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g) dennis roger reed: ~~ cowboy blues File Description Notes a) Cowboy Blues Released in 2004 this project finally gained permission in 2018 to be added to our "free" download page... and what a gem this release is! Enjoy!! ***Special thanks to Waverly Reed for artwork and cover designs. b) Original CD j-card with liner notes c) Inside j-card with liner notes d) Rear j-card with liner notes e) CD itself Artwork 01MurkyWater.mp3 f) Murky Water 02StepItUpandGo.mp3 g) Step it Up and Go 03JustLookintheMirror.mp3 h) Just Look In The Mirror 04StealThatGuitarRag.mp3 i) Steel That Guitar Rag 05WildAboutMyLovin.mp3 j) Wild About My Lovin' 06ColorBlue.mp3 k) Color Blue 07GointoBrownsville.mp3 l) Goin' to Brownsville 08SolidGone.mp3 m) Solid Gone 09PleaseDontBeLong.mp3 n) Please Don't Be Long 10EverSinceThatLightninHit.mp3 o) Ever Since That Lightnin' Hit 11FrankieandJohnny.mp3 p) Frankie and Johnny 12FuddCountyBreakdown.mp3 q) Fudd County Breakdown 13DarkHollow.mp3 r) Dark Hollow 14GrayPrairieDawn.mp3 s) Gray Prairie Dawn 15DontLookBack.mp3 t) Don't Look Back 16CowboyBlues.mp3 u) Cowboy Blues x) Want a physical CD? y) author: "Sidestream" - Radio 99FM - Brisbane, Australia. I did enjoy your CD. author: "Sidestream" - Radio 99FM - Brisbane, Australia. The guitar sound is clean, ringing, melodic, and well-recorded, and your deep voice suits the material. The older songs sound fresh, and I liked a lot of your originals. One that caused me to sit up with interest was Track 9, "Please Don't Be Long" - nice sound, good harmonies, a yearning quality with pleasant melancholy (if you follow me). y) author: Cindy Miller Never boring or repetitive, this cd warrants re-play.... author: Cindy Miller Dennis Roger Reed again doesn’t disappoint us. His "Cowboy Blues" cd recalls his blues and country roots while still surprising us with new twists on old favorites with some mighty fine instrumentals and dance tunes. His vocals demonstrate a wide range of expertise, images from Johnny Cash to Jimmy Buffet, while the harmonies evoke the perfect blending of an artist’s palette. One of Dennis’ new tunes, "Murky Water," tells the haunting tale of love gone bad which, again, showcases his ability to lyrically transform an old story into another dimension, a place we’ve never been before. Backed by energetic and talented musicians (with some sparky banjo and mandolin), this multi-tasked cd is not only interesting, it’s a great buy. y) author: Donn Cunningham Fantastic new CD from Dennis Roger Reed. author: Donn Cunningham This cd has 16 great tunes some written by Dennis and some new arrangements of standards. The songs are a combination of folk, blues and bluegrass. The vocals are strong and there is some great playing by Dennis, Mike Dowling and Don Reed. Highly recommended. y) author: Jason Odd California folk, blues and country converge in this charming set. author: Jason Odd California folk, blues and country converge in this charming set by Dennis Roger Reed, a stalwart of the Southern Californian roots scene. His second album sees him revisit the singer-songwriter tradition in fine form, indeed stronger than ever. Elements of the Guthries (Woody and Arlo), Chris Darrow (who guests), Gram Parsons, and Koerner Ray and Glover resound in this sterling album without a betrayal to original character and style. The balance of the acoustic instruments and Reed's low key and engaging voice are nigh perfect, while some of the harmonies are remeniscent of the Grateful Dead circa their classic Workingman's Dead album. Modern folk, roots rock and alt-country are all touched on in bold and gentle strokes, Reed has been around long enough to know when to hold back and how to showcase original themes and concepts within his song framework, while still managing to sound fresh and vibrant. Simply put, a great album that grows better with repeated playing, a keeper. y) Author: Linda Dewar, Folk Works Don’t be misled by the title of this new album from southern California singer-songwriter Dennis Roger Reed. Cowboy Blues is actually a delightful mixture of folk, roots, acoustic country pop and western swing, with the blues running through it as a common thread. Reed has an unassuming way with a song that conjures up images of summer evenings spent sipping lemonade and playing tunes on the front porch. His easy-on-the-ears baritone voice settles comfortably into both the toe-tappers and the ballads, and his skill on the acoustic, resonator and bass guitars is right up there with the best. The instrumental side of Cowboy Blues is made even better by the inclusion of some fine backup musicians, including Chris Darrow on fiddle, resonator lap guitar and backing vocals. Mike Dowling, and Reed’s brother Don Reed add their talents on guitar, mandolin, and assorted other stringed things, and Dan Fuller provides jus the right amount of percussion exactly where it’s needed. Of the sixteen tracks, six are traditional or covers and the rest are originals. My favorite among the covers is Reed’s arrangement of the Blind Boy Fuller roots/blues classic Step It Up and Go which is spiced up a bit by the addition of some western swing style rhythms and fiddling. But the heart of Cowboy Blues is its original songs. Dennis Roger Reed has a knack for combining traditional sounding melodies with lyrics that speak of longing and love in ways that make sense in a 21st century world. It’s hard to choose one over another, but I’m a bit partial to Murky Water, the opening track, and Color Blue, a memorable and melancholy ballad that refuses to fit in any genre. Cowboy Blues does what a good album is supposed to do. The music is a good mix of the familiar and the innovative, and the performance is top-notch. The lyrics catch your attention, tell you a bit about the singer, and reflect some of your own life and feelings. What more can you ask? y) author: Peter Joseph Burtt Smart songs which never resort to being too clever author: Peter Joseph Burtt This record has such a relaxed and natural feel to it that it is quite easy to leave it in the cd player for long periods of time. Great driving cd. Dennis is a smart songwriter whose songs never resort to being too clever. The fine playing of top flight guest artists Chris Darrow and Mike Dowling really shine here. The musicians all complement each other nicely whether picking or harmonizing. This is authentic contemporary folk music with a timeless appeal. Well done. y) author: Thomas Aubrunner Highly recommended acoustic music of country, rock, folk, blues ... author: Thomas Aubrunner Dennis Roger Reed is a great singer/songwriter and this CD is highly recommended. Cowboy blues contains 16 songs (10 written by Dennis Roger Reed), a mixture of acoustic music. His style is from country, blues, country-rock, folk, bluegrass to swing and more ... . Special guest appearance on this CD is Chris Darrow (Kaleidoscope and member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 1967). Beneath his selfwritten songs Dennis Roger performs great versions of the Blind Boy Fuller song Step it up and go (which was also recorded by the Earl Scruggs Revue in 1973) and Dark Hollow (a Kentucky Colonels - Clarence White - and Country Gazette standard) in a fantastic acoustic swing version. All in all a perfect CD with 16 great songs! z) International De naam Dennis Roger Reed zal niet bij iedereen een belletje doen rinkelen. Dat is jammer, want met "Little King of Dreams" leverde de uit Californie komende singer-songwriter een jaar of wat geleden een geweldige cd af. Voor het uitbrengen van dit album zat Reed vijf jaar als bassist, songwriter en zanger in de Andy Rau Band. Eveneens nam hij twee albums op met de roots/rock/blues band Blue Mama. Maar op zijn nieuwste album "Cowboy Blues" kiest Reed voor een sound bestaande uit een mix van folk, blues, swing en bluegrass hetgeen neerkomt op country blues. Maar gelukkig is Reed ook de slide gitaar niet vergeten in "Steal That Guitar Rag" en legt hij nog altijd bakken vol emotie in zijn muziek. Zijn liedjes zijn knap en inventief, de uitvoering altijd bevlogen en emotievol. Het resultaat is een cd die nu al tot mijn favorieten mag gerekend worden omwille van zijn verfijnd 'fingerstijle' gitaarspel maar ook door de inbreng van enkele speciale gastmuzikanten waaronder de legendarische Chris Darrow (fiddle, lap steel en vocals) en de buitengewone bottleneck en swing gitarist Mike Dowling. Bluegrass en swing gaan op deze cd een verbond aan, blues vormt het noodzakelijke bindmiddel. Het is heerlijk om zulke goede muzikanten aan het werk te horen (met name het gitaarwerk is geweldig) en ook de zang is van een enorm hoog niveau. Niet hip of trendy, maar zo ongelooflijk goed dat we vinden dat iedere liefhebber van country blues deze cd in huis moet hebben. Nog altijd een grote belofte deze Dennis Roger Reed, al kun je hem na twee prima cd's ook best een heel groot talent noemen. Translation: The name Dennis Roger Reed will not ring a bell with everyone. That’s a pity, because a year or so ago, the singer songwriter from California delivered a great cd with “Little King of Dreams’. Before that album he played as a bass player, songwriter and singer in the Andy Rau Band. He also recorded two albums with the roots/rock/blues band Blue Mama. On his latest album, “Cowboy Blues’ he chooses for a sound that’s a mix between folk, blues, swing and bluegrass that boils down to country blues. Luckily Reed doesn’t forget the slide guitar in “Steal That Guitar Rag” and he also heaps loads of emotion in his music. His songs are clever and inventive, his delivery always driven and full of emotion. The result is a cd that’s one of my favorites because of the tasty fingerstyle guitar playing but also because some special guest musicians are present, as the legendary Chris Darrow (on fiddle, lap steel and vocals) and the extraordinary bottleneck and swing guitarist Mike Dowling. Bluegrass and swing are fused on this cd, and blues is the glue that binds both. It’s a real delight to hear such great musicians. The guitar playing is especially great, and also the singing is exceptionally good. Not hip or trendy but so unbelievably good that we think every lover of country blues should own this cd. Dennis Roger Reed is a great and promising artist, although, after these two nice cd’s, you could also call him a very big talent.