Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions

by Robert Earl Keen

Overview

Robert Earl Keen has been playing the Texas singer/songwriter circuit for over three decades, and as a guy who often favors the acoustic side of the country and Americana music scenes, it's no kind of surprise that he's crossed paths with the bluegrass music community, and it certainly makes sense that he's a fan. What is a bit of a surprise is not that Keen has decided to cut a bluegrass album, but that the respected tunesmith has chosen to make it a collection of covers rather than writing a new set of songs. Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions finds Keen and a crew of top-notch pickers (including Danny Barnes, former leader of bluegrass iconoclasts the Bad Livers) whooping it up on a set of tunes that have become bluegrass standards; this isn't always bluegrass for purists (which is to say there are drums on a few tracks and the version of "Hot Corn, Cold Corn" takes serious liberties with the traditional arrangement), but the fiddles, banjos, and mandolins keep this rooted within the accepted boundaries of the genre, and the players certainly do right by the songs. Just as importantly, Keen sings these numbers with a genuine enthusiasm and a dash of swagger that suit his Lone Star attitude, with a small but meaningful helping of twang (though he dials back the strutting for pathos on numbers like "East Virginia Blues" and "Long Black Veil"). Lloyd Maines, who has worked with Keen many times over the years, produced and engineered Happy Prisoner, and he brings a warm, natural sound to these sessions, which sound like a bunch of pickers circled around a mike in the best of all possible ways. Some fans of Keen's songwriting might lament the lack of new material on Happy Prisoner, but as a performer he's in great shape here, and he makes the most of his duet spots with Lyle Lovett and Natalie Maines. In his liner notes, Keen writes, "When I listen to music I want the sound to wash over me like a wave," and at its strongest, Happy Prisoner does just that, and it's a worthwhile detour for one of Texas's best songwriters. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	02/10/2015
Label:	DUALTONE MUSIC GROUP
UPC:	0803020168527

Tracks

1. Hot Corn, Cold Corn
2. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
3. Footprints in the Snow
4. 99 Years for One Dark Day
5. East Virginia Blues
6. Poor Ellen Smith
7. Long Black Veil
8. This World Is Not My Home
9. T for Texas
10. Peter Rowan Intro
11. Walls of Time
12. White Dove
13. Old Home Place
14. Twisted Laurel
15. Wayfaring Stranger

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Robert Earl Keen   Primary Artist,Vocals,Mandolin,Vocal Harmony,Guitar (Tenor),Guitar (Acoustic)
Bill Whitbeck   Vocal Harmony,Bass (Upright),Percussion
Dennis Ludiker   Fiddle
Tom Van Schaik   Percussion,Vocal Harmony
Marty Muse   Dobro
Lyle Lovett   Vocals,Featured Artist
Peter Rowan   Vocals,Featured Artist
Natalie Maines   Vocals,Featured Artist
Kym Warner   Mandolin
Rich Brotherton   Guitar,Cittern,Mandolin,Vocal Harmony,Guitar (Acoustic)
Danny Barnes   Banjo,Vocal Harmony,Guitar (Acoustic)
Chloe Keen   Violin
Sara Watkins   Fiddle

Technical Credits

Earl Scruggs   Composer
Carter Stanley   Composer
Dean Webb   Composer
Lester Flatt   Composer
Lloyd Maines   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Mastering
Robert Earl Keen   Mixing,Arranger,Engineer,Mastering,Liner Notes,Art Direction
Peter Rowan   Composer
Jesse Fuller   Composer
Richard Thompson   Composer
Mary Reeves   Composer
A.P. Carter   Composer
Pat Manske   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Albert E. Brumley   Composer
Marijohn Wilkin   Composer
Danny Dill   Composer
Rich Brotherton   Engineer
Mitch Jayne   Composer
Charles Thompson   Composer
Shauna Dodds   Design
Jimmy Rodgers   Composer
Sarah Dodds   Design
Cindy Howell   Managing Director,Project Coordinator
Darren Carroll   Photography
Renee Abel   Art Direction
Bill Monroe   Composer