James McMurtry Album Review:
Still the Southwestern Boss at 2006-03-05
James McMurtry comes through again with a musical snapshot of the southwest. While the tone and style of the music itself may be somewhat predictable, (although pleasently so), his lyrics are worthy of print. McMurtry manages to distill issues into distinct stories, sometimes amusing, (Slew Foot), sometimes heartbreakingly poignant, (Holiday). Listening to this CD is like looking through a scrapbook of the lives of people who work for a living, who struggle to make it in a hard part of the country and who manage to maintain hope and grace while doing so. McMurtry is one artist who consistently makes first class music. No bad tracks, no mistakes, and no disapointments. I highly recommend this CD to any fans, as well as to anyone who appreciates smart, literate, and on point artists.
James McMurtry Album Review:
One of his Best at 2006-03-01
James McMurtry has been recording for quite some time and has put together a considerable catalog. CHILDISH THINGS, his 2005 release ranks up with his best works.The son of novelist Larry McMurtry (LONESOME DOVE, James obviously shares his fathers genes for storytelling and observing small, but key details. His songs are similar to well written small stories. His songs often detail people living on the margins of life and are often undercut with a very dry sense of humor.CHILDISH THINGS is a solid CD packed with great songs, that ranks up with McMurtry classics like 1995s WHERED YOU HIDE THE BODY and his debut TOO LONG IN THE WASTELAND. Songs like WE CANT MAKE IT HERE and HOLIDAY creep into political territory, documenting the issues of the have nots under the Bush regime. Ironically, McMurtry had been noted as one of Bushs favorite artists. He carries over the harder sound that he used on 2003s LIVE IN OUGHT THREE to good effect. The covers of Peter Cases OLD PART OF TOWN and OLD SLEW FOOT benefit most from the rockier arrangements.Old McMurtry fans will find CHILDISH THINGS to be a treasure trove of quality songs (unless of course they are sensitive of the political criticism). Anyone looking into McMurtrys work would be well advised to start here. Its one of his best, as well as one of the best releases of 2005.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Give it a try at 2006-07-07
A weird wonderful mixture of Bruce, Warren Zevon and Robert Earl Keen. His lyrics make you want to hurry up and learn the words so you can sing along. A most enjoyable CD.
James McMurtry Album Review:
About 20 years too late! at 2006-03-27
While musically James McMurtry has talent, the message of his album and especially the hit song We Cant Make It Here is outdated and unrealistic. In the song McMurtry laments about shirts being made in Singapore and the problems of outsourcing jobs, among other ridiculous things. It seems he would like to live in the world of the 1950s. While appealing on the surface, it is a waste of time to think like this. McMurtry should realize that oursourcing is a reality and American companies have no choice. Nor is this a new issue. Shirts being made in Singapore? Give me a break -- he should find a real cause to wail against, not one that was lost years ago.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Wonderful surprise at 2006-03-20
Wonderful surprise. I bought this CD based on one song I heard on the radio, ususally a mistake. I am thoroughly enjoying the whole CD. I will definitly buy more.


James McMurtry Album Editorial:
Within the song cycle of innocence and experience that is IChildish Things James McMurtry continues to explore musical territory between rock and a hard place. The social commentary of the relentlessly bleak We Cant Make It Here and Six-Year Drought is more pointed than ever while the arrangements throughout are as taut muscular and slap-in-the-face direct as the songs. While the opening See the Elephant the title cut and Memorial Day evoke a younger persons sense of wonder the mortal lessons have plainly taken their toll by the closing Holiday. Along the way highlights range from the accordion-laced yearning of Charlemagnes Home Town to the Chuck Berry-style guitar-driven rock of The Old Part of Town to a stirring duet with Joe Ely on Old Slew Foot. With his terse cut-to-the-bone artistry McMurtry never wastes a word or a note. Don McLeese

