Various Artists: Nashville Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD Track Listing

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Various Artists Nashville Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1975)
Originally Released 1975\nCD Edition Released December 27, 2005\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Folks, let's get one thing straight. The at-times charmingly bad, humorous, or excellent soundtrack to Robert Altman's groundbreaking and influential Nashville isn't to be taken at face value throughout. There's a blizzard's chance in Tullahoma County that you'll get a proper grip of it without context of the film itself. The film is a vivid look at the cult of celebrity and power, tracing the actions of a couple dozen characters throughout five days in the country music capital. With numerous performances by these figures that go hand-in-hand with the environ, the film is just as much a musical as it is a realistic slice of southern America, circa 1974. -- Andy Kellman \n\nAs much of the performances captured in the film are by local amateurs, the material isn't always top level. That's why it succeeds -- it's realistic. As the director himself assesses in the liner notes to the MCA Nashville reissue from 2000, "We weren't trying to write 'great' songs. We aimed to meet the spectrum of songs coming out of the Nashville scene." Spectrum is the key word here - the quality of the material and the range of emotions within are extremely broad. Lonesome lives on the road, extramarital affairs that need to be severed, romantic longings, national pride, self-assurance -- just about any topic tackled within a typical country song is covered. Most of the songs were written by the actors with their characters in mind, which adds more of that necessary realism. The musicianship is excellent and fitting, including the work of legendary session hands like Vassar Clements, David Briggs, and Weldon Myrick.\n\nConvincing performances come from Henry Gibson, in the role of star Haven Hamilton. (Gibson is also well-known as a gravity-defying Illinois Nazi in The Blues Brothers.) He cuts his lover loose in "For the Sake of the Children," giving her three reasons - Jimmy, Kathy, and sweet Lorelei; "Cause Jimmy's been wishin' that I take him fishin'; his Little League pitchin' is somethin' to see." His "Keep A-Goin'" is a sure-fire mood lifter: "Ain't no use to sit and whine 'cause the fish ain't on your line; bait your hook and keep a-tryin' - keep a-goin'!" Other excellent performances are turned in by Karen Black and Keith Carradine, whose "I'm Easy" won an Academy Award for Best Song. Nashville is a fine elixir in an age of soundtrack-before-plot movies and and a hoot to boot. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nJust as great as the film, and it has more depth than most current country music...., August 6, 2006\nReviewer: Grigory's Girl "Grigory's Girl" (NYC)\nI usually don't buy soundtracks, but I have this one. I loved the film (it's my favorite Altman film), but this CD really is something special. All 13 songs (there are more in the movie, so it's not a complete soundtrack) are absolutely wonderful, and seem much more real and soulful than almost all current country artists. Many critics said that no one on this album could sing, but they were fools. Keith Carradine's contributions, It Don't Worry Me and I'm Easy, are the greatest songs on this album. Henry Gibson's For the Sake of the Children is poignant and heartbreaking. Karen Black's Rolling Stone sounds like it could have been sung by Patsy Cline in her prime (Black is no Cline, but no one could touch Patsy). Ronee Blakely's songs are wonderful as well. One small complaint, I just wish they would release a version with all the songs. Lily Tomlin's Yes, I Do is noticably missing. Aside from that, it's still fantastic....\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nCornball but Good, September 14, 2004\nReviewer: 70's Child "Music Lover" (Wylie, TX United States)\nIts a rare thing for me to find a CD that has every song I like. "Memphis" is a hoot as Karen Black tries without success to hit that high note at the end "some MOOOOOORRRRRREEEE"; "My Idaho Home" is a lot like "Coal Miner's Daughter". Ronnee Blakely has a beautiful voice. "I'm Easy" is very good. I hear that one alot on a 70's station I listen to. "Bluebird" is very good and Tim Brown who sings it sound a lot like Charley Pride. The duet between Haven Hamilton and Barbara Jean is very good, very catchy and easy to sing along with. The version of "It Don't Worry Me" sung by Barbara Harris just touches my heart with her soaring vocals. Sure, its not for everyone but its for me.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOh, so fun, March 29, 2001\nReviewer: Edward Aycock (New York, NY United States)\nThis is one of the greatest films Altman made, as well as possibly being one of the most American movies ever made. Therefore, what a relief to finally see the soundtrack available on CD. I suspect that this is a remastering of the original vinyl soundtrack which explains the absence of some of the songs. (The Gwen Welles songs were so terrible, but in a good, kitschy way... why aren't they here?) But the songs that are on here go from the deliberately hokey (Henry Gibson), to quite touching (Ronee Blakely...) And it's always fun listening to Karen Black try (and fail) to reach the low notes in her song "Memphis" (which I find myself humming all the time despite myself). But the crowning glory is "I'm Easy" by Carradine, and Barbara Harris' exuberant, "It Don't Worry Me" which ends this album on a high. Much more than a time capsule, if you're a fan of the movie, this is a soundtrack you'll want to have.