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Topic: Greg Leisz on new Plant / Krauss Album |
Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 11:42 am |
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I'm really enjoying Greg's work on the newly released Robert Plant / Alison Krauss album.
Very modern and untraditional, as you'd expect from this pairing. I dig it! Hopefully it will open more ears to the sound of PSG in contempary music.
There's sound samples at
http://www.rounder.com/raising-sand/
Congrats Greg! (and your singers) |
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Greg Simmons
From:
where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 1:01 pm
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I noted that T-Bone Burnett was producing, and with folks like Greg Leisz and Marc Ribot on board (not to mention the pipes of Ms. Krauss and Mr. Plant) I picked it up the other day, and it's a great album - esp. like their take on Gene Clark's "Through the Morning, Through the Night" 
_________________
<i>�Head full of this kaleidoscope of brain-freight, Heart full of something simple and slow�</i>
-Mark Heard
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 2:32 pm
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| thanx for the samples...r. plant was smart to pair up with allison and greg, etc. plus that was one of my favorite songs from the dillard and clark albums...however, plant's contribution to this seems totally forgettable...and pales shamefully when held up next to allison and union station live with jerry d. ...which has the most magically perfect groove and soul i've ever heard.....yeah, i know...it's not supposed to be competing with that...but i'm sure robert was hoping her beauty would mask his lack of it! |
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Greg Simmons
From:
where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 2:40 pm
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So in other words Chris, not a whole lotta love for Robert Plant? 
_________________
<i>�Head full of this kaleidoscope of brain-freight, Heart full of something simple and slow�</i>
-Mark Heard
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Alex McCollough
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 4:54 pm
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The shame is, as vibey and laid back as it is, it's as loud as the newest Rascall Flatts CD...and the vinyl is worse (distorted, boomy, unfocused).
the same thing happened with the vinyl pressings of Lee Ann Womack's "There's More Where That Came From".
For some reason, every CD needs to be louder than the one before it in the CD changer...
It's an album with cool production, great songs, and great players...but bordering on unlistenable because of the massive volume, and as a result, the distortion.
It seems as though the record labels have forgotten that we have a volume control on our stereos so that we can turn it up if we want...
sorry for the rant... |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 4:57 pm
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sorry...nothing personal.....maybe i'm old enough to be senile now, but it kinda ticks me off that perhaps robert plant and kid rock can get country airplay, but merle haggard can't and allison probably can't in her own pure acoustic medium.
doesn't anyone see the irony in this?
i like greg leisz. saw him with the crazy danny barnes banjo guy not too long ago.....very entertaining. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 5:26 pm
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I dunno - I like it. I think Plant sounds fine with Allison. The whole thing is very atmospheric and shows a lot of interesting influences. The recording quality of the mp3s sounds OK to me, if a little grainy. But I'm used to playing a lot of old vinyl, so that doesn't really bug me much.
This is not country music, and I don't see how it competes in any way with it. It may or may not have a large audience, but I absolutely don't see how this detracts from Haggard or Allison's other work. I also can't imagine speaking about this is the same breath with Kid Rock.
YMMV, that's what makes the world go around. |
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Alex McCollough
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 25 Oct 2007 9:14 pm
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Oh, I can handle pops, clicks, and general old vinyl sounds (90% of what I listen to is vinyl; old and new). It's the distortion from overcompression and limiting (to get it so loud) that wears me out.
But I think that the album would be great if not for that one point. I've always loved T-Bone Burnett's production, and I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan (I think that his vocals are great on the whole album). |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 26 Oct 2007 8:17 am
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"it kinda ticks me off that perhaps robert plant and kid rock can get country airplay, but merle haggard can't and allison probably can't in her own pure acoustic medium."
Good point Chris - I heartily agree.
I also agree about the bombastic sound (level.) It wears one down very quickly.
Greg is a wonderful player, but here his (over?)use of the volume pedal sounds almost amateurish at times, IMO of course. Flame away, y'all ... |
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tom anderson
From:
leawood, ks., usa
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Posted 26 Oct 2007 2:33 pm
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| I love this pairing & have not ever enjoyed Robert Plant as much since the first! Led Zeppelin record, but I ordered the vinyl copy of this & the mix sucks-way too much bass. I will probably have to download it on I-tunes to get something that sounds OK. I love they did two obscure Gene Clark songs & two Everly Brothers songs. I would go see this concert in a second. |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2007 6:05 pm
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| Holy cow! This is a real find. I would never have thought of these two together. And what an all-star list of players. Sheesh! Thanks for posting it. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 9:01 am
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I also noticed the distortion, it is a bit annoying. Sort of made it sound like a vinyl record with surface noise, to me. I agree they should have left more headroom, but it's not the dynamics that bothered me - just the distortion artifacts.