James McMurtry Album Review:
A strong return for McMurtry at 2005-05-21
For me, this is McMurtrys most consistent cd. Wasteland and Body are both excellent cds but I felt they had their share of tracks to skip...surrounded by truly brilliant tracks. This is the first McMurtry cd Ive bought that you can pop in and let the thing play beginning to end. Theres something very honest about McMurtrys music. His guitar work is fantastic and he has such an ability to create these wonderful characters in his songs. A word of warning to those buying this cd - Do not listen to Out here in the middle or Valley road in the morning...you WILL be singing them all day long. Choctaw bingo is a masterpiece - an eight plus minute guitar driven journey into the heart of America. I cant wait for his next studio album.
James McMurtry Album Review:
On the Dark Side at 2005-05-09
James McMurtry often plays with a group called the Heartless Bastards and maybe thats the problem with him as an artist: no heart. This is a good CD with lots of thoughtful lyrics and excellent, heavy-duty guitar licks -- but it is unrelenting in its sarcastic, crude, rude, and sardonic moods. I like McMurtry and his music -- but theres too little joy in this CD for me to give him a top rating.Choctaw Bingo -- an eight-minute epic -- is the best song on the CD and its jaunty, infectious lyrics and tune should make this CD great, but even there McMurtrys misanthropism intrudes and undoes the good feeling of the song. Lighten up, James. Youre a great guitar player and you write good songs. What might help would be to abandon the fuzz guitar a little more often and pick out a nice tune on an acoustic or a sharp, clean stratocaster. Balance the bleak with something a little lighter. Smallchief
James McMurtry Album Review:
One hit album.... at 2006-04-16
I bought this for Choctaw Bingo, which I thought was incredibe music the first time I heard it on RadioParadise.com, even better when I listened to the lyrics (incredible! -- make crystal meth cuz his shine dont sell, strap them kids in, put a little bit of vodka in their cherry coke). Unfortunately, the rest of the CD hasnt done much for me (came of to me as kind of standard singer-songwriter fare), so I havent listened to it much since I got it several months ago. The rest isnt BAD, just not my cup of tea right now, but who knows? I wouldnt write it off as not having the potential of being one of those CDs I pull out one day for the hell of it and I hear something in a new way and it suddenly grows on me.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Folk music for the 21st Century. at 2006-02-28
I was surprised when I first heard James McMurtry. Oh, yeah, some wealthy, famous authors son trying to prove he has talent, too. Whoopdy-do! And I dont like his daddys books. But he got my attention right away with his lyrics. This is simply great stuff. Choctaw Bingo is the most famous song, and deservedly so. You very rarely hear lyrics about giving the kids some vodka to calm them down for a long drive. Or Uncle Slayton cooking Crystal Meth because the shine dont sell. He likes the money, he doesnt mind the smell. But Choctaw isnt the whole game. I feel like I know St. Mary of the Woods. I may even have been married to her at one time. Out Here In The Middle is a maudlin song I like, though I hate maudlin songs, in general. McMurtrys back to cooking speed on Lobo Town. Not blaming it on Uncle Slayton any more. G All in all, a solid album with no bathroom breaks on it.
James McMurtry Album Review:
loved it... at 2005-09-29
I first heard him on XM.Loved the song Choctaw Bingo.So I bought the cd.I was not disappointed.I like every song.Definitely worth it.


James McMurtry Album Editorial:
After the more laid-back excursion of IWalk Between the Raindrops James McMurtry returns to the more raucous sound of his John Mellencamp-produced debut IToo Long in the Wasteland and the follow-up ICandyland. Aided by the electric guitars of Stephen Bruton David Grissom and McMurtry himself ISaint Mary of the Woods rocks as much as it folks. The talent for vividly painted finely honed observations of rural life and interactive hearts that he inherited from his father (Larry the novelist) has been augmented here by some diverse musical influences. Lobo Town borrows from Robert Palmers Addicted to Love while the rhythm of his Choctaw Bingo lyrics can trace a direct lineage to Chuck Berrys Maybellene. McMurtry also covers a Dave Alvin tune (Dry River) and enlists composing help from bandmates and engineers. Rather than add up to a writer having creative problems it appears here more like an egoless acceptance of inspiration where he finds it. It works. ISaint Mary of the Woods is a fine addition to a first-rate catalog by a consistently excellent artist. Michael Ross

