David Olney: High, Wide and Lonesome

Hearing Dave Olney can shock the uninitiated. The forceful singer can open and howl like a dark wind, peeling back ears like a crack of thunder and jolting the attention like a bolt of lightning. His songs are as forceful as his voice. For the most part, he bypasses the confessional, instead creating rich characters and vivid scenarios. What ends up surprising those who first get captivated by Olney's incisive intensity is his tenderness. He's written many heart-tugging songs about love won and lost, all cut with an astute sense of dignity and honesty. Prepare to be surprised, and to be pinned to the wall.
-- from the notes by Michael McCall

David Olney has an apparently unerring instinct for overwrought cliche in his lyrics, but his voice has a real power to it and the songs are well-performed and compelling. Rick Danko plays on just one song ("My Family Owns This Town") , but Garth is all over the place, playing sax, piano, accordian and various electric keyboards. You get to hear Garth play a quirky honky-tonk piano on "Ruby Ann" - seems you don't get to hear that much anymore. He adds the saxophone to what sounds like the loosest horn arrangement in history on "Flood of '93", and a fabulous organ/accordian interaction on "Vincent's Blues". The keyboard/accordian interaction is there on "Brays" too, but a bit more muted, and Garth also adds keyboards/saxophone to "You Got ahold of Me".
-- James Tappenden

Tracks

1. Walk Downtown
2. You Got ahold of Me
3. Caterpillar
4. Another Place, Another Time
5. My Family Owns This Town
6. Brays
7. Raw Bone
8. Ruby Ann
9. In Your Eyes
10. Flood of '93
11. Blue Grey Eyes
12. Vincent's Blues

Sidemen

• Rick Danko, bass
• Garth Hudson, keyboards/saxophones

David Olney - High, Wide and Lonesome - 1995 - Philo Records CD PH 1177