Various: A Mighty Wind: The Album CD Track Listing

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Various A Mighty Wind: The Album (2003)
Originally Released April 8, 2003\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Fans of This Is Spinal Tap certainly were satisfied by Christopher Guest's Waiting For Guffman and Best In Show, since they often achieved a similar level of deliriously inspired improvised genius. Even so, one thing key ingredient was missing: the music, which is as brilliant as the spontaneous jokes and set pieces in the movie itself. For his third mockumentary (a term Guest hates, but has become shorthand for his unique comedy), Guest returned to music, creating a tribute to the folk scene of the early '60s with A Mighty Wind, where three of the biggest folk acts of the era reunite for a tribute concert to a recently deceased folk producer. Since this is a fictional comedy, not a documentary, it does take some liberties with the truth, particularly because it deliberately chooses not to address political or protest folk. Some may gripe about this, but it hardly hurts the film and its accompanying soundtrack because the movie is bathed in the warm, fond glow of nostalgia and prefers to focus on the spirit of the times, not the details. So, there is no no equivalent of Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs in A Mighty Wind, but the three main acts have clear counterparts: the trio of the Folksmen (featuring Spinal Tap's Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) are the Kingston Trio; Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) are the film's romantically entwined duo, akin to Ian & Sylvia or Richard & Mimi Farina; finally, the New Main Street Singers (featuring John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch and Parker Posey, among others) are the equivalent of the Limeliters and the New Christy Minstrels. What's remarkable about the music is that it's all written by the cast and it perfectly captures the sound and feel of the folk crossover acts of the time. Each group has a different sound befitting their counterpart, and within that, the songs are bright and varied, tuneful and memorable. Apart from the Folksmen's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up," which is not heard in the film, and perhaps the heavy-handed (but very funny) "The Good Book Song" by the New Main Street Singers, there are no obvious jokes, which is what makes the music work as music. And while some of the songs may function almost too well as neo-period pieces - witness the somberness of the Folksmen's Spanish/American war "Skeletons of Quinto" - most of these are infectiously enjoyable as individual songs. They're as good as the songs in Spinal Tap and, in some ways, more impressive, since they're more intricate and cover more styles. The greatest testament to its success is that it works as a folk-pop album regardless of the film. It is funnier if you're in the joke, but that's not necessary to know if you just want to enjoy the music here on this splendid album. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nAs he did with Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest has the uncanny ability to perfectly mock and pay tribute to a music sub-culture. This time around, he spoofs the folk revival scene of the 1960s that spawned the Kingston Trio, Limeliters, and Peter, Paul & Mary with a movie about the reunion concert of fictitious groups Mitch & Mickey, the Folksmen, and the New Main Street Singers. Mitch & Mickey's romance-themed duets sound more earnest than campy, though it's hard not to laugh at the autoharp solo on "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow." The real highlights belong to tracks by the hilarious Folksmen, whose repertoire somehow included a goofy song about the Spanish Civil War ("Skeletons of Quinto"), a harmonizing take on the Stones' "Start Me Up," and a tune seemingly about a train wreck in a coal mine ("Blood on the Coal"). Simply hilarious. --Jason Verlinde \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nIt's a P-A-R-O-D-Y!, and a loving tribute, April 21, 2003 \nReviewer: Robin Currier from San Juan Capistrano, CA USA \nSaw the movie this weekend, and I must say it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in recent years. Those who listened to this CD without paying attention to the words can be forgiven for not getting that the songs are parodies, because the style and music are perfectly in tune with folk music from the 60s. That's what makes this movie work so well. The people involved in making it obviously have affection and respect for the folk music of that time, and it shows in this gentle, yet VERY funny send up. Taken superficially, the music is very well done and very authentic. Yet, if you actually listen to the words, the movie makers are slyly poking fun at the genre. \n\nTake the lyrics of the Folksmen's (led by Harry Shearer) big hit, "Old Joe's Place":\n\nWell, there's a puppy in the parlor\nAnd a skillet on the stove\nAnd a smelly old blanket\nthat a Navajo wove\n...\nThere's sausage in the morning\nAnd a party every night\nThere's a nurse on duty \nIf you don't feel right\n\nAnd, of course, since the neon sign at the diner is always broken, the chorus says:\n\n"So if you've hot a hankerin, I'll tell you where to go.\nJust look for the busted neon sign that flashes 'Ea-a-oe's'."\n\nVery funny! As an interesting note, this bogus folk group, The Folksmen, actually performs, and in an ironic twist, once opened for Harry Shearer's OTHER parody music group, the heavy metal band Spinal Tap (containing the very same people), but were booed off the stage by fans who thought they were real and who wanted Spinal Tap. As Harry Shearer puts it "We were booed off the stage in favor of...OURSELVES!" \n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nCJ Vanston, Producer\nT Bone Burnett, Producer\n\nAlbum Notes\nThis is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. The multimedia content is a video for 'When You're Next To Me' by Mitch & Mickey.
This soundtrack cd contains 18 tracks and runs 55min 57sec.
Freedb: f10d1b12
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