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Best of Arlo Guthrie CD + Don McLean American Pie CD
Two CD Bundle -- perfect for Thanksgiving!
Best of Arlo Guthrie (featuring the holiday classic "Alice's Restaurant")
Don McLean - American Pie (featuring the classic title track)
Up for auction is two used CDs from my personal collection. All discs, covers, and cases are in excellent condition, only played a few times.
I discount shipping on multiple auction wins if all items ship together. Please check my other auctions for more great CDs, DVDs & other items.
- 1st auction ships at full price
- 2nd auction ships at 50% off
- 3rd and higher ship for free.
- Largest item counts as first auction.
- International shipments will be discounted on an individual basis but with similar intention.
Best of Arlo Guthrie
All Music Guide Review:
Had he not done anything else of significance, Arlo Guthrie could have
built his entire career on the 18-minute folk/protest/novelty piece
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree." And while early on it seemed as if this
sort of humorous, hippie storytelling would be his metier, "Woody's son" slowly began to develop into a serious artist in his own right. Released in 1977, The Best of Arlo Guthrie
is a worthwhile collection, if only for rescuing cuts like "Alice's
Restaurant" and the live "Motorcycle (Significance of the Pickle)
Song," and placing them in better company than some of his '60s records
provided. Whereas these tunes -- including the smuggler's tale, "Coming
into Los Angeles" -- were the highlights of his early recordings, they
would simply act as pleasant distractions as his career progressed. As
the '70s rolled around, such fine albums as Hobo's Lullaby -- which featured his lone Top 40 hit, Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" -- and Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys
showed real maturity, but were still most notable for Guthrie's taste
in, and interpretations of, other folks' songs.
Still, the latter's
self-penned "Last Train" is among the best moments here. The track,
which is built around Ry Cooder's
soulful, acoustic guitar accompaniment, improves on such previous
Guthrie originals as "Gabriel's Mother's Hiway Ballad #16 Blues" (also
included here), and leads into what would be his most productive period
as a songwriter. "Last to Leave" and "Darkest Hour," taken from his
eponymous 1974 release and 1976's Amigo, respectively, are good examples of this growth. The Best Of
is a decent introduction to Arlo Guthrie's first ten years, but also
look to the aforementioned records, starting with his best, Amigo, to get a more extensive overview of his music.."
| Track listing | 1. Alice's Restaurant Massacre
2. Gabriel's Mother's Hiway Ballad #16 Blues
3. Cooper's Lament
4. Motorcycle Song (Significance of the Pickle)
5. Coming Into Los Angeles
6. Last Train
7. City of New Orleans
8. Darkest Hour
9. Last to Leave
| | Details | | Playing time: | 51 min. | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording type: | Studio | | Recording mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
| | Album notes | Tracks recorded between 1967 and 1976.
Woody Guthrie's son Arlo successfully made a name for himself with a body of work that falls under the shadow of his father only peripherally. Beginning as a sort of comic troubadour, Arlo laid out a persona that was all his own with "Alice's Restaurant Masacree." He followed his debut album with another in a similar vein--ARLO, which yielded "Motorcycle (Significance Of The Pickle)." This was followed by a series of smartly written, arranged and produced albums which benefited from great players (Ry Cooder, Doug Dillard, Richie Hayward, Chris Ethridge, and Clarence White, among others) and sympathetic producers (including Lenny Waronker and Van Dyke Parks).
The remainder of his works for Warner Brothers (now all reissued on his own Rising Son Records) were a quietly dazzling array of warm, inventive ensemble playing and superb songwriting. Though primarily popular as whole albums, there were a couple of notable hits, including "Coming Into Los Angeles" and "City Of New Orleans." This collection features some of the finest songs of his career.
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Don McLean - American Pie
All Music Guide Review:
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Don McLean's second album, American Pie, which was his first to gain recognition after the negligible initial sales of 1970's Tapestry,
is necessarily dominated by its title track, a lengthy, allegorical
history of rock & roll, because it became an unlikely hit, topping
the singles chart and putting the LP at number one as well. "American
Pie" has remained as much a cultural touchstone as a song, sung by
everyone from Garth Brooks to Madonna,
its title borrowed for a pair of smutty teen comedies, while the record
itself has earned a registered three-million plays on U.S. radio
stations. There may not be much more to note about it, then, except
perhaps that even without a crib sheet to identify who's who, the song
can still be enjoyed for its engaging melody and singable chorus, which
may have more to do with its success than anything else. Of course, the
album also included "Vincent," McLean's paean to Van Gogh, which has
been played two-million times. Nothing else on the album is as
effective as the hits, but the other eight original songs range from
sensitive fare like "Till Tomorrow" to the sarcastic, uptempo
"Everybody Loves Me, Baby."
American Pie -- the album -- is
very much a record of its time; it is imbued with the vague depression
of the early '70s that infected the population and found expression in
the works of singer/songwriters. "American Pie" -- the song -- is
really a criticism of what happened in popular music in the '60s, and
"Vincent" sympathizes with Van Gogh's suicide as a sane comment on an
insane world. "Crossroads" and "Empty Chairs" are personal reflections
full of regret and despondency, with the love song "Winterwood"
providing the only respite. In the album's second half, the songs get
more portentous, tracing society's ills into war and spiritual troubles
in "The Grave" and "Sister Fatima." The songs are made all the more
poignant by the stately folk-pop arrangements and McLean's clear,
direct tenor. It was that voice, equally effective on remakes of pop
oldies, that was his salvation when he proved unable to match the
songwriting standard set on Tapestry
and this collection. But then, the album has an overall elegiac quality
that makes it sound like a final statement. After all, if the music has
died, what else is there to say? | |
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| Track listing | 1. American Pie
2. Till Tomorrow
3. Vincent
4. Crossroads
5. Winterwood
6. Empty Chairs
7. Everybody Loves Me, Baby
8. Sister Fatima
9. Grave, The
10. Babylon
| | Details | | Playing time: | 36 min. | | Contributing artists: | Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt | | Producer: | Ed Freeman | | Distributor: | EMI Music Distribution | | Recording type: | Studio | | Recording mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
| | Album notes | Personnel: Don McLean (vocals, guitar, banjo); Ed Freeman (arranger);
Gene Orloff (conductor); David Spinoza (elctric guitar); Warren Bernhardt, Paul Griffin (piano); Ray Colcord (electric piano); Mike Mainieri (vibraphone, marimba); Robbie Rothstein (bass); Roy Markowitz (drums, percussion); Tom Flye (drums).
Recorded at the Record Plant, New York, New York in 1971. Originally released on United Artists (5535). Includes liner notes by Paul Grein, Don Mclean.
| | Editorial reviews | ...[American Pie] is a brilliant song, a metaphor for the death and rebirth of rock that's at once complex and immediately accessible... -Lester Bangs
Rolling Stone (01/20/1972)
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Paypal is the preferred method of payment. I ship within 24 hrs of payment, which is expected within 7 days and communication within 3 days or I reserve the right to relist. I will ship internationally - please ask for a quote before bidding, and contact me with any other questions.
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