer 46 weitermacht in der Richtung die seine letzen beiden Alben Love & Theft und Modern Times vorgaben: Zeitlose, souveräne Blues- und Folk-Songs wie aus der Prä-Rock&Roll-Ära. Ein Bruch ist Together Through Life nun nicht geworden, aber Dylan setzt viele überraschende neue Akzente: Da sind die prägnanten Texmex-Klänge mit dem Akkordeon David Hidalgos von Los Lobos und die ganze Grundstimmung des Albums - man fühlt sich wie auf einer Reise an der mexikanischen Grenze entlang, mit Dylan, Robert Johnson und Tom Waits als Reisepartner. Neu auch, dass die Songs vom Grateful-Dead-Songschreiber Robert Hunter mitverfasst wurden. Und vor allem: Die Songs treffen noch viel stärker ins Herz als auf den letzen beiden Alben - dort wo sich beim Hören auf Modern Times Ehrfurcht und Hochachtung einstellten fließt bei Together Through Life Herzblut.

Ein fantastisches Album - ob Together Through Life nun "das Beste, Schönste und Größte, was der Meister in den letzten dreißig Jahren seinem Publikum ausgeliefert hat" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) ist oder einfach nur ein Werk, das mit Alben wie Oh Mercy und Time Out Of Mind, den großen Dylan-Werken der 80er und 90er, auf einer Stufe steht ist dabei an sich gleichgültig.

(Hanno Güntsch, amazon)

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Blues reinsten Quellwassers bestimmte zuletzt das musikalische Oeuvre Bob Dylans. Nach zehn Jahren scheint sich der Anachronist daran abgearbeitet zu haben und vermischt auf seinem neuen Album "Together Through Life" TexMex und Americana. Zeitenwende? Epilog? Oder nur ein cleverer Schachzug?

Zwar schrieb Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney den famosen Song "The Long And Winding Road", einem anderen schien er aber wie auf den Leib geschneidert: Vor knapp zwanzig Jahren versankt Bob Dylan in der Bedeutungslosigkeit und wer ihm die Stange hielt, galt entweder als Ewiggestriger oder taub auf beiden Ohren. Der ehemals begnadete Songwriter verkraftete die Achtziger ebenso wenig wie viele seiner Kollegen und weigerte sich mit Kräften, irgendwelchen Trends zu folgen - egal ob es sich um Aufnahme- oder Gesangstechnik handelte. Stattdessen nahm er zwei dubiose Coveralben auf, die er Anfang der Neunziger unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit herausbrachte.

Doch sowohl "Good As I Been To You" (1992), als auch "World Gone Wrong" (1993) gaben ihm ungeahnte Kreativitätsschübe und selbst heute rätseln eine Reihe Musikwissenschaftler, ob seine Interpretationen uralter amerikanischer Folk-Songs das eigentliche Comeback von His Bobness darstellen. Welches offiziell erst mit "Time Out Of Mind" von 1997 eintrat: Jener düsteren Kontemplation, die in elf erschütternden Tiraden das Gesamtwerk von Kierkegaard und Schopenhauer umfasste. Anschließend widmete sich Dylan dem Blues und wurde zu der Ikone, die selbst Spätgeborene verehren.

Als Anfang des Jahres das Gerücht die Runde machte, "Seine Unantastbarkeit" sei im Studio zu Gange, kursierten in Foren, Blogs und auf diversen Fan-Pages die wildesten Gerüchte: Wird es eine Fortsetzung des 2006 erschienenen "Modern Times"? Präsentiert sich Dylan wieder als Kulturkritiker und prangert die Postmoderne an? Erstaunlicherweise ist "Together Through Life" nichts von alledem, denn schon das Cover - ein Foto von einem über den Highway brausenden Truck mit einem wild knutschenden Pärchen, geschossen vom Magnum-Fotografen Bruce Davidson - verwundert und treibt sämtliche Spekulationen in eine andere Richtung: Glaubt der Schwarzseher wider Willen plötzlich an die Liebe?

