Analogue Productions Folk 8 Items

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Nils Lofgren in 1997 released a small treasure for longtime fans. "Acoustic Live" captures Lofgren alone in front of an appreciative audience, knocking out such favorites as "You", "No Mercy" and "Keith Don't Go", plus six new songs. Even with the new songs, there are no real revelations, only a selection of little gems that will put a smile on your face as you listen.
Along with his work as a solo artist, Lofgren has marked more than 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band as well as a former member of Crazy Horse and Grin. Lofgren joined Neil Young's band in 1968 at age 17, playing piano on the album "After The Gold Rush". Lofgren would maintain a close musical relationship with Young, appearing on his "Tonight's The Night" album and tour among others. He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalogue. From '71 to '74 Lofgren was active in Grin, the band he founded in '69. Solo albums and tours followed every year through the 1970s as Lofgren established himself as a top guitarist and live performer earning the respect and acclaim of his peers. Bruce Springsteen made the call in 1984 and Lofgren joined the E-Street Band for the "Born In The USA" tour. Lofgren was an instant hit with Springsteens fans through his playing and vibrant on stage persona. Lofgren remains a stalwart of the E-Street Band to the present day.
»"Acoustic Live" is an interesting and charming album from Nils Lofgren in 1997 as he follow on in the Unplugged tradition that became popular in the 1990s. It was actually recorded at The Barns Of Wolftrap, Vienna in Virginia on January 18th, 1997.« — bestlivealbums.com

Cowboy Junkies recorded this spectacular LP as a 'live‘ event Nov. 27, 1987 at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. It was recorded with a digital R-Dat and using only a Calrec Ambisonic Microphone.
Yes, this is a digital recording. True to our company principles, Analogue Productions in almost all cases reissues recordings only where the analog master tape is available. However, there are rare exceptions that whether digitally recorded or otherwise, a recording is so outstanding it's worthy of the highest quality vinyl reissue.
Featuring the sultry voice of Margo Timmins, the precise musicianship of her brothers Peter (on drums) and Michael (on guitar), and bassist Alan Anton, "The Trinity Session“ is a spare, evocative, countrified-rock classic. First released in late 1988, The Trinity Session was named 'Album of the Year‘ by The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times described it as »a quiet, special record that challenges traditional music.« Rolling Stone declared the album to be »as important as it its inspiring.«
Today, it remains much more than a snapshot of a single day's work captured on tape. So for this deluxe Analogue Productions reissue, we pulled out all the stops. Starting with new mastering from the original session digital tapes by the original recording engineer, Peter Moore. And lacquer cutting by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound.
Next, we kicked up the packaging and content several notches. You're holding a heavyweight old-style tip-on Stoughton Printing jacket, and it has brand-new liner notes by author and music editor Jason Schneider. The liner notes share space with additional recording session photos, inside and on the back cover. Additionally, the cover has been redesigned to remove the lettering and photo distortion originally applied and make it appear as the musicians/artist originally intended. Lastly, this sonic treasure has been pressed on 200g vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, maker of the world's finest LPs, with stampers plated by master plating technician Gary Salstrom.
The inspired reworking of both "Blue Moon" and "Working On A Building" reveal the Timmins family to be talented interpreters and insightful neo-traditionalists. Mixing the ambitious songwriting of Margo and Michael Timmins with subdued covers of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "The Trinity Session“ is an exquisite collection that holds up quite well under repeated listenings.
»The ambient buzz of Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity, where the Junkies recorded the album around one microphone, colors every song, reinforcing the live setting and generating vinyl intimacy even on CD. It's as if the church itself was an instrument, one that Junkies could play pretty well. It allows Margo Timmins' voice to fill your field of vision, simultaneously soothing and unsettling, while her brother Michael's guitar rumbles through the songs, a little louder and sharper than anticipated.« — Pitchfork

A very difficult-to-find LP, originally released on a small, independent label. Originally released on a very limited run of vinyl. The original LPs are demanding a nice price on the Asian market. A beautiful recording with absolutely fantastic sound. Includes a performance of her hit song "Diamonds and Rust" as well as the audiophile classic "Famous Blue Raincoat." This may be an under-the-radar title, but it's a can't miss for the discerning audiophile. The album chronicles a show performed by Baez in a bullring, naturally, in Bilbao, Spain, in 1988, and it demonstates what makes her such a draw overseas. Half of the collection, side two of the LP, consists of songs sung in Spanish. Now we've upped the ante even more for true audiophile bliss — the 45 RPM 2LP version reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. Natural tonalities, superb balances, pristine clarity and more are all revealed. »This record was made in a bullring in Bilbao, Spain, in 1988. It is dedicated to the Mayor and the people of Bilbao, who came out between thunderstorms to see me perform. The song in Catalan "Txoria Txori" is about a sweet little bird ... I want to thank Pasku who taught it to me, and thank the Bilbao public for singing it so beautifully.« — Joan Baez. Illustrations by Joan Baez; additional vocals Mercedes Sosa.

