Beneath the Country Underdog

Amazon.com
This is how it might have sounded had Dusty Springfield followed Dusty in Memphis with Dusty in Nashville. A Georgia cop's daughter, Kelly Hogan started in the Rock*A*Teens, sang lead for Atlanta combo the Jody Grind, then moved to Chicago to work in the record biz. Her full-length solo debut, produced by Windy City pal Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers), is an ominous stockpiling of rockers, twangers, and torchy ballads, showcasing Hogan's absolutely stunning alto and girls-will-be-boys sense of humor. Her trio of original numbers complement an eclectic checklist of covers by some of Hogan's favorites, including Langford, Willie Nelson, the Band, Johnny Paycheck, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, and Boston pop icons Magnetic Fields. --Scott Holter

Product Description
On "Beneath the Country Underdog," Hogan gets the backing she deserves from insurgent country ass-kickers The Pine Valley Cosmonauts (featuring members of The Waco Brothers, The Mekons, and The Bottle Rockets) --with made-in-Chicago production by misanthropic Welsh badboy, Jon Langford. These 11 tracks -- ranging from Hogan’s haunting originals, to covers of Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, and The Magnetic Fields -- also feature a slew of hipster/hickster guest stars, including Neko Case, Edith Frost, John Wesley Harding, and Robbie Fulks.

Beneath the Country Underdog,Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts,Bloodshot Records,Alternative Country-Rock,Alternative Pop/Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,United States of America

Beneath the Country Underdog

Average customer rating:

great album
Great Voice Not Always Put to Best Use
Quality alt-country music
Soul music with a country heart
Soul music with a country heart

Beneath the Country Underdog
Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Manufacturer: Bloodshot Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B00004SGT8
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Tracks:

(It's A Mighty Thin Line) Between Love And Hate
I Still Can't Believe You're Gone
Mystery
I Don't Believe In You
Papa Was A Rodeo
Easy Loving
Wild Mountain Berries
Sudden Stop
Crackers Rule
Gone
Whispering Pines

Amazon.com

This is how it might have sounded had Dusty Springfield followed Dusty in Memphis with Dusty in Nashville. A Georgia cop's daughter, Kelly Hogan started in the Rock*A*Teens, sang lead for Atlanta combo the Jody Grind, then moved to Chicago to work in the record biz. Her full-length solo debut, produced by Windy City pal Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers), is an ominous stockpiling of rockers, twangers, and torchy ballads, showcasing Hogan's absolutely stunning alto and girls-will-be-boys sense of humor. Her trio of original numbers complement an eclectic checklist of covers by some of Hogan's favorites, including Langford, Willie Nelson, the Band, Johnny Paycheck, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, and Boston pop icons Magnetic Fields. --Scott Holter

Album Description

On "Beneath the Country Underdog," Hogan gets the backing she deserves from insurgent country ass-kickers The Pine Valley Cosmonauts (featuring members of The Waco Brothers, The Mekons, and The Bottle Rockets) --with made-in-Chicago production by misanthropic Welsh badboy, Jon Langford. These 11 tracks -- ranging from Hogan's haunting originals, to covers of Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, and The Magnetic Fields -- also feature a slew of hipster/hickster guest stars, including Neko Case, Edith Frost, John Wesley Harding, and Robbie Fulks.

Customer Reviews:

great album.......2007-06-09

She has a sweet voice and has compiled a group of meaningful, soulfull songs. Her Rodeo cover is my favorite- what more can I say.

Great Voice Not Always Put to Best Use.......2005-03-08

If heard a couple decades ago, this CD would pass muster as classic country with the originals built from the same throwback sound as the covers that make up the majority of the tracks. Production and playing are excellent, but, to my listening at least, Kelly Hogan's vocals are curiously passionless on some cuts. She is very strong on the raucous It's a Mighty Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Papa Was a Rodeo, Crackers Rule (perhaps the single best cut), and Whispering Pines. But in some of the other ballads (I Still Can't Believe You're Gone and her own Gone, for example) she sounds tentative, as if she's so concerned about going over the top that she checks her emotion at the studio door. And Wild Mountain Berries is just the cutesy kind of song that makes mainstream country such a tuneout now. Even with those criticisms, however, Beneath the Country Underdog is a strong CD.

Quality alt-country music.......2004-09-16

If this album had been recorded in the seventies, it would have been classified as country-rock. Being recorded at the end of the old millennium, it is classified as alt-country, a genre that includes country-rock but is not limited to it.

Many of the songs here are covers including It's a mighty thin line between love and hate (Johnny Paycheck), I still can't believe you're gone (Willie Nelson, from his album Phases and stages), Easy loving (Freddie Hart), Wild mountain berries (Peggy Scott), Sudden stop (Percy Sledge) and Whispering pines (The Band). None of these songs have been over-covered and I'm sure that some listeners to this album have never heard any of these songs before. Perhaps the most famous song among them is Easy loving, which was a major country success in the early seventies, winning CMA song of the year two years running. You might expect that it would have been covered more often than it actually has, but although I like the song, I never thought it was a classic.

Kelly co-wrote three of the other songs (I don't believe in you, Crackers rule, Gone), while Jon Langford (the producer) wrote Mystery. The remaining song, Papa was a rodeo, written by Stephen Merritt, may also be an original.

This is a fine album with a nice mix of songs that should appeal to fans of the early Eagles albums.

Soul music with a country heart.......2002-05-29

Kelly Hogan has one of the greatest voices you're ever likely to hear, one that can catch any tune thrown at it and turn it inside out. I first heard her on the tune "Drunkard's Blues" from the wonderful Bob Wills tribute album by the Pine Valley Cosmonauts. She was astonishing there and just as good here. This album is mostly covers, with a couple of choice originals thrown in for good measure. Kelly knocks you out on "A Mighty Thin Line Between Love and Hate", a killer country rock tune. I could go on and on with each tune. But special note must be made for her cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Papa Was A Rodeo", which is heartbreaking and beautiful and tops the already lovely original. Grab this one.

Soul music with a country heart.......2002-05-29

Kelly Hogan has one of the greatest voices you're ever likely to hear, one that can catch any tune thrown at it and turn it inside out. I first heard her on the tune "Drunkard's Blues" from the wonderful Bob Wills tribute album by the Pine Valley Cosmonauts. She was astonishing there and just as good here. This album is mostly covers, with a couple of choice originals thrown in for good measure. Kelly knocks you out on "A Mighty Thin Line Between Love and Hate", a killer country rock tune. I could go on and on with each tune. But special note mut be made for her cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Papa Was A Rodeo", which is heartbreaking and beautiful and tops the already lovely original. Grab this one.

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