[.ca] Best Of Brewer & Shipley

for a new generation that will love it:
Brewer & Shipley came to my attention as a teenager, with the song "One Toke Over the Line." I bought the Tarkio Road album then and was fascinated by the rest of the music I heard, and wondered why the rest of the songs weren't playing on the radio. 25 years or so later, I sing opera and jazz standards myself, but I still love Brewer & Shipley. There is nothing more inspirational and valuable than this kind of music (wish I could sing it myself). In addition, this music reflects the roots & history of our culture (and not the invention of a marketer). The songs are full of meaning and a reflection of thoughtful artists and musicians. Now that folk, blues and bluegrass are regaining some popular attention I hope that generations younger than I will discover Brewer & Shipley for themselves (and that Tarkio Road will be re-issued). And today I'm ordering this CD for myself.

Woefully incomplete:
I suppose Brewer and Shipley were "one hit wonders" to most, but not where I came from (Kansas). Tom & Mike were our local heroes, KC area boys who made a name for themselves doing what they loved, making music. Much of their best music didn't get AM radio airplay. "Oh Mommy", was our pseudo-hippie anthem and, thankfully, is included in this woefully inadequate compilation. Tom & Mike harmonize as well as any brother act. Their songs have a wonderful folkie sound that harkens back to a safer, simpler time when "make love not war" was our slogan. I originally gave this CD 3 stars because this "collection" misses quite a few of my favorite B/S songs like, "Song From Platte River", "Don't Want To Die In Georgia", and Jackson Browne's "Rock Me On The Water". But I added back one star because it includes my favorite B/S song, "Rise Up (Easy Rider)", and another great one "Fifty States of Freedom". It's a shame that Rhino or some other smart label hasn't put together a decent B/S package.

Too much missing, but what's here is Great!!:
Looking at the track list for "The Best Of" I was hoping for more of "Weeds"-Brewer and Shipley's 1969 Kama Sutra debut. Even with 7 tracks, the powers-that-be chose to miss 3 of the best ones; 'Indian Summer,' 'Too Soon Tomorrow,' and 'Oh, Sweet Lady.' all three offer some of the best melodies and harmonies on the album. In fact, I don't think there is a track from "Weeds" that doesn't belong on a true greatest hits, really. And, of course, "Weeds" is out of print! "Tarkio" is a good album, too. I know you have to stop and make a choice somewhere. It seems a shame, though. Oh yes, get this CD. All are strong tracks. A decent overview. Brewer and Shipley left the craziness of LA for Kansas City in the late 60's. And KC still loves 'em. Wonderful to hang with and perfect match for making music. Very adequate for a duo live. Fortunately you can now get the first two albums complete from Collector's Choice Music with amazing liners!

They had their moments, but there aren't enough of them here:
There's just no excuse in the CD age for "best of's" which run to a mere 14 tracks (though many country CDs still offer a miserable 10, which makes this one look generous). B & S were always a second-string act, though with a little more work their albums might have made the next level. The closest they got was with "Rural Space" - criminally under-represented here. "Crested Butte" from that album should have been the second song selected for this collection, after "One Toke Over the Line". One of their problems was a tendency to be a little too slick - they were uncomfortably close to easy-listening at times. In the end, that's probably what cost them the respect of people who bought, say, Jonathan Edwards or the Youngbloods. It's amusing today to look at their website and see that Mike Brewer actually seems proud of the fact that some of his work has been used as muzak in the US, and that a couple of songs were used in daytime soap operas. Now that's what I call making a silk purse out of a sow's ear ... in his shoes, I'd be taking out writs to keep that information from getting around. But their best was pretty good, and some of it (but ONLY some of it) is here, as well as some of the more syrupy chestnuts. The fact that virtually none of their early stuff is on CD shows how irrelevant they are judged to be today, and that's probably a pity, because they could sing and (when they were trying) write pretty well, too.

Nice Collection Of Their Hits!:
I can relate to the comments made by a previous viewer regarding the fact that Brewer and Shipley were really one hit wonders, but they were by no means a one-trick act. On the contrary, they were very talented and very skilled performers and artists. For example, anyone who listens closely to their "Shake Off The Demon" album will quickly recognize the depths of their abilities. So, although their catalogue of hits is short, the range of their work is much broader, and it is a shame that much of that work is not included here. I would much prefer to see an anthology that addressed a lot of the excellent folk-rock releases they produced, including a lot of the material from the "Shake Off The Demon" Album. For example, their treatment of Jackson Browne's "Rock Me On The Water" is probably the single best interpretation of the song I have yet heard, yet it is not available anywhere for anyone not having the original vinyl album. What is included here is good stuff, but there is too little of it and it is not fully representative of all their work. Once again, like a previous reviewer I feel that much more should be included from their earlier and more elemental phases. Yet this is not to deny the appeal of what is here, including "One Toke Over The Line", "Tarkio Road", "Oh, Mommy, "People Love Each Other", and a lovely cover of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower'. Also here is "Shake Off The Demon", "Yankee Lady", and an interesting number called "Fifty States Of Freedom" which is kind of an instant ticket back to those fabled times in the sixties when such commentaries meant something. All in all, this is an interesting album, and one I am glad to own, but I am hoping for a more complete and more representative release of the corpus of their work, including the bulk of the songs from "Shake Off The Demon" someday soon. Enjoy!

• People Love Each Other
• One Toke Over the Line
• Tarkio Road
• Fifty States of Freedom
• Shake off the Demon
• Have a Good Life
• Witchi-Tai-To
• Yankee Lady
• All Along the Watchtower
• Oh Mommy
• Rise Up (Easy Rider)
• Ruby on the Morning
• Light
• Lady Like You