Glorious, traditional, folk-tinged country. From sweet lil' ditties like "Hotter Than Mojave in My Heart" to achingly beautiful, positively heartbreaking ballads like "Our Town", Infamous Angel is a more-or-less perfect, criminally overlooked record. For your sake, dear reader, I really hope you're not one of those dicks who "likes every kind of music except for country."
Track listing:
1. Let the Mystery Be
2. These Hills
3. Hotter Than Mojave in My Heart
4. When Love Was Young
5. Our Town
6. Fifty Miles of Elbow Room
7. Infamous Angel
8. Sweet Forgiveness
9. After You're Gone
10. Mama's Opry
11. Higher Ground
Up the street beside that red neon light
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night
He was the tender and I ordered a beer
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here
If you like this, try:
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| Charlie Louvin - The Kind of Man I Am (1969) |
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| Mickey Newbury - A Long Road Home (2002) |
This album reminds me of the late Gram Parsons. Great post, thanks.
ReplyDeleteWonder if the album title's a reference to "Grievous Angel" -- probably?
DeleteI'll give it a shot. Cheers.
ReplyDelete-Xtm
Saw her play a few years back. Drinking wine & 'Our Town' do not mix... That song always kills me since it was used on the Northern Exposure finale..
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is good.
ReplyDeleteI can't abide the overproduced Nashville pop that largely passes for country music these days, but there is good stuff still happening. The new Dwight Yoakam album is bluegrass done right.
-Xtm
unexpected post on this blog - yer full of surprises. love her voice! thanks for this
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Thanks for getting me into this. Want to hear everything she ever did. Which album to buy next?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely "My Life". Not quite the masterpiece that "Infamous Angel" is, but great nonetheless.
DeleteThanks Dear_Spirit. Will hunt that down.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to this when "Let the Mystery Be" became the theme for the opening credits for season 2 of HBO's The Leftovers. I remember binge watching the season, and around the 3rd or 4th episode, I was watching the opening credits and it stuck me--wait a second--this song is PHENOMENAL.
Here's the intro. The song really enhances the visuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLSH-81yT7s
Iris has done some backup vocals with John Prine.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, my friend. Cheers
ReplyDelete