Ganz so abwegig ist der Gedanke nicht, denn im Opener heißt es: "I love you pretty baby/ You're the only love I've ever known/ Just as long as you stay with me/ The whole world is my throne". Eine Liebes-Hommage der rohen und desillusionierenden Art, denn kurz vor Schluss revidiert Dylan trocken: "Beyond here lies nothing/ Nothing we can call our own". Und doch bringt dieser Song eine ungewohnte Spielfreude mit sich - Akkordeon, Violinen und gelegentliche Trompeten erschaffen einen ungewohnt ruppigen Sound. Der auch die nachfolgenden Stücke prägt - welche sich allesamt der Liebe, der Verführung und der Erinnerung widmen. Nichts wirklich Neues und trotzdem hätten die wenigsten ein Trinkerlied wie "Shake Shake Mama" vom 67-jährigen Bob Dylan erwartet.

Als wolle er den Fuß nicht vom Gas nehmen, präsentiert sich selbst die herzzerreißende Ballade "I Feel A Change Comin' On" getrieben und rastlos. Völlig überraschend singt Dylan sogar! Zuletzt schien seine Stimme in eine Art Sprechgesang versunken und nun wagt er sich zum ersten Mal seit gefühlten zwei Dekaden zurück zur Melodie. "Some people they tell me/ I've got the blood of the land in my voice", bekräftigt das Stück und lässt den Eindruck entstehen, hier zimmere jemand sein eigenes Denkmal. Eine erneute Fehleinschätzung: "Everybody got all the flowers/ I don't have one single rose".

Ja, es ist Bob Dylan in Reinform, der auf "Together Through Life" zehn Songs entwirft, die genauso aus der Zeit fallen, wie sie großartiger nicht sein könnten. Er muss niemanden mehr etwas beweisen, den Aufrechten Gang haben wir längst verlernt. Ob es jedoch wirklich eine Sommerplatte ist, wie viele Magazine behaupten, wird sich in den kommenden Monaten herausstellen.

Eigentlich egal, denn sein 33tes Studioalbum ist ein philosophisches Meisterwerk: Es katapultiert Dylan - getreu seines antizyklischen Songwritings - in bislang ungeahnte Sphären. Together through life, indeed!

(motor.de)

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More so than Modern Times - a good record, but one which lacked a 24-carat humdinger, a Mississippi or a Love Sick - Together Through Life is an album that gets its hooks in early and refuses to let go. It's dark yet comforting, with a big tough sound, booming slightly like a band grooving at a soundcheck in an empty theatre. And at its heart there is a haunting refrain. Because above everything this is a record about love, its absence and its remembrance.

(Mojo. ****)

For what they describe as their first studio album in 20 years, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, as "revived" in 2005, consist of founding member David Nelson (vocals, guitar); Buddy Cage, who took over from Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar after the first album in 1971; and three newbies, guitarist Michael Falzarano, bassist Ronnie Penque, and drummer Johnny Markowski. (Conspicuous by his absence is co-founder John Dawson, who is said to be retired.) Falzarano, who has made a career out of supporting musicians of the '60s San Francisco Sound (he was also a latter day member of Hot Tuna), produced the album. He gets two compositions, both of which he sings, and Penque and Markowski get one each, also displaying their lead vocal abilities. But the heart of the album — seven songs out of 12 — is the work of the new songwriting team of Nelson and Robert Hunter. The teaming itself is not new at all. Nelson and Hunter played together, along with Garcia, in folk and country bands in Palo Alto in the early '60s, prior to the formation of the Grateful Dead, for which Hunter served as primary lyricist. But as songwriters, this is a new association, and a happy one, as Hunter comes up with his typically aphoristic, imagistic, and vernacular words (particularly on the title song) and Nelson matches them with catchy, country-tinged melodies that the band plays in frisky country-rock roadhouse arrangements. This may be San Francisco music, but Bakersfield doesn't seem far away as the guitars go twangy and Cage plays down the weepy side of the pedal steel in favor of something more stinging. These New Riders jam a bit more than the original ensemble, and they also rock a bit more. Put it this way: the final track, "Rockin' with Nona" could segue into "Six Days on the Road" without missing a beat or, nearly, changing the chord pattern. It wouldn't be surprising if, in concert, it does.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

