Nanci Griffith Album: “Blue Roses from the Moons”

We lost Buddy Holly way back when, but the Crickets are still around, fronted by...Nanci Griffith? Apparently. So this cd is a little different, lots of covers, and stuff arranged and produced beyond what we usually get with the Blue Moon Orchestra (read: less intimate, less nuanced, less of the old Nanci we know and love).

Except, what's weird about that is that the Nanci/BMO tracks on this album are the weaker ones, and the only really listenable tracks are the big ol' rollicking cover tunes, like "Battlefield" and "I Fought the Law" and "Morning Train" -- all of which are a lot of fun.

The reinvention of "Gulf Coast Highway" with Darius Rucker is okay, though the original with Mac McAnally off "Little Love Affairs" is the canonical version of this song -- not to mention the great cover version Emmylou Harris did! So, I'm not sure we needed a reinvention of GCH, but since it's here, it's fine, and Hootie-fronter Darius Rucker holds his own.

Nanci's story-songs here, though, are what drags my review down. She likes to say "Not My Way Home" is her favorite song, and it IS probably the best of the originals on this cd (I love the vocalization, "my feet have TREAAAD upon that-a road yoooou're on..."), but that's not saying a terrific amount.

So, it's worth listening to for "Battlefield" and "Morning Train," and REALLY worth listening to for "I Fought the Law," which is a song just BUILT for Nanci to have a good time with, and she does.

And Sonny Curtis and the Crickets make an interesting addition to Nanci and the BMO, but when it comes down to it, I want my old Blue Moon Orchestra back.

I have long been a fan of Nanci Griffith's music, and consider Other Voices Other Rooms and Flyer to be among the best folk albums of the decade. But on Blue Roses From the Moons, Nanci turns in an uncharacteristically weak performance. Nanci's voice is already light and etherial enough as it is, but with Don Gehman's over-done production, her voice gets lost in the fray, sounding almost lifeless. That is not to say that there aren't any good cuts on this album. Gulf Coast Highway and She Ain't Goin Nowhere are the standouts here. But what successes Nanci does have are dwarfed by such ridiculous cuts as Morning Train and an even more ridiculous cover of I Fought the Law. Nanci Griffith doing I Fought the Law makes about as much sense as Celine Dion doing "Highway to Hell". In addition, the backing vocals she receives from her band on the album sound as clumsy as they come. I would expect better from a group of drunks brought in from a local bar. Despite all that, the album does still occasionally get a spin in the CD player for its few good tunes that it does have, but it spends most of its time on the shelf. Nanci is capable of so much better...I hope she gets out of this rut soon.

Even a weak Nanci Griffith album is better than many artist's best ones, and "Blue Roses" is no exception.

There are some great cuts here. "Wouldn't That Be Fine," "Battlefield," "St. Teresa of Avila," "Not My Way Home," "I'll Move Along" and "She Ain't Going Nowhere." Even her cover of "I Fought The Law" (with the Crickets) is surprisingly sturdy.

But at the same time there are some tracks that don't really measure up to her previous work. Most notably a new version of one of her all time best songs "Gulf Coast Highway." This song was recorded to perfection on her "Little Love Affairs" album, and all the version here does is remind one of how much better the original was.

All in all a good, and frequently underrated effort, but hardly the cream of Nanci's crop.

I think I own all of her recordings-I may have missed something somewhere, but this is what I consider her Gold Standard.

"St. Theresa" is just exquisite, and "Not My Way Home" changed my life. How often can you say that abot a song?

Some of the reviews here seem to view these "other songs" on this album as somehow lesser-less accessible, but I think they are missing the point a bit. These are her most reachable songs-not written as pop, not written as hits or even to come anywhere near that sort of thing. Just songs written right out of the heart. You don't have to understand them, just feel them.

Most of her other recordings seem more 'folksy' but this stuff here is the real deal.

Maybe you have to have lived "two For The Road" to appreciate it!

Every time I listen to it-even all these years later, I am just ripped wide open.

The cover of "I Fought The Law" is killer and comical and it's placement in the song list is also genius.

"...when you're waiting for love life's a thread of paths to cross..."

This Album is closer to rock and roll music than any of her other albums. Most of Nanci's albums are performed in more of a country mode. This one has more of a rock and roll style to it. I love the sound of Nanci's Duet with Darius Rucker, on Gulf Coast Highway, which is great followed by the rollicking "I fought the Law" I wish Nanci would perform in Blacksburg.--Robert Metz