1. This Wheel’s On Fire
- Guster
2. King Harvest
- Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers
3. It Makes No Difference
- My Morning Jacket
4. I Shall Be Released
- Jack Johnson
5. The Weight
- Lee Ann Womack
6. Chest Fever
- Widespread Panic
7. Up On Cripple Creek
- Gomez
8. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
- The Allman Brothers
9. Stage Fright
- Steve Reynolds
10. Rag Mama Rag
- Blues Traveler
11. Whispering Pines
- Jakob Dylan
12. Acadian Driftwood - The Roches
13. Unfaithful Servant
- Rosanne Cash
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Josh Turner
15. Life is a Carnival
- Trevor Hall
16. Look Out Cleveland
- Jackie Greene
17. Rocking Chair - Death Cab For Cutie
Total time: 1:19:30
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Endless Highway: The Music of The Band
Various Artists
429 Records
Thankfully this didn’t turn out to be another insipid tribute album. The Band deserves nothing but the best when it comes to interpretation of their songs, and this collection does a commendable job of rounding up old and new artists with the right amount of reverence, chops and vision to pull it off.
The most pleasant surprises are Bruce Hornsby’s funky take on “King Harvest”; Jim James’ reverb-soaked vocals on My Morning Jacket’s mournful “It Makes No Difference”; Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes’ double-gruff harmonies plus Derek Trucks’ gospel slide on the Allman Brothers’ bluesy “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”; John Popper’s harmonica subbing for Rick Danko’s fiddle on Blues Traveler’s nonchalant “Rag Mama Rag”; Jackie Greene’s rollicking vocals on “Look Out Cleveland”; and (who would’ve thought?) Death Cab for Cutie’s vocally plaintive, instrumentally dirgelike “Rockin’ Chair.”
In addition to the main artists, support players include Buddy and Julie Miller (background vocals on “The Weight”); Randall Bramblett (sax on “Chest Fever”); Ray LaMontagne (harmonica on “This Wheel’s on Fire”); and Greg Leisz and Jim Keltner (acoustic and pedal steel guitar and drums on “Whispering Pines”). Steve Berlin produces Gomez and Jackie Greene.
Go to the label’s "Endless Highway" site, turn off the player on the home page and then click “music” at the top to hear all the songs plus four that didn’t make the final cut: “Ain’t No More Cane” (John Hiatt and the North Mississippi Allstars); “Ophelia” (Animal Liberation Orchestra); “Bessie Smith” (Joe Henry); and “Stage Fright” (Gov’t Mule).
external links
label’s “Endless Highway” site
amazon.com
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