CD: Alabama & Friends

Alabama & Friends

 

Tennessee
River 4:22 Love in the First Degree 3:23 Old Flame 3:12
Lady
Down on Love 3:57
The
Closer You Get 3:38 Forever’s As Far As I’ll Go 3:35
She
and I 3:57 I’m in a Hurry (And I Don’t Know Why) 2:51 That’s
How I Was Raised 3:40 All American 3:13 My Home’s In Alabama 6:37
The
alarm goes off, I pry one eye open, and notice its 6:00am. I garner
enough energy to lift up my left palm, slam it down to shut it off,
and accidently hit the play button.
The
leaves crumble breaking beneath my boots. The black soles don’t rub
off on the yellow, orange, and red fallen leaves with each step. The
squirrels scurry for the leftover acorns before the breath of winter
makes its way across the barren branches. A handful of birds are left
chattering about their long northward bound flights to come. The kids
are laughing as they look up to Lookout Mountain. Those travels
‘cross the mountains and into the bright lights still linger. The
fiddle kept rotating with each wheel turning and revolved louder,
spinning heart pounding anticipation as the mountain pictured
stronger in the mind the closer to home the bus spun. I used to
despise this place until we left. Then those moments of the jeering
fans just pulsed as they screamed louder. It just made me want to
come back here. To walk across these brittle leaves and dip my hands
in the trickling water just washing it all away.
Wait
a minute. That’s that band. That band, you know…
That
one….That band, you know…
that
one…that one that sings…..
That
song. You know…
.that
song…from

that

album. Those guys that have guitars….and some microphones…and
drums… a fiddle and keyboard. You remember, right?
Those
guys. Those three that have been playing together for forty years.
That band that changed the face of country music. That band that won
two
Grammys, That band that received the Minnie Pearl Humanitarian award,
That band that was awarded Entertainer of the Year awards three times
from the CMA and five times from the ACM, as well as the latter’s
Artist of the Decade award. That one that had 21 Gold, Platinum, and
Multi-Platinum albums. And were named the RIAA’s Country Group of the
Century. That band that

call themselves Alabama
.
And that song…..That song….that one that
I
opened this review up with, and was their first number 1 hit,
Tennessee
River.

If
you know Alabama then you should be familiar with the majority of
these songs, yet on this album each has a country star who puts their
own spin on the song that influenced them the most during their
careers. There are also two new songs thrown into the mix.
Jason
Aldean, the Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Jamey Johnson, Trisha
Yearwood, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Jamey Johnson and the Eli Young
Band are the friends that are added to the album.

The
two new songs are
That’s
How I Was Raised
,
which is a deep thought provoking song played on an acoustic with
all the lessons people learn on their journey growing up. And,
All
American
which
is lyrically amazing. With all the political arguing, the wrangling,
the fighting; the red states, the blue states. With an acoustic
guitar, soft taps of the percussion, a high hat and wise words from
Randy Owen’s deep southern voice, comes a timeless message that
underneath it all we have to remember we are all American.
The
production of this album and the order of the song tracks were put
together brilliantly. It begins with
Tennessee
River

and ends with
My
Home’s In Alabama

The latter being almost an explanation of the first. It takes the
listener from those earlier days to the bright lights of L.A. and
back to New York City. And while a bit of the leaves of this journey
may have sprouted and at times had changed colors. The roots can
never change. Without them, it never would have grown into what it
has become.
Jeremy
Frost for Country Music News International


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