Perennial Favorites

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Recorded over a year before its release and put on hold thanks to the phenomenal ride of 1996's Hot, their third release is where the jazz-hoppin' Squirrel Nut Zippers separate from the rest of the nostalgic Voodoo Cherry Daddy pack. Perennial Favorites covers a lot of ground: aching balladry ("Low Down Man," complete with pedal steel and intoned lovingly by chanteuse Katharine Whalen), hilarious show-tune homages ("Ghost of Stephen Foster"), romping props to the past ("Pallin' with Al," a nod to guitarist Al Casey). Thanks to imaginative arrangements, "The Kraken" and "My Drag" transcend retro hipness to forge unique sonic paths. "Suits Are Picking Up the Bill," a zingy diatribe on capitalism, may not turn out to be a smash hit like the earlier "Hell," but these Favorites should endure. --Don Harrison --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Entertainment Weekly
Perennial Favorites stresses mannered rethinks of Southern Big Band jazz... --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Perennial Favorites

Average customer rating:

Truly a blast from start to finish!!!
One of the hardest jazzalbums ever!
My favorite album by my favorite band!
pretty good stuff
Hot 1920s, 30s, and 40s jazz/swing done RIGHT!

Perennial Favorites [ENHANCED CD]
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Manufacturer: Fontana Mammoth
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Retro Swing | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Swing Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Alternative Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Jazz | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Hot [ENHANCED CD]
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Mugzy's Move

ASIN: B000009PNN
Release Date: 1998-08-04

Tracks:

Suits Are Picking Up The Bill
Low Down Man
Ghost Of Stephen Foster
Pallin' With Al
Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter
Trou Macacq
My Drag
Soon
Evening At Lafitte's
The Kraken
That Fascinating Thing
It's Over

Amazon.com

Recorded over a year before its release and put on hold thanks to the phenomenal ride of 1996's Hot, their third release is where the jazz-hoppin' Squirrel Nut Zippers separate from the rest of the nostalgic Voodoo Cherry Daddy pack. Perennial Favorites covers a lot of ground: aching balladry ("Low Down Man," complete with pedal steel and intoned lovingly by chanteuse Katharine Whalen), hilarious show-tune homages ("Ghost of Stephen Foster"), romping props to the past ("Pallin' with Al," a nod to guitarist Al Casey). Thanks to imaginative arrangements, "The Kraken" and "My Drag" transcend retro hipness to forge unique sonic paths. "Suits Are Picking Up the Bill," a zingy diatribe on capitalism, may not turn out to be a smash hit like the earlier "Hell," but these Favorites should endure. --Don Harrison

Customer Reviews:

Truly a blast from start to finish!!!.......2007-05-25

I have been a fan of the Zippers since I first saw the video for "Hell" on MTV...back when they still played videos! It is very sad to know that they have disbanded and we will never hear another album from these fine performers. It was never fair that they got lumped into the same category as some of the "swing revival" bands that came about in the mid to late 90's because not only were they better than any of those bands, in my opinion, but they were also so much more than a "swing band". I always felt they covered the whole gambit of popular music (even if they did it with help form their Granddaddies record collection!), while at the same time adding just enough of the peculiar and absurd to make the music sound fresh. In other words, their music sounds very familiar, yet you've never quite heard anything like it before...if that makes any sense! But one things for sure, if you're ever having a party, even if it's just a family gathering, pop in one of their CD's and you will have people tapping their feet and asking you for the name of the group in no time!

