Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Standard Songs for Average People

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Released
  
April 24, 2007

Artists
  
John Prine, Mac Wiseman

Label
  
Oh Boy Records

Length
  
34:52

Release date
  
24 April 2007

Standard Songs for Average People httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI6

Standard Songs for Average People (2007)
  
For Better, or Worse (2016)

Genres
  
Folk music, Bluegrass, Americana, Alternative country

Producers
  
John Prine, David R. Ferguson

Similar
  
John Prine albums, Bluegrass albums

Standard Songs for Average People is an album by John Prine and Mac Wiseman, released in 2007 (see 2007 in music). Wiseman was 82 years old at the time of the recording and Prine was 60.

Contents

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Mark Deming wrote of the album "The craft is strong on Standard Songs for Average People, but at its heart it sounds like two friends singing some old songs they love on a quiet evening, and that's part of the album's strength -- these are 14 songs sung by two guys who know a great tune when they hear it, and they allow these numbers to work their magic simply, which serves them very well." Music critic Don Grant wrote "This release by veterans Prine and Wiseman doesn't break any new ground... As would be expected from two performers of this caliber, the tunes are well executed and come off with nary a hitch. If you're a new listener to this game, by all means pick it up and expand your horizons. However, for most, it's probably a shade on the redundant side." Mike Wilson of The Green Man Review gave the album a positive rating, calling it "an honest and heartfelt recording."

Critic John Milward of the No Depression wrote that the songs were "hardly standard" and the album "an amiable picking party that evokes placid Sunday picnics more than rowdy Saturday nights. And while the results are pleasant enough, one can’t help but wish somebody had spiked the punchbowl."

Track listing

  1. "Blue Eyed Elaine" (Ernest Tubb) – 2:34
  2. "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age" (Cindy Walker, Bob Wills) – 2:26
  3. "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" (Charlie Feathers, Stan Kesler) – 3:01
  4. "I Love You Because" (Leon Payne) – 4:22
  5. "Pistol Packin' Mama" (Al Dexter) – 2:43
  6. "Saginaw, Michigan" (Bill Anderson, Donald Wayne) – 2:55
  7. "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine" (Tom T. Hall) – 4:36
  8. "Old Cape Cod" (Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus, Allan Jeffrey) – 2:25
  9. "Death of Floyd Collins" (Andrew Jenkins, Irene Spain) – 3:25
  10. "Blue Side of Lonesome" (Leon Payne) – 4:09
  11. "In the Garden" (C. Austin Miles) – 3:08
  12. "Just the Other Side of Nowhere" (Kris Kristofferson) – 2:36
  13. "Old Rugged Cross" (George Bennard)– 3:31
  14. "Where the Blue of the Night" (Bing Crosby, Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) – 3:01

Personnel

  • John Prine – vocals, guitar
  • Mac Wiseman – vocals, guitar
  • Lester Armistead – harmony vocals
  • Kenneth Blevins – drums, percussion
  • Mike Bub – bass
  • Jack Clement – dobro, guitar
  • Stuart Duncan – fiddle
  • Lloyd Green – pedal steel guitar
  • Jamie Hartford – guitar
  • David Jacques – bass
  • Carol Lee Singers – background vocals
  • Ronnie McCoury – mandolin
  • Pat McInerney – drums
  • Pat McLaughlin – guitar, harmonica, mandolin, ukulele, harmony vocals, baritone guitar
  • Joey Miskulin – accordion
  • Tim O'Brien – banjo, guitar

    • Songs

    1Blue Eyed Elaine2:35
    2Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age2:26
    3I Forgot to Remember to Forget3:02

    References

    Standard Songs for Average People Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA