Childish Things

Amazon.com
Within the song cycle of innocence and experience that is Childish Things, James McMurtry continues to explore musical territory between rock and a hard place. The social commentary of the relentlessly bleak "We Can't Make It Here" and "Six-Year Drought" is more pointed than ever, while the arrangements throughout are as taut, muscular and slap-in-the-face direct as the songs. While the opening "See the Elephant," the title cut, and "Memorial Day" evoke a younger person's sense of wonder, the mortal lessons have plainly taken their toll by the closing "Holiday." Along the way, highlights range from the accordion-laced yearning of "Charlemagne's Home Town" to the Chuck Berry-style, guitar-driven rock of "The Old Part of Town" to a stirring duet with Joe Ely on "Old Slew Foot." With his terse, cut-to-the-bone artistry, McMurtry never wastes a word or a note. --Don McLeese

Childish Things,James McMurtry,Compadre Records,Americana,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Roots Rock,Singer/Songwriter,United States of America

Childish Things

Average customer rating:

One of those you can't get out of your mind
A Masterpiece - quite impressive
You Owe It To Yourself To Hear This CD!
Redneck Intellectual With His Loss of Innocence and Faith
GREAT

Childish Things
James McMurtry
Manufacturer: Compadre Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

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Saint Mary of the Woods
Too Long in the Wasteland
It Had to Happen
Candyland

ASIN: B000AMJDOC
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Tracks:

See The Elephant
Childish Things
We Can't Make It Here
Ole Slew Foot
Bad Enough
Restless
Memorial Day
Six-Year Drought
The Old Part Of Town
Charlemagne's Home Town
Pocatello
Holiday

Amazon.com

Within the song cycle of innocence and experience that is Childish Things, James McMurtry continues to explore musical territory between rock and a hard place. The social commentary of the relentlessly bleak "We Can't Make It Here" and "Six-Year Drought" is more pointed than ever, while the arrangements throughout are as taut, muscular and slap-in-the-face direct as the songs. While the opening "See the Elephant," the title cut, and "Memorial Day" evoke a younger person's sense of wonder, the mortal lessons have plainly taken their toll by the closing "Holiday." Along the way, highlights range from the accordion-laced yearning of "Charlemagne's Home Town" to the Chuck Berry-style, guitar-driven rock of "The Old Part of Town" to a stirring duet with Joe Ely on "Old Slew Foot." With his terse, cut-to-the-bone artistry, McMurtry never wastes a word or a note. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews:

One of those you can't get out of your mind.......2007-07-21

I love this CD by McMurtry. I'm not knowledgable enough to write a long review, only to say I am mesmerized by him and have ordered several of his other works since enjoying this one so much.

A Masterpiece - quite impressive.......2007-06-04

This is a masterwork. James McMurtry, with Childish Things, has created an album that won the Esky award for 2006 (an award for music that goes beyond the expected) and he beat out Neil Young last September when Childish Things and "We Can't Make It Here" won the Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively. That win put Neil's Living With War and Let's Impeach the President into second place!

Neil is my favorite popular artist - but James' album is truly as fine an album as one could want. See the Elephant, Childish Things and We Can't Make it Here Anymore are outstanding and everything else is excellent. A fine addition to any serious music lover's collection.

You Owe It To Yourself To Hear This CD!.......2007-03-20

James McMurtry seems to me to be one of those artists that you either like or don't like...not much middle ground here. If you're already familiar with his music, and you like it, then you'll love this one. If you've never heard any of his music, then this one would be a great place to start.

