Cow Fish Fowl or Pig [Limited Edition]

Amazon.com
The Gourds go beyond the constraints of alt-country, forging into new territory--call it country dada. Tex-Mex with a dash of Cajun, a handful of honky-tonk, and some rockin' and rollin', the 17 engaging tunes on Cow Fish Fowl or Pig crawl into your brain, lay eggs, and hatch; once they're in there, it's hard to get them out. Opener "My Name Is Jorge," uptempo with mandolin, acoustic guitar, accordion, harmonica, upright bass, and drums, sets the tone--it's something like the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," with a not-so-humble fruit-seller in the role of Satan, and witty yet bizarre references to selling apples to William S. Burroughs and lemons to Henry S. Ford. "Foggy Blossoms" gets naughty, with the completely reasonable zaniness of a French surrealist chase film, circa 1924. Make no mistake, though, this is Americana. "Blankets" drops the joking tone for soaring, bittersweet old-timey. That rootsiness sticks on the spirited "Right in the Head," with its opening couplet "If you don't pay me back forget it / I won't track you down." Cow Fish is madcap fun--track it down. --Jillian Steinberger

Cow Fish Fowl or Pig,The Gourds,Sugarhill [Country],Alternative Country-Rock,Alternative Pop/Rock,Country-Rock,Honky Tonk,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Cow Fish Fowl or Pig [Limited Edition]

Average customer rating:

They're back!
Great Mix
Austin's finest
It'll cure what ails ya!
Glory be!

Cow Fish Fowl or Pig
Gourds
Manufacturer: Sugarhill [Country]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Dem's Good Beeble
Heavy Ornamentals
Bolsa de Agua
Blood of the Ram
Stadium Blitzer

ASIN: B00006IJ4L
Release Date: 2002-09-17

Tracks:

My Name Is Jorge
Roll & Tumble
1st In Line
Foggy Blossom (Mechanical Bride)
The Bridge
Ants On The Melon (With Due Regards To Virginia Adair)
Hellhounds
Blankets
Short Guy Spiritual Rap (Short Guy From 'Chi-Town')
Bottle & A Dime
Right In The Head
Ham-Fisted Box Of Gloves
The Prayer That Fell Upon The Mirror
Best Of Me
Sweet Nutty
Ceiling's Leaking
Smoke Bend

Amazon.com

The Gourds go beyond the constraints of alt-country, forging into new territory--call it country dada. Tex-Mex with a dash of Cajun, a handful of honky-tonk, and some rockin' and rollin', the 17 engaging tunes on Cow Fish Fowl or Pig crawl into your brain, lay eggs, and hatch; once they're in there, it's hard to get them out. Opener "My Name Is Jorge," uptempo with mandolin, acoustic guitar, accordion, harmonica, upright bass, and drums, sets the tone--it's something like the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," with a not-so-humble fruit-seller in the role of Satan, and witty yet bizarre references to selling apples to William S. Burroughs and lemons to Henry S. Ford. "Foggy Blossoms" gets naughty, with the completely reasonable zaniness of a French surrealist chase film, circa 1924. Make no mistake, though, this is Americana. "Blankets" drops the joking tone for soaring, bittersweet old-timey. That rootsiness sticks on the spirited "Right in the Head," with its opening couplet "If you don't pay me back forget it / I won't track you down." Cow Fish is madcap fun--track it down. --Jillian Steinberger

Customer Reviews:

They're back!.......2006-09-09

Wow. After a somewhat disappointing Shinebox, the real Gourds are back. No covers or repeats on this album, only all-original Gourds treats. Can someone tell me where in the hell Max Johnston came from? Blankets is one of the best Gourds tunes ever and Smoke Bend is also great. Keep up the amazing song writing Max. Hellhounds is probably my favorite Jimmy Smith song of all time and Ceiling's Leaking is Jimmy's second best track on the disc. Kevin kicks his usual [...] with a sick jam in Ants On The Melon, and Ham-Fisted Box Of Gloves and Roll & Tumble are classics. This is a must-have Gourds album.