In fact, I think the playing- and vocal-dynamics are good. I assume they didn't have control of the mastering. My old band just finished an indy CD, sent it out for mastering, and it came back absolutely horribly compressed and messed up - I think that's just SOP these days. To the producer's credit, he refused the master and told them to un-screw it up, which they did. But if this was for a major (or even a major-minor like Rounder), would he have been allowed to do this? I suspect that the sad reality is that if a record is not mastered to the "correct" radio volume level, it will hurt airplay potential.
As far as Greg Liesz' playing goes - no flames, but I like what I heard on the mp3s. I thought the volume pedal swells fit what was going on. This is all a matter of taste, IMO.
Overall, I think this record is one of many good signs for the future. |
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P Gleespen
From:
Toledo, OH USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 9:16 am
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I picked it up yesterday, I'm really enjoying it so far.
Greg's steel playing is very nice, I think it's just right for the tunes.
I think the pairing of Allison and Robert works out surprisingly well, and ol' Bob's voice sounds better on this sort of thing than I'da thought. There were a couple times when I thought he was going to go into his full on "rock voice" which would've been pretty entertaining. Thankfully he's either too old or too wise to pull THAT outta his bag of tricks.
So, IS this actually getting airplay on country radio?
_________________
Patrick |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 11:43 am
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| I guess I'll have to be more specific - darn these emails! I have no bones to pick over Greg's playing overall, but I, (for one, apparently,) was taking exception with his use of the volume pedal to "fade in" his attack on the ballad licks - something you might expect to hear from a less experienced player than Greg... hey, just my own personal opinion anyway. |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 12:14 pm
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on "Through the Morning" it kind of sounds like the steel and the lead guitar are playing on top of eachother instead of taking turns. Just seems like another take wouldn't have killed them. Greg sounds really good though.
_________________
1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 4:14 pm
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I have not heard the CD or even the cut mentioned here, but if, in fact, it is currently being offered on current so-called country media, it serves to reinforce my rambling on this thread http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=116804&highlight=countryI love Allison and AKUS, but if it takes up space that could be best used by featuring the masters and/or pioneers of country music, I reiteriate that those in power are not interested in maintaining fidelity and are only concerned with catering to the teeny bopper contingent.
Chris, I do see the irony, but submit that noone really gives a damn. I continue to contend that the category remains a dumping ground for washed up rock stars et al., that have no current audience and nowhere else to go. With all due respect to Miss Krauss and Greg, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
Last edited by Jerry Overstreet on 27 Oct 2007 5:16 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Alex McCollough
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 4:46 pm
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| It's not Robert Plant and Alison Krauss keeping Merle Haggard off of current country radio. |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 5:00 pm
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True Alex, but as long as listeners continue to accept the diluted mix offered by artists and radio lists, it ain't gonna change anytime soon. There needs to be a movement to demand definition and separation regarding classics country and other fringe music for the sake of posterity, if nothing else.
Last edited by Jerry Overstreet on 28 Oct 2007 12:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 10:58 pm
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| Quote: |
| ... but if it takes up space that could be best used by featuring the masters and/or pioneers of country music, I reiteriate that those in power are not interested in maintaining fidelity and are only concerned with catering to the teeny bopper contingent. |
Maintaining fidelity of what? Popular radio? Country radio? Why should they? Popular music has always been about selling something, IMO. If people don't continue to support a style, it evolves or dies.
Let me assure you, I'm not a teenybopper. But I would consider this type of record a huge improvement over what I believe is routine on any commercial radio in any style right now. I don't see any chance that mainstream commercial radio is going to suddenly start focusing on 40-60 year old country music by the masters and pioneers, no matter how much you or I would like to see that happen. I actually tend to doubt that even this type of CD will have much traction in the mainstream music world, but I hope I'm wrong.
