Chris Smither - Honeysuckle Dog
# Audio CD (March 9, 2004)
# Original Release Date: March 9, 2004
# Number of Discs: 1
# Label: Okra-Tone Records
# ASIN: B0001CCXIO
Product Description
A gorgeous lost treasure from 1973 reissued courtesy of Heavenly's Jeff Barrett, Chris Smither's Honeysuckle Dog is a great singer/songwriter album in the musical tradition of Tim Hardin, Gene Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Tim Buckley. Rich in country soul and featuring great players like Mike Mainieri (vibes), Ralph McDonald (percussion), Patti Austin (vocals) and the guitar genius of Lowell George, Honeysuckle Dog is an absolute listening treat dominated by Smither's delicate, intricate guitar work. Forever Heavenly. 2005.
Amazon.com
Whether you call this previously unreleased collection Chris Smither's lost album or just an artifact of the early-'70s singer-songwriter scare, the pleasures it offers are evident, if not always essential. Some of the songs would be rerecorded in tighter versions for 1984's It Ain't Easy (although Lowell George's slide work on "Rosalie" and "It Ain't Easy" is brilliant) while others are reprised and improved versions of songs from Smither's first two records (I'm a Stranger Too and Don't It Drag On); the wistful original "Braden River" has never been heard before or since. The jazz-folk settings on half the cuts echo early Tim Hardin or Tim Buckley, but Smither's signature, delicately ornamented guitar work is in full-bloom--no other singer-songwriter at the time could begin to transform Bessie Smith's "Jailhouse Blues" the way he does. Die-hard fans will likely find this set a modest revelation. --Roy Kasten
Sylvie Simmons
Friday October 14, 2005
The Guardian
Rock is teeming with Great Lost Albums. Mostly they gather dust in a vault somewhere, the odd song resurfacing on future projects. Smither's buried gem was recorded in 1973 in New York with impressive guests including Dr John and Little Feat's Lowell George. The non-appearance of his third album for Poppy - after the label went under and its backers kept the tapes - led to a downward spiral that put paid to most of the 1970s.
Unearthed by Heavenly Records 32 years on, it sounds remarkably fresh. There's a definite early 70s feel to the production on band songs such as Sunshine Lady - part Tim Hardin but a bigger part Poppy, since the same sheen was added to Smither's labelmate Townes Van Zandt. But the spare, exquisitely played, bittersweet solo voice-and-guitar songs - Smither's own plus excellent covers of Randy Newman (Guilty) and Bessie Smith (Jailhouse Blues) - are timeless.
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