Shel Silverstein - Boy Named Sue and His Other Country Songs
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Free Music Notes for Boy Named Sue and His Other Country Songs
Free Music Review: Payin' for my mistake
Hit: 5 Stars
I love this album! My first musical exposure to Shel Silverstein came with Freakin' at the Freakers ball, a hilarious album of drug and sexual humor (FYI: Do not play Shel Silverstein's music for your children) backed by Dr. Hook. After seeking out more of his work, I learned that many of his albums had yet to come out on CD. Well I've been waiting since, and here they are. Boy Named Sue was released on CD simultaneously with Inside Folk Songs and Hairy Jazz (both of which are also worth checking out--see my review of Inside Folk Songs); these three mark the fifth, sixth, and seventh of his musical albums (not counting the spoken-word albums of his books of poetry) to make it onto a digital format, leaving only his fourth album (chronologically), Drain My Brain, to be brought over.
I don't tend to be a big country guy; most of the so-called country music that I enjoy is the stuff made by non-country artists like Bob Dylan or Elvis Costello. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this album, but I wasn't disappointed. The songs are performed in a country mode, but they're Shel Silverstein songs, no doubt about it. The tunes are hilarious, just listen to "Alimoney" or "Dirty Ol' Me." And he sings them with the same style and rhythm that he has done on his past releases, and with the same delightfully gravelly voice.
The title song, of course, has become a classic at the hands of Johnny Cash, but Shel's version has plenty of charm of its own. And the rest of the album is no less hilarious. In terms if material, it is a less varied album than some of his others. Many, like Inside Folk Songs and Freakers Ball, intersperse shorter, spoken-word type versions of some of his childish poems (in fact, many made it into his books), but this album is all songs. That doesn't mean it gets repetitive, though. The funny tales and reflections of each song and Shel's changes in rhythm keep the album going, and it doesn't lose momentum until the last second. If you're a fan of Shel, or are curious what his music is like, give his album a try.