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| ... as long as listeners continue to accept the diluted mix offered by artists and radio lists, it ain't gonna change anytime soon. There needs to be a movement to demand definition and separation regarding classics country and other fringe music for the sake of prosperity, it nothing else. |
Whose prosperity? None of us can control what others want to hear or how they label it. This is a free society, and people of a different mindset can also listen to and advocate anything they want. Like it or not - for all intents and purposes, what we call "classic country" is not even a blip on the mainstream radar.
We can start any "movement" any time we want, but the issue is to gain converts. IMO, trying to maintain "stylistic purity" will only further alienate would-be converts. I think many, if not most, need a bridge to the past. A good example is late-60s white-boy American and English blues as a bridge to real-deal progenitors like Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, B.B., Albert, and Freddie King, and so on. The best of these "kids" went on to be powerful blues artists in their own right, and also pointed the way to the real deal. Blues continues to thrive, in large part because of this bridge and the symbiotic relationship that developed between generations of performers. I think Allison Krauss is such a performer in the country context. I view this type of cross-collaboration as very positive and potentially brings in new listeners from other areas.
But even more to the point - frankly, the history of American popular music like country music is not one of "stylistic purity". Nearly all of these styles have borrowed from each other and other things going on at the time, and have evolved heavily over the decades. If we try to freeze-dry it, it effectively dies and becomes a museum-piece. Popular music is not a historical artifact, but a living, breathing art form.
All my opinions, of course.
Last edited by Dave Mudgett on 27 Oct 2007 11:10 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Alex McCollough
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 11:06 pm
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we live in a time where it feels as though a classic country cut on a contemporary country station is almost a novelty. classic country and current country really seem like two separate genres...much like classic rock and current rock. the way that that situation seemed to resolve (at least for rock and roll) was the creation of classic rock stations that catered exclusively to people that wanted to hear older rock songs.
personally, i listen to very little radio, and when i do, it tends to be the satellite type. i choose to support a medium that is more in line with what i want to hear rather than hoping and praying that standard free radio will somehow change it's programming to a type of music that corporate country radio program directors (some of whom couldn't even name five merle haggard hits) feel wouldn't sell advertising...not that what's played would be up to the program director anyway.
i hope that the robert plant and alison krauss album gets pitched to country radio...it would be refreshing to me, and it probably stands a much better chance of getting played than a current album by a classic country artist (which is unfortunate, but true).
it may not be the country music that i know and love, but it's alot closer to it than 90% of the stuff that country stations play now. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 11:21 pm
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Ah - yeah - posterity makes more sense. Well - nobody can take away the "classic" music from Hank to Haggard to Dwight. It's there and well-archived, for anybody that wants it. But what plays on commercial broadcasting is quite another thing. That requires a large enough market for programmers to see green.
I think the problem is one of scale. Blues and bluegrass have long been content to work outside of the big mainstream, while country always wanted to be a "big dog". That worked for a while, but things have evolved. I think there's room for "classic country" if it accepts a much smaller role - more along the size of the blues and bluegrass markets - and does the same kind of grass-roots niche marketing done there. |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2007 11:49 pm
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Regarding the small niche market that Dave mentions, I hope he's right, and I believe he is. With all of the great stuff coming along with indies and the internet, I believe there will be improved ways of getting the best to gain visibility. And that's one reason I cruise SGF: to find out about the new stuff. When guys like Joey introduce me to something, I pay attention.
I just hope that players in the small market can make a decent living at it. I believe anybody who works hard and is good at it should be able to get medical insurance and buy a house. We have great players here in Phoenix, but they are stuck in bars. To me, that seems like a hard life. So I'm hoping that enough money will soon flow to the small market. |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 28 Oct 2007 4:53 am
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Thanks Darryl.
I tend to agree with all of Dave's comments about this album.
This is a good thing for Steel Guitar's further acceptance / exposure.
I don't think Country radio will embrace this album.
It's not pop enough, which is a good thing, IMO.
There's a video about the making of the album at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5KF4dKq-6I |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 28 Oct 2007 7:54 am
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"If people don't continue to support a style, it evolves or dies."
In this case, Dave, it seems to be doing both, (IMO.) |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 28 Oct 2007 8:39 am Please Stay On Topic
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This thread isn't about the preservation of traditional Country Music.
There's plenty of those over in the music section.
Please don't hi-jack my thread. |
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