Absolutely Fantastic - This is not a new CD but I read rave views about it and decided to order it. It s a two CD set and my favorite is the Legend of Jesse James. The White Mansions CD may be equally as great but I can t stop playing Jesse James long enough to find out.
When Country Music wasn t an oxymoron - The other reviewers here have described both these masterpieces quite perfectly. So I ll just add that they both are written & conceived by Paul Kennerly, Emmylou Harris ex, the guy who wrote all the good songs by the Judds, an Englishman who helped late seventies/early eighties Country Music to be something more than a vehicle for whiny, adenoidal lil boyz wearing cowboy hats or vapor-brained former beauty queens. And on a more personal note, after moving from somewhere in Georgia to an even-more-undefinable somewhere in Ohio, the combination of Eric Clapton s bottleneck-slide guitar, Steve Cash s vocal on the song White Trash and a 12 oz Red Bull kind of...solidify reality when things tend to get...weird up here in Buckeye Country.
Listen carefully and more than once for the best effect... - I had the vinyl version of White Mansions back in the 1980 s, and I liked it because I am a Civil War buff, and a country/folk fan. However, somehow I never knew a companion album about the James Boys was created two years later. I stumbled on this offering by accident a few weeks ago while browsing Amazon, and immediately ordered it. White Mansions seems even better than I remembered it. Jesse James was a touch disappointing, musically, upon first hearing, which was in my car with the windows down due to my Golden Retriever occupying the back seat. That one makes a better debut if you listen with earphones, or at least with full attention, in a quiet room. Now I like both equally. Paul Kennerly created, with high historical accuracy, musical tributes to first the misguided Southern secessionists and soldiers, and then the also misguided James Gang. He pulls off being objective to both lost causes without being overly sympathetic to either the wrongs of slavery or of bank and train robbing. His recruits, first for White Mansions with Waylon Jennings, his wife Jessi Colter, Eric Clapton and other gifted singers and pickers, and then for Jesse James with Johnny and Rosanne Cash, her then-husband Rodney Crowell, Charlie Daniels, Levon Helm and Emmylou Harris, can t be faulted. As a Yankee, I don t care all that much for the white Southerners whose racism fueled the terrible war. As a law-abiding person, I admit a nearly life-long fascination with the James brothers which stops short of admiration. But as a fan of story songs about the American experience, I confess to thinking this two-CD package a remarkable achievement which deserves wider recognition.
Gift for husband - I bought this CD as a gift for my husband. He had the White Mansions album and I wanted him to have the CD. I had not heard of The Legend of Jesse James and neither had he, but he is enjoying both selections.
Incredibly Good - This album is so incredibly good I can t hardly stand it. It is the best country album I ve ever owned/heard. If you like classic country, old Charlie Daniels, Outlaw country, concept albums in general, or just plain good music, you will like this.