Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys - What A Dream It's Been

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:15
Size: 89.9 MB
Styles: Rockabilly, R&B, Contemporary blues
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:47] 1. Baby Baby Me
[2:45] 2. This Ain't A Good Time
[3:13] 3. Missouri Gal
[3:03] 4. Don't Desert Me
[3:29] 5. Nothing To Lose
[2:47] 6. Glad When I'm Gone
[3:30] 7. Parts Unknown
[2:40] 8. (You Mean) Too Much To Me
[2:57] 9. I Know I've Loved You Before
[3:33] 10. Three Years Blind
[3:55] 11. If I Knew Now (What I Knew Then)
[2:29] 12. What A Dream It's Been

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys get tagged as “retro” and it’s true, but their expressed love for musical history marks them as not a gimmick, but formalists interested in a handful of very specific musical styles – early rock n’ roll, R&B, rockabilly and western swing. To mark their 25th anniversary playing music from this general field, they’ve decided against compiling their ‘hits’. Instead, on What a Dream It’s Been they’re revisiting and trying to revitalize songs from their whole career, from their 1990 debut album Fly Right With Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio to 2006’s Turntable Matinee.

It’s a mainly acoustic album, which surprisingly at times make it sound a bit thin compared to their past studio albums. The oldest songs here are the ones best served by the new versions. In some cases the songs sound truly reborn, as with “Missouri Gal”, from their debut – this time quite hard-driving for the acoustic setting – or “Glad When I’m Gone” from 1992’s On the Go, their second album.

Overall, the band’s approach to these songs is a bit frivolous, or at least purposely light-handed. Still, the album is a nonetheless a fine overview of their material – generally, sad songs with an overt party atmosphere. That, in a sense, is a good description of popular music period, which makes them less a niche act than one with a good understanding of the bigger picture. ~Dave Heaton

What A Dream It's Been

---