KELP!
"Anytime that Andy Hill and Renee Safier make music together, it sounds great - whether it's on one of their originals, or in one of a thousand Bob Dylan songs they do so beautifully in their annual Dylan festivals. This collection of songs are ones they have done live for years, according to their liner notes, but never recorded. "We have had a difficult time," they wrote, "finding the courage to include them on collections in the past. We thought it best to make you suffer through them all at once." So we get some very funny songs, including "Free Bird," which isn't that "Free Bird" but is a tribute of sorts to that song, remarkably. Songs written by Andy alone and also by Andy and Renee together, even when they're joking, the thing is, it sounds great. Like when Dylan and The Band made up funny songs in the basement just to have fun and to make music, there is an infectious joy in these tracks like those ones - and also great musicianship throughout. This is produced by Andy and Renee with their good friend, the great Marty Rifkin, who plays astounding pedal steel - but also a lot of bass here - and with fine drumming by the always great John Hoke. So there's not really a lot of suffering required when listening to this - this is a lot of fun - like a great show, with wonderful duets throughout. "A Habit That's Goin' Around" is especially delicious, with great rhymes that would have made Sammy Cahn proud: "He's a slippery snake/an anaconda/On the make he's fond of the double entendre..." You can tell all the involved had a lot of fun making this, and that fun comes across in each of these tracks. If you're in the mood for a party with some fun and funny people - and one hell of a great band - put on KELP!." Paul Zollo, American Songwriter
Other Albums By Andy Hill, Renee Safier and Hard Rain
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