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMost Entertaining and Musical, October 25, 2000\nReviewer: William Putney (Chicago, Illinois United States)\nAs a musician working in Chicago during the 70's, our town shared both recording engineers and musicians with Nashville so I can testify to it's accuracy. Musically, I find NASHVILLE to be up there with Woodstock, and certiainly better than Altman's Kansas City with a sense of humor that can't be beat. Really, one of the best movies ever made.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nRonee Blakely rules!, October 14, 2000\nReviewer: Ian Burley (MONTARLOT FRANCE)\nAt last, here on CD, the soundtrack of one of my favourite films of all time. I still remember the shock I had on seeing "Nashville" for the first time on TV a few years after its initial release - the great performances, magnificent storytelling and innovative style knocked me out. I was able to see the movie again just a few years ago on the big screen and was delighted to see that it hasn't aged. But I couldn't get my hands on the soundtrack. But now here it is, as wonderful as all the rest. The songs stand the test of time as well as the film and there are plenty of jewels here - the magnificent "It Don't Worry Me" in both versions, Keith Carradine's Oscar winner "I'm Easy", Karen Black's cute contributions and Henry Gibson's "200 Years" (interesting to see that another reviewer views this as a patriotic song. Personally, I've always found it brilliantly and satirically funny). But the real stand-out is Ronee Blakely. Her songs and voice are absolutely magnificent. It's high time some enterprising company re-released her solo album(s) because, apart from her backing vocals on Dylan's "Hurricane", the "Nashville" soundtrack seems to be the only recording available on CD of this magnificent lady's work.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFinally!, September 12, 2000\nReviewer: Jan Lisa Huttner (Chicago, Illinois USA)\nI'm delighted to see that NASHVILLE is finally available on CD, just in time for its 25th anniversary. There are several terrific songs on this album & they can't be found anywhere else. (The recent PREMIERE article published in July describes Ronee Blakely's distress when she learned that she was contractually forbidden from releasing her own cuts on a personal album.) I do agree though that people who haven't seen the film may find the soundtrack "uneven." But since this is one of the greatest films of the '70's, the solution is simple: see the film AND buy the soundtrack!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAbsolutely essential for fans for the film, July 15, 2000\nReviewer: Jay Dickson (Portland, OR)\n"Nashville" may be the single most praised American film of the last fifty years, and a large part of that has to do with the film's songs. Altman's point in his enormous 1975 narrative of three days in the nation's country-music capital is that popular culture can unify and move a people at times when there is no other basis for a national collective identity; his ingenious stroke in using country music--one of the most ridiculed and yet "American" subgenres of cultural expression--for the basis of that unification necessitated powerful and moving songs from his cast (who were individually encouraged to come up with their own melodies and lyrics).\nAt times, Altman's cast members let him down somewhat: as many below complain, "200 Years," for example, is a very unpleasant song to listen to, and one wonders why someone didn't step in to tell Karen Black to end the phrase "...help me keep from slidin' down some more" in "Memphis" an octave higher, since she cannot reach that final low note. Still, the treats on this album are incredible, from Keith Carradine's charming solo on "I'm Easy" to the great Broadway actress Barbara Harris's no-holds-barred rendition of "It Don't Worry Me," which closes the film.\n\nBut the real reason which makes this album a must-have is the presence of Ronee Blakely, the most gifted singer and songwriter in the film (and whose great character, the fragile but much-loved Barbara Jean, is considered similarly talented by the film's characters). Blakely's gorgeous songs remind us what popular culture is capable of stirring within us, and from the infectious "Tapedeck in His Tractor (The Cowboy Song)," with its catchy beginning riffs, to the melancholy "Dues," to the sad soaring duet "One, I Love You," every song she sings is almost transcendently beautiful. Best of all is her great last song which ties the whole film together, "My Idaho Home," her personal salute to the American dream of an innocent past which seemed both to haunt and elude the American people at the height of Watergate. This album is worth owning just for that song alone.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHit and Miss, July 7, 2000\nReviewer: Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA)\nRobert Altman has directed many great movies, but Nashville is his masterpiece. It intertwines the stories of 24 characters in the city of Nashville. The main themes of the movie are poltics and music. Altman had the great idea to have the actors in the movie write and sing their own songs. This move makes for some interesting listening, but it also what prevents the album from being truly great. Keith Carradine, who is a sometime musician, won an Oscar for his hauntingly beautiful "I'm Easy" and also contributes the outstanding "It Don't Matter To Me" which opens and closes the album. Henry Gibson represents the other side of the coin. Although you wouldn't expect it, his voice is decent. His songs like "Keep A Goin'" & "For the Sake Of The Children" are humorous in the context of the movie, but they really don't stand up on their own. That is what happens with the rest of the album. Some of tracks, like Ronee Blakey's "Tapedeck In His Tractor", stand up on their own and others don't. If you loved the movie, you will want this disk for your collection as it has long been out of print and never released on compact disk before. Non-fans may want to see the movie first before purchasing this one.