... nach all den vielen Bluegrass-Projekten der letzten Jahre, all den Country-, Country Pop- und Folk-Alben überrascht der bekannte Nashville-Crooner/Songwriter auf seinem 19. Werk seit 1991 (!!) mit einer ungewohnt satten, kräftigen, rockigen Americana/Country Rock/Roots-Mischung, die einen von der ersten Sekunde an richtig packt. Wie schon auf der 2004er 'Headed For The Hills' (und vereinzelt auf so manchen anderen CDs) wurden alle 13 neuen Tracks in fester und deutlich herausgestellter Zusammenarbeit mit dem ehemaligen Grateful Dead-Lyriker Robert Hunter geschrieben. 13 absolute Klasse-Songs, die neben Country in vielen Schattierungen jede Menge Southern Soul (Muscle Shoals bis Memphis) in sich tragen und etwa 50/50 aus Balladen und rock'n'rolligen schnelleren Stücken bestehen. Lauderdale und Hunter sind ein wahres Traumpaar, wenn es darum geht, bildstarke, wortreiche Geschichten in 4 Minuten zu verpacken - das ist dann schlicht allerallerhöchste Erzählkunst! Habe ich sicher schon oft getan, aber ich muss hier wieder mal Lauderdale's unglaubliche gesangliche Vielseitigkeit betonen. Wie kaum ein anderer ist er in der Lage, sich auf das jeweilige Songfeeling einzustellen, seiner Stimme verschiedenste Klangfarben zu entlocken. Keine Frage natürlich, dass er wieder nur die besten Musiker zur Verfügung hat: Kenny Vaughan, James Burton und Doug Lancio an den elektrischen Gitarren, Al Perkins oder Robby Turner an der Pedal Steel, dazu John Jarvis, John Deaderick, Garry Tallent, Byron House, Chad Cromwell, Bryan Owings, Ron Tutt, Stuart Duncan, Jim Hoke, als Harmony Singers Ann & Regina McCrary sowie Patty Griffin. Hochgradig überzeugend, ja, ich habe den Eindruck, dieser Typ wird immer noch ein bisschen besser!!

(Glitterhouse)

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Jim Lauderdale has never been known to shy away from a worthwhile collaboration, having cut some outstanding sessions with bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley and sat in with a broad range of artists from Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam to Solomon Burke and Elvis Costello. And Patchwork River finds Lauderdale teaming up once again with Robert Hunter, with whom he previously collaborated on 2004's Headed for the Hills. Patchwork River features 13 new songs Lauderdale wrote in tandem with Hunter, best known for his work as a lyricist with the Grateful Dead. As one of the few men in Nashville with the courage of his country music convictions these days, Lauderdale moves significantly closer to rock & roll than usual on this album, though this music is still strong, rootsy stuff, with a potent, bluesy undercurrent audible on "Louisville Roll," "Jawbone," and the title tune, and plenty of full-on guitar howling on "Winonna." (Don't fret, "Between Your Heart and Mine" and "Far in the Far Away" demonstrate Lauderdale still writes a great country tune.) These songs are clearly collaborations between two writers, but Lauderdale's melodies bend themselves to the armature of Hunter's elliptical wordplay on Patchwork River, and the rhythms of the tunes sometimes recall Hunter's work with Jerry Garcia, even though Lauderdale's vocals are as distinctive as ever and his own melodic sense is clearly felt. Given the lyrics Hunter has written for this project, it wouldn't have been at all difficult to turn Patchwork River into a pseudo-Dead album in the manner of Workingman's Dead or American Beauty, and to his credit that's not what Jim Lauderdale has done, any more than he did on the previous Headed for the Hills. While it sounds and feels like a different sort of Lauderdale album, Patchwork River is still his own work, and on this second outing with Hunter he's allowed the partnership to inform his music without robbing it of his individual spirit, and similarly he hasn't diluted Hunter's poetic sensibility in the process.

(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)