Audio CD review:
Jimmy LaFave - Texoma

Jimmy LaFave - Texoma

Band: Jimmy LaFave Title: Texoma Rating: Release Date: 13 March, 2001 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Bad Bad Girl 2: San Francisco 3: Never Is A Moment 4: This Glorious Day 5: Poor Man's Dream 6: On A Bus To St. Cloud 7: Rock And Roll Music To The World 8: Red Dirt Song 9: Woody Guthrie 10: Tears 11: Love Can Find Its Own Way 12: Elvis Loved His Mama 13: Emotionally Yours 14: Patient Man 15: On The Road To Rock And Roll 16: The Moon's A Harsh Mistress

Editoral Review That's risky, since others who've endured similar plaudits often fell short of the hype. Like others in that amorphous genre called roots rock, Jimmy LaFave, Texas-born and Oklahoma-raised (hence the album's title), is a critics' darling whose past efforts earned acclaim placing him in the tradition of his heroes Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. As does LaFave. Gravelly voice and all, he's awash in pretense from the first note. His Guthrie tribute is earnest to the point of overkill (Dylan's "Song for Woody" covered the same ground more eloquently). His own "Poor Man's Dream" spews inane rural homilies, as do "Red Dirt Song" and the hackneyed "Rock and Roll Music to the World. " Reviving the silly, dated hippie anthem "San Francisco," a 1967 hit for folk-rocker Scott McKenzie, might seem clever, but the result is quirky for quirky's sake. A fine line exists between artful and mannered earthiness. LaFave not only works the wrong side of that line, he demonstrates a total mastery of every rootsy cliché known to man and nothing more. --Rich Kienzle .. You can see a complete list of all Jimmy LaFave discography, or go back to the Jimmy LaFave tabs