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGreat way to remember the classic film, July 2, 2000\nReviewer: A music fan\nBeing a NASHVILLE lover I was eager to get the soundtrack when I heard it was being released. Altman's film is undoubtedly one of the fifteen best films of all time and the music is a great way to recall fond memories of it. As Altman has said, the music was meant to capture both the good and bad music put out by country singers of the 1970's. Indeed, there is good (My Idaho Home, I'm Easy, It Don't Worry Me) and bad (200 Years, anyone?) but all of it is great, in my opinion. HOWEVER I have a protest. Easily my favorite song of the film--my favorite MOMENT of the film--was the final sequence in which Barbara Harris seizes the microphone on the stage of the political rally and leads the entire crowd in a seemingly endless rendition of "It Don't Worry Me." Her voice, though unprofessional, was seething with emotion and the entire sequence gleamed with energy, beauty, and spirit--the perfect note on which the end the film. I bought the CD almost totally for that song. But the song on the CD is a studio recording of Harris singing, not the original material from the film. This was a huge disappointment since, though still a good song, it lacked the spontanaeity, energy, and urgency that it possessed in the film.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGreat soundtrack for the movie -- but on its own?, June 26, 2000\nReviewer: A music fan\nNashville is a great film and these songs work wonderfully for it. But can anyone remotely in sympathy with the film's sweeping satirical look at the profound mediocrity of the American body politic, and its reflection in country music, really bear to listen to the soundtrack out of context? Just thinking about a song like "200 Years" makes me cringe -- a feeling to be savoured at the cinema, where the moment of the song's delivery is funny and absurd and poignant all at the same time, but not at home, please God.\nThe very thought of people tapping their toes gleefully to this soundtrack makes me queasy, and I can't believe Altman and the other creative forces behind the film don't feel the same way.\n\nI know they are trying to push the film on DVD and maybe on limited re-release to mark its 25th anniversary, but the soundtrack strikes me as an incongruous triumph of marketing over good sense.\n\nRent the movie, or better still go see it at a revival house. Listen to this only if you dare.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPlay This CD in Your Tractor!, June 19, 2000\nReviewer: J. Michael Click (Fort Worth, Texas United States)\nThese songs are brilliantly quirky and smoothly performed by a large ensemble cast better known for its acting prowess than its musical ability. Ronee Blakley, who stole all her scenes in the movie playing the emotionally unstable Barbara Jean, is wonderful crooning "My Idaho Home" (love her tag-on ending "... for Mamma and Daddy"!) and the fast-tempo "Tapedeck in His Tractor"; Keith Carradine deserved the Oscar he won for "I'm Easy" (the song that transfixed Lily Tomlin and several other women in the club scene); and Henry Gibson's twangy vocals are a pleasant revelation. A must for fans of Altman's cinematic masterpiece; these songs evoke the heart and spirit of his superbly watchable film.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Must-Have For Fans of Altman's Masterpiece, May 25, 2000\nReviewer: Duke Manson (Destin, FL United States)\nIn my mad rush to track the upcoming DVD release of "Nashville", I almost missed the re-issue of the soundtrack on CD. Folks who haven't seen the film may listen to the tunes here and rightly wonder what the hell the fuss is all about, but if you've loved Robert Altman's film as much as I have, you've gotta own this. And after a dozen or so listens, you might actually begin to see the non-cinematic merits of a mawkish piece of drivel like "For the Sake of the Children"!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAt last!, May 17, 2000\nReviewer: christopher d sepesy (Pittsburgh, PA)\nI had this on an old vinyl album way back in 1975 when I was in the fifth grade and my parents dragged me off to this weird but GREAT film. I loved it then and I love it still. Not too many people know it, but these were all original songs written specifically for the characters who sang them, and most of the times by the specific actors portraying them. Yet another component of a legendary masterpiece by Robert Altman.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nYes!, May 2, 2000\nReviewer: Dan Hunter (Santa Fe, NM USA)\nFinally, the soundtrack to my favorite movie is on CD! Besides the beautiful Oscar-winning "I'm Easy" by Keith Carradine, this collection includes the two songs written and sung by Karen Black in the film, as well as all the songs by the great Ronee Blakely. My only only problem with this CD is that a couple of tunes are missing (couldn't they have put them in as extra tracks?) Still, I'll take what I can get and look forward to the movie's release on DVD.\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nProducer: Richard Baskin.\nReissue producer: Andy McKaie, Beth Stempel.\nIncludes liner notes by Robert Altman.\nDigitally remastered by Jim Phillips (Universal Mastering Studios - West).\n\nIndustry Reviews\nRanked #97 in EW's 100 Best Movie Soundtracks - ...Altman had his actors write and sing their own material...integral to the film's memorably unpolished feel.\nEntertainment Weekly (10/12/2001)
This soundtrack cd contains 13 tracks and runs 40min 23sec.
Freedb: a509750d
Buy: from Amazon.com

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