"Country Hits...Feelin' Blue", released by Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1964, is a throwback — or as the liner notes to this country classic (perhaps Ford's best) say, »You don't hear much singing like this nowadays — just a voice with easy guitar and bass accompaniment«. But oh, what a voice. Ford's resonant-voiced baritone might be best known for his 1955 cover of Merle Travis' grim coal-mining song "Sixteen Tons“, with sales topping 4 million copies. The hit cemented Ford's place as one of America's top entertainers — a singer and TV host who enjoyed success during the 1950s, '60s and '70s in multiple musical genres — country, pop, and gospel.
He first guested on the Grand Ole Opry in 1950, and in 1953 he became the first country singer to appear at London's prestigious Palladium. Soon NBC hired him to emcee the television game show "Kollege of Musical Knowledge", and also to host his own weekday program. His subsequent prime-time network variety programs made »Bless your little pea-pickin' hearts« a household catch phrase and provided wide exposure for his musical renditions of great country and gospel favorites.
The songs chosen by Ford for "Country Hits...Feelin' Blue" are all favorites, some of the best tunes from the inspired pens of such country composers as Hank Williams, Fred Rose, Jenny Lou Carson, Willie Nelson, and Don Gibson. The album (one of Ford's favorite LPs) was recorded with backup provided by just two musicians; guitarist Billy Strange and bassist John Mosher.
Some of these songs go back to the start of Ford's career when he and Strange were working together as cast members of Los Angeles's "Hometown Jamboree" country music radio show. Mosher was a member of Ford's TV show band since its inception. Strange created the musical arrangements for "Country Hits...Feelin' Blue" — a quiet, simple get-together with the songs they had been playing and singing down through the years. That's why it's more than just another album. You can hear the affection and understanding coming through.
For this Analogue Productions reissue we turned to the experts who once again bring their stellar craftsmanship to the creation of a phenomenal-sounding release. Lacquers were cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio who mastered the LP from the original tape. Plating and 200-gram pressing was by our own Quality Record Pressings, makers of the world's finest-sounding LPs noted for their superior sonics and silent backgrounds. And nothing less than a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket would suit such a great LP.
Albums have been made with lots more people and lots more sound. But quantity never did mean quality. This is just a simple, great album. Great voice, great guitar and bass, and great songs — the best of each.

Winner of Best World Music Album in the 1994 Grammy Awards. The illustrated booklet [from the CD edition] contains four pages of notes describing the equipment used for the recording and background on Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt, Bhatt's mohan vina (an instrument he designed himself, featuring twelve sympathetic strings, three melody strings and five drone strings, played -like Cooder's guitar- with a slide), the recording and the circumstances that brought them together. The second drummer, Joachim Cooder, is Ry Cooder's son. NB: In the book that came with the 1993 [i]Trance Europe Express[/i] 2CD compilation, Alex Paterson of The Orb included this release among his top 12 ambient albums of all-time, adding "I only wish we [The Orb] could have produced some of this record. It would be a match made in heaven."

What praises haven't been lauded the immortal singing talent of the late, great Patsy Cline? She died at the height of her career, at age 30, with two other stars of the Grand Ole Opry, and her manager, in a private plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, on the group's return to Nashville from Kansas City. Before that ill-fated flight, though, she left a musical legacy as one of the most influential and successful female vocalists of the 20th Century.
In the late 1950s and the '60s, country music was essentially a singles medium. This album, first released in 1967, collects a dozen of Patsy's biggest hits — all of them from the country singles market — including "Walkin' After Midnight", "Sweet Dreams (Of You)", "Crazy", and "I Fall to Pieces".
Producer Owen Bradley surrounds Cline's full-throated, emotionally charged vocals with lush, sophisticated arrangements that set the standard for Nashville's 'countrypolitan' sound. And trust us, on this 200-gram QRP pressing, mastered by Sterling Sound, Cline's seductive vocals have never sounded clearer or richer.
Cline's life and career has been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays. She has sold millions of albums through the past 50 years, giving her an iconic fan status, similar to that of country artists such as Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service honored her, along with Hank Williams, on a U.S. postage stamp. And in 1995 she was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Cline was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Before Shania Twain found a new (though not necessarily improved) way to combine country and pop in the 1990s, this was the top-selling country album of all time by a female artist.