James McMurtry Album Review:
No, not his best... at 2004-09-03
No, I wouldnt call this his best work. I like Wheres You Hide The Body, It Had To Happen and St. Mary best. However, McMurtry is one of those artists that you buy all their works. There are no bad songs on any of his CDs. He is a five star act. He has no lapses...no filler songs...every song has a story.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Snapshots of Life at 2002-05-31
This is one excellent album. McMurtrys lyrics show us a number of different takes on life, some funny, some sad. You will relate to some or all of them. If youve ever had a knock-down drag-out with a significant other, then the lines: tire marks on the pavement where you spun out of the drive, hound dog in the corner looking glad to be alive will certainly ring true. Social commentaries Tired of Walking and Racing to the Red Light also will hit a nerve with you. And, to me, Soda and Salt and Airline Agent are hilarious.So, McMurtry can write some lyrics. He backs them up with great music. I dont know bats about music, but like the Supreme Court I know it when I see it. Two things: 1. I painted the entire inside of my house to this CD and two others of his (Wasteland, Whered you Hide the Body) - you really can put this one and the others on and just leave them on. 2. Friends of mine come over and I have this over the outdoor speakers. Next thing I know Im having to order anywhere from one to all five of McMurtrys CDs for them. Im doing it again tonight. That should tell you something. I dont know if we can get him to come play a town of 600 but it would be a big turnout.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Great Stuff at 2001-03-02
Intelligent, emotional, quriky. I agree with previous reviews: Why isnt his music onthe radio 24/7?
James McMurtry Album Review:
Not bad -- but not among McMurtys best. at 2000-04-22
After the twin classics Whered You Hide the Body, and It Had to Happen, (his two best albums), his fifth album is a bit of a letdown. In fact, the best song, Rexs Blues, is a cover of a old Townes Van Zant tune. Songs like I Only Want to Talk to You, and Every Little Bit Counts, are good, but only hint at the lyrical power of which McMurtry is capable. If you are looking to introduce yourself to his music, start with the previous two albums I mentioned and hear this fine artist at his best.
James McMurtry Album Review:
Not his best at 2001-10-24
The direction of the indie road seems to have changed. Once an artist recorded for an independent label to get the attention of the big ones and jump in the big wagon. Mcmurtry has done the opposite way coming from Columbia to Sugar Hill. He was probably not commercial enough and felt the pressure of being asked to make a more commercial records.McMurtry is really very far away from any mainstream. He is a rocker, but mostly an acoustic one, he is not really your typical singer-songwriter but he writes all his songs. He could have made it big in the sixties, but we are in the nineties. Walk Between The Lines is McMurtrys second cd for Sugar Hill, after three CDs for Columbia. It is clear that he is doing here what he thinks is right. His voice reminds me of Lou Reed, his music very much the American rock band, from Little Feat to R.E.M.. His lyrics are highly literate and memorable:He had some line but he never used them She didnt need much talkin tooHe thought hed died and gone to Houston By the time the dawn burned off the dew (Fast As I Can)The production is By Lloyd Maines, and very different from the work he has done with the group Son Volt. I was expecting to hear his Pedal Steel but the booklet explains that he plays it through a device that makes it sound like a special guitar. The playing is mostly done by 4-5 players giving the feeling of a rock group.This cd is surely not a folk record, more a rock album with some hints of folk. If you like Little Feat, Allman Brothers Band, late Eagles, R.E.M., youll probably like this cd.


James McMurtry Album Editorial:
The son of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry and the musical brethren of Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt (whose Rexs Blues is suitably covered here) James McMurtry spits out curt one-liners in a flat deadpan that dissolves in uneasy silence. Produced by Lloyd Maines who contributes Dobro pedal steel and mandolin iWalk Through the Raindrops is quieter in tone than McMurtrys major label releases. The rustic arrangements make the lyrics just that much more folksy. Tired of Walking and Airline Agent are as close to topical songwriting as hes come while a verse like Every little bit counts/Though it may not count for much /They could be long forgotten /By the time you add `em up is a fine example of the existentialist frontier McMurtrys so fond of probing. Rob OConnor