Great Mix.......2006-03-07

This is probably the album I listen to the most by the Gourds. Three songwriters contributed to this one and there's not a dud in the bunch. It contains some of Jimmy Smith's best song writing -- My Name is Jorge, Hellhounds, and The Prayer That Fell Upon The Mirror. "Ants On The Melon" is another Gourd classic (I dare you not to like this song and if you do there's something wrong with you). I also really like (and it sneaks up on you) the closer, "Smoke Bend". This coulda been a mess with three people contributing but each song compliments the other. It's an infectious and fun collection of tunes.

Austin's finest.......2005-05-04

The Gourds are a one of a kind gem! Sure, one can make comparisons to The Band, but the Gourds aren't really like any other band I've heard. They have grown to one of my favorite live shows ever since the early days they played the Hole in Wall in Austin.
To me, it is about the instruments and songwriting. I love the instrumentation that has always had a significant presence in their music whether it is Kevin's mando riffs, Claude's consistent accordion, or these days Max's fiddle and banjo. And underneath it all, you'll find great bass work from Jimmy that even occassionally becomes a bass solo.
They take some old country sounds and mix in a bit jugband, stomp, jam, and hollerin to go along with the great songwriting triple threat of Jimmy, Kevin, and Max. Jimmy, the most original, stretches the songwriting to it limits with his rambles, funky storylines, and unique vocal delivery (see "My Name is Jorge", "Hellhounds" and "Sweet Nutty"). Max contributes a few more serious songs such as "Blankets" or "Best of Me" (which sounds just like the chords and vocal melody of "One Hundred Years From Now" from the Byrds' Sweetheart!). Kevin is somewhere in between with either a fun roller like "Roll and Tumble" or a nice ballad like "Ham-Fisted Box of Gloves".
This album is yet another fine example of their ability to capture their live energy and raw sound. They like what they do and it shows through in their music and live show. If you like this album, you won't go wrong with any of their others, such as Dem's good beeble or stadium blitzer which are my favs.

It'll cure what ails ya!.......2003-04-23

Talk about a band paying off! This has all that makes the Gourds great concentrated in one place. A natural progression from where the band started, it just blows the doors off genre and mixes and matches with abandon. The only artist it reminds me of Tom Waits but only in so much the music is really steeped in musicianship and the words comes from some backwoods poetry reading. Kev delivers some suprising tracks with the swing of "Mechanical Bride", the saucy "Ants on A Melon", and the cajun rock of "Bottle & Dime". Jimmy really kicks his surrealistic bucket with the shaggy dog tale of Jorge, the brilliant ramble of "The Bridge", and the Stonesy but not "Ceiling's Leaking". Max is perfecting a sound which while not the same as his fellow songwriters is solid and complimentary. This time they really blend rather than stand away like his songs from the very good Bolsa. I especially like the solid country pop of "Best Of Me" and the canjun shuffle of "Smokey Bend" (which if my guess is right, it's sung by his dad!). Want more highlights? Roll and Tumble, Hellhounds, Blankets...it's just one great song after another! Granted, Sweet Nutty is more amusing to me than anything and, I really didn't need to hear the spiritual guy raps more than once. I think this album is a why The Gourds are far and away from the pack. It leaves me a one big happy wreck! How many albums can you say that about?

Glory be!.......2003-02-08

The Gourds are making some of the best original music in America, and too few are listening and commercial radio programmers have their tiny little heads full of visions of payola and loot from promoting the whatever the mega recording companies dictate will be played.

"Cow, Fish, Fowl, or Pig" elevates The Gourds beyond even their musical forerunners, The Band. I prefer any recording of The Gourds to any Recording of the Band, in fact.

Rise up oh legions of Gourdites and smite the dullards who pose as recording industry mavens and constrict creativity and freshness in favor of mass-produced pabulum. Glory be on all things Gourds.

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