A good friend and I had the pleasure to see Slaid live at the Cave Creek Coffee Company last night. It is such a fantastic experience, between the story telling, the voice and the setting. We walked away just thrilled to have experienced it.
Mr. Prine
I have been a fan of yours since birth.... thank you daddy....when I saw your
review of Slaid Cleave's "Everything you love will be taken away".. I was
troubled...I am the ULTIMATE S;laid fan.. yet, when I heard only the
30 second snippets that were available I was worried that Slaid had
not only HIT his peak.... he destroyed it.... It was only when I was able to
hear the full album....more than once... that I realized Slaid was the
genius of this generation that I believed him to be.... I can accept your
"so-so" review if you can honestly say that you listened to his complete
album in the frame of mind "we" have to be in to let the music in.
Here are my thoughts.... if I had heard a 30 second snippet of
"blue umbrella" on a bad day... I would have never realized the power
of that song....Lucky enough for you, all of the PRINE fans like me,
gave you the benefit of the doubt..... and we were TRULY
rewarded... could you maybe be selling Slaid short???? How could
a man like you, my Patton, not see the genius in "Green Mountains
and Me"??? I just can't wrap my brain around that? You know
when the hubble was launched jin 1990... people laughed.. they
gave it exactly a moment before they judged it futile... we now
know that it came down to a 1.3 mm miscalculation... where are
our astronauts now??? 19 years later??? Basically they are
changing out the bulbs on the vision that lived up to the hype...
People who listened only briefly...( like, 30 seconds) judged the hubble
as fluff... "so-so".... with time to prove its worth...it has.. Slaid Cleaves
is THAT kind of artist... to have you deem his work "so-so" when I
love your work like I love his...baffles me. Mr. Prine, with all due
respect, it would not be any fun if they all fell over with thier feet
in the air now would it??? Hey, "hide the pain while the rain makes
up my mind... my feet are wet from thinking this thing over....." these
are the kind of lyrics that matter more than the mindless "honky-tonk
bedonkeyCRAP fed to the masses via media.....it takes a while for the
true GEMS to grow on you....(feet in the air... all Im saying.....sir )
if I hadnt given you more than a few rushed moments
I would have missed out on what is arguably my favorite song..... I just need
to know that you REALLY gave Slaid the attention he deserves....because
your opinion really matters to me... and because I see the same genius in
Slaid that I have always recognized in YOU.... Much Love..... JBJ..."no disclaimers"..
.....sir!!!
I was introduced to this artist during an intense night of emotional roulette...I fell in love with "Don't tell me" and "Lydia" instantly.. My passion for Slaid's music (ahem!) burned hotter when I heard "Unsung".. although he did not write these songs... he damn sure made them his own. "Flowered Dresses" was merely common until he spun it Slaid style. We all have our reasons.. mine? I played this for my daddy (yeah, southern girl's say daddy) ... he blinked hard and told me about riding a trolleycar with HIS daddy in 1953... AND how he had to jump off it cause my irish grandfather was drunk and pissed!! AND that THIS song brought to mind his mother...AND how much I reminded him of her... (Karen, many thanks.. he had NEVER shared this with me before...) Any true fan of this "fogelberg'ish" poet (YEAH... I SAID IT!!!) has just given a nod while recalling the lines, "I was sitting in the hallway on the night he left...huggin' my knees...holding my breath, I was never sure why but he was damn sure gone... thought it was maybe my fault.." No offense, Karen.. but even you would have to admit...we all fell in love a little.. I have to agree with Mrs. Cleaves when it comes to "Getaway Car"... as beautifully as he sings it.. I love Michael O'Conner's version even better. If you have never had the true pleasure of seeing Slaid LIVE with Michael... you have truly missed out..."Pot/kettle/perfection..." These are the kind of friends who would "lie... convincingly" for each other.. magic. This release has been a long wait for Slaid fans. "Green Mountains and Me" is pure slaid genius...somehow he added all of the elements of a 100 year old folk song (Lydia) and still managed to give it a modern twist...a twist that is lost on NOONE....) As usual, you will be blown away by some spot on lyrics.... in "Beyond Love" you wonder if it its an ode to teenage love o a "spend a lifetime working it out" disclaimer??? Brilliance shines thru with the line..." Dusty bedside table lamp shines light on what is lost..." Are you kidding me???? Amazing. He just summed up every "sucked dry" teenage marriage that made it past the 15 year mark although they can't recognize any part of the person they gave the gift of those years to. (But they would damn sure give them a kidney). Slaid, rest easy.. this collection is MORE than worthy. Your old fans are once again reminded of the genius that hooked them to begin with...your new fans are in bewildered awe.. as they should be...welcome to the party, pal....
This is a fantastic album that is Slaid's best. "A beautiful thing" Is perhaps the greatest song ever written
I caught my first Slaid Cleeves show at Cheatham St. in San Marcos and this guy just keeps getting better and better. I recently purchased his album Wishbones and was very impressed. This guy is like 40yr old scotch, f***ing smooth!
I caught Slaid last night at the granada in dallas. this was not the first time seeing slaid, i saw him 1 time befor at TMR 6 years ago. since then i only had the album broke down, and i played the s h i t out of it. so seeing him last night after my tast in music matured and knowing what to look for in music and song writing, was AMAZING. it was a freekin religious moment. he has come full circle. it was like seeing the jim morison of country songwriting. the guy has it all. he should have a disclaimer....WARNING: DONT LISTEN TO UNLESS PLANING TO GET ADDICTED!!!
SAW THE SHOW IN KANSAS CITY THIS MONTH.... AMAZING! I STARTED JONES'N ON SLAID CLEAVES A FEW MONTHS AGO AFTER THIS INCREDIBLE
NIGHT OF EMOTIONAL ROULETTE WITH A DAMN GOOD FRIEND WHO PLAYED SLAID ALL NIGHT LONG. SLAID'S MUSIC COVERS EVERY MOOD YOU MIGHT BE SWINGIN:"DEVIL'S LULLABY" "CALL IT SLEEP" "OH, ROBERTA".ITS ALL GOOD! CHECK OUT HIS OLDER STUFF TOO. "DON'T TELL ME" IS MY FAVORITE MELANCHOLY BABY. THE LYRICS ARE SO RAW IT HURTS.GET THE CD,GET HOOKED THEN PASS IT ON.. THANKS AGAIN FRIEND. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.. "..RUNAWAY LOCOMOTIVE OUT OF HIS ONE TRACK MIND.."
