Classic Americana (Various Artists) (04/09/2013)
“Americana” is a little like “love” in so far as it’s a handy catch-all term for a number of different things. The former word was used as early as 1841 and can describe any materials relating to American history, folklore or geography, or things considered to be typical of American culture. As a musical genre, it is used to describe sounds that could be: folk, country, blues, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and bluegrass.
The key instrument in Americana is the acoustic guitar. It’s a vital backbone to the songs and the second instalment of Classic Americana shows this is no exception. Sometimes the acoustic is used with bluesy, electric ones that rock like those found at a whiskey bar (see The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues). In other tracks this instrument is used to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in love letters to the hippies in the Haight-Ashbury district or at the Woodstock and Monterey music festivals, with this compilation’s anthem being Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).
A number of artists from the first instalment also make an appearance here, including: Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and Grateful Dead. The songs are exclusively from the sixties and seventies and show the early years of pioneers experimenting with new genres and the seventies building on this with a sheer joy and feeling of solidarity. At times this compilation is also reminiscent of the Forrest Gump Official Soundtrack in that it transports you back to those heady, inspired and exuberant days.
The collection features 35 songs across two discs and it is billed as the “Sounds of the west coast and more”. The second disc features lots of folk and alt-country troubadours and pop stars like: James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh and Linda Ronstadt. It also includes Graham Nash’s Chicago, even though he was born in England and was in a famous supergroup alongside some Americans. The first disc instead features music by bands producing happy pop tunes, which you could easily tune out and tune in to.
Classic Americana is a melodious, shiny and nostalgic trip back to the America of the sixties and seventies. The liner notes are a little brief and disappointing but the songs serve as the best kinds of memories of all. They show a bunch of youngsters before many became elder statesmen creating rich, new tapestries of colour and sound that continue to endure long after the tie-die has faded away.
Natalie Salvo
The key instrument in Americana is the acoustic guitar. It’s a vital backbone to the songs and the second instalment of Classic Americana shows this is no exception. Sometimes the acoustic is used with bluesy, electric ones that rock like those found at a whiskey bar (see The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues). In other tracks this instrument is used to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in love letters to the hippies in the Haight-Ashbury district or at the Woodstock and Monterey music festivals, with this compilation’s anthem being Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).
A number of artists from the first instalment also make an appearance here, including: Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and Grateful Dead. The songs are exclusively from the sixties and seventies and show the early years of pioneers experimenting with new genres and the seventies building on this with a sheer joy and feeling of solidarity. At times this compilation is also reminiscent of the Forrest Gump Official Soundtrack in that it transports you back to those heady, inspired and exuberant days.
The collection features 35 songs across two discs and it is billed as the “Sounds of the west coast and more”. The second disc features lots of folk and alt-country troubadours and pop stars like: James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh and Linda Ronstadt. It also includes Graham Nash’s Chicago, even though he was born in England and was in a famous supergroup alongside some Americans. The first disc instead features music by bands producing happy pop tunes, which you could easily tune out and tune in to.
Classic Americana is a melodious, shiny and nostalgic trip back to the America of the sixties and seventies. The liner notes are a little brief and disappointing but the songs serve as the best kinds of memories of all. They show a bunch of youngsters before many became elder statesmen creating rich, new tapestries of colour and sound that continue to endure long after the tie-die has faded away.
Natalie Salvo