I own all of their albums, including the spectacular "Christmas Caravan", and listen to all of them frequently (especially once the summer BBQ's start happening!), but I find myself coming back to Perennial Favorites the most often. Each of their albums would get 5 stars from me, hands down (even Bedlam Ballroom grew on me after a few listens), but there is something about this one that makes me want to pop it in the stereo and blast my speakers on a more regular basis! My favorite track has got to be "The Ghost Of Stephen Foster"! With the bands frantic playing, Jimbo's possessed vocals, and the great Andrew Bird's goosebump inducing fiddle playing, this track is one of my all-time favorites by the band. It's in fact Jimbo Mathus who leaves the biggest impression on me with this album. His inspired and raucous vocals, as well as his clever lyrics, (although I'm still unsure what, "If we were made of cellophane, we'd all get stinking drunk much faster!" is supposed to mean...but I love it anyway!), are at the helm of many of my favorite songs on this album. Including the drunken late night wail of "That Fascinating Thing"...I'm telling you, give your friends a few cocktails and blast that song, I promise they'll all be swaying to the music in no time...a band has to be really good to sound that sloppy! Katherine is exquisite as always, and Tom Maxwell's sense of humor and peculiar lyrics, as well as his unique voice, are yet another highlight of this wonderful album...his screaming proclamation, "If you draw a bow draw the strongest. Yes!!! And if you use and arrow use the longest!", is my favorite moment of the great track "Soon". And "Trou Macacq" is a fantastic song about the trials and tribulations of becoming a successful band..."We became the monkeys riding the race."

By the time the album comes to it's end, with the aptly titled "It's Over", I find myself exhausted because I inevitably have been dancing around the house throughout the whole thing...yet I don't want the music to end! But alas, like the band says, "Just when you think the parties starting, it's over...."

One of the hardest jazzalbums ever!.......2007-03-21

Funny ulbum. Easy to listen to, but beware! Dont digg to deep, because it's really very advanced. Straight thru a likeable album.

My favorite album by my favorite band!.......2006-10-10

I cannot express how much I enjoy the Squirrel Nut Zippers and their unique, enchanting brand of delightful swing/jazz reminiscent of the F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald/Roaring 20s generation.

What other reviewers have stated in praise of this album goes for myself as well -- it's just a great mix of the "the sacred and the profane", with slow rhythmic numbers neatly balanced by toe-tapping dance tunes.

What saddens me is that the S.N.Z.s are defunct and no other band from the Neo-Swing Revivial era of the early 1990s comes close (in my estimation) to delivering so wonderful a sound. Fellow Zipperheads, ROLL ON!!!

pretty good stuff.......2006-07-22

this is a good CD by The Squirrel Nut Zippers. It combines hot jazz, western swing, torch songs, and also has elements of traditional music, dixieland, klezmer, and a bit of tango thrown in, to boot. The vocals at times sound a bit Billie Holliday-ish, and the arrangements are pretty good.

Hot 1920s, 30s, and 40s jazz/swing done RIGHT!.......2005-06-21

Dusting off this, my first Squirrel Nut Zippers album, today and blasting it in my car, I was reminded of how brilliant Perennial Favorites actually is. It captures the essence of a time and place, both modern and nostalgic, that is always refreshing to revisit when current 21st century radio, or life for that matter, suddenly becomes dull and commonplace. Perhaps it is singer/banjoist Katharine Whalen's warbled Billie Holiday-esque vocals, or the fierce horn section amidst the thumping drums that dares the listener to sit still. Resisting the urge to dance ultimately becomes a losing battle as Perennial Favorites progresses, probably due in part to the fact that the album sounds like it was recorded in someone's living room or garage. If nothing else, that live, spur of the moment feel is one aspect that makes Perennial Favorites so wonderful.

Many more factors probably play into my immense enjoyment of this album, such as the vivid locales of smoky dance halls it conjures in my imagination and the vintage "seed packet" art direction, but regardless of those, Perennial Favorites simply contains great jazz/swing infused music. While there are no recognizable covers of time worn standards, a few tracks worth noting are: the dreamy "Low Down Man," the romping "Pallin' With Al," the oddly infectious "Trou Macacq," the sultry "My Drag," and the up beat, "Evening at Lafitte's." This album is definitely one of the best offerings from the Squirrel Nut Zippers small discography, and is thankfully still in print. Pick up a copy today and you'll be a fan in no time!

Gardening Classics: 16 Perennial Favorites for All Seasons

Average customer rating:

Gardening Classics: 16 Perennial Favorites for All Seasons

Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000SOU
Release Date: 1994-07-19

Christmas Caravan / Perennial Favorites (Sampler)

Average customer rating:

Christmas Caravan / Perennial Favorites (Sampler)

Manufacturer: Mammoth
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000H7RVBM

Product Description

Full length audio cd sampler. Please see cover art for track listing.

Average customer rating:

Empathy

Manufacturer: Industrial Park Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BRVRHC
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Product Description

CD contains 14 songs.

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