Redneck Intellectual With His Loss of Innocence and Faith.......2007-02-25

"When someone with as much writing talent as McMurtry takes up his pen to speak out on the state of things today, you know it's going to carry a tremendous amount of weight, as well as passion. McMurtry delivers a brilliant new disc filled with compassionate, heartfelt lyrics and strong, deeply rich melodies, answering the question I've long been asking, "Where are today's voices of outrage?" Here they are."
Kathy Coleman

James McMurtry is known for his song 'We Can't Make It Here', a protest song from the 2004 elections that shows "compassionate conservatism as a smokescreen for adding to the coffers of the rich, despite the detrimental impact that it has upon those who are less fortunate". It is sung with the cadence of a man who scorns those people and knows their dirty secrets. James grew up with dad; author Larry McMurtry, after his parents divorced. He picked up a guitar at the age of seven and never put it down. He credits 'Little Feat' and 'The Band' as early influences. He says as well that the "revelatory concerts courtesy of Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson" opened his eyes to the social fabric of the United States of which he sings. He plays guitar and sings with his group 'The Heartless Bastards'. This album depicts a man who like many of us, has come to face disappointment with the reality of life in these United States. The twelve songs on this CD flow effortlessly from one to another. Yet, each has its own story to tell.

'See The Elephant'-'I Want To See The Elephants', which is about a circus or travelin' show where a young man will get his first sexual experience. Along with the circus comes prostitutes and others, and the young men who see others they know visiting 'The Elephants, "Please Daddy Let Me Go To See The Elephants In The Travelin' Show.

'Childish Things"- he talks about childhood and a lost way of life that probably weren't all that his memories bring back. How to know when to put away childish things.

'We Can't make It Here'-as stated a 2004 protest song to the election and conservatism. It also talks about the decline of the American heartland. This song won "Best Song of Americana". Bernie Sanders of Vermont used this song as his theme song, and he won his Senate seat.

'Slew Foot'-he sings a duet with Joe Ely on this old standard.

'Bad Enough'-"Where have ya been, when ya gonna learn, when are you gonna give anything in return, when ya gonna act like you should" A relationship that is going nowhere.

"Memorial Day'-Off to Gramma's house on this holiday to remember our heroes. An excuse for relatives getting' together. 'Whuppins' for swearing and maybe a pie. "Memorial Day in America, this is how it's supposed to be.

'Old Part of Town'-trying to relive a favorite part of life and revisit the good times.

'Six Year Drought'- vivid portrait of a run-down town from the perspective of a drifter. "I'm just a visitor here, drought won't hurt me none.'

'Charlemagne's Home Town'- "I can hear your voice across the water- that's not near enough'

'Pocatello'-choppy rhythm that signifies a woman who is about to become temptation. "Batten down your hatches, I c and hear my gramma say, you like to play with matches, boy you goin to burn yourself someday."

'Holiday'-this song sums up the force of this CD- a family Thanksgiving road trip leads to an image of a middle-aged National Guardsman, sitting in an airport waiting to ship out to Iraq. "There's something inside that won't let us be," McMurtry sings. "And it's damn near as deadly as Texans on ice."

"Like most music critics, I have a long list of pet artists who remain criminally underexposed to the general public. Most of them I'm happy to keep to myself and the other music nudniks, but the persistent obscurity of James McMurtry nags at me like a sore tooth. Why isn't this guy famous, or at least critically revered on the same level as fellow maverick country-rockers like John Hiatt and Steve Earle and younger upstarts like Ryan Adams? He's American popular music's best lyricist since Dylan, and his chugging, elemental brand of roots rock, at its best, frames his words and world-weary voice so perfectly as to sound effortless, as if he and his band just coined all the chords on the spot. He's the Raymond Carver of singer-songwriters, an absolute master at unveiling complex truths with deceptively simple technique and a rigorous lack of pretense. In other words, there's no else like him in American music." Andy Herman

We learn from James McMurtry that we can get mad at each other for awhile and then we need to learn to laugh at ourselves. He sings with a conversational narrative like a long lost friend. We listen to his carefully worded lyrics and the mastery of his guitar. James McMurtry is an American experience that loosens up our reserve, and we want to protest right along with him. Highly Recommended. prisrob 2-24-07

GREAT.......2007-02-07

Best, album I have heard since the 70's. Every song is a winner We can't Mkae It Here, is a Classic, and should be heard by every Politician in Wash. DC.Since buying Childish Thing's I have ordered 2 of his CD's, and I will eventually end up buying them all. I would urge every aging Boomer and war protester to by Childish Thing's.Charles A. O'Mara