1 Whatever It Was
2 Loneliness House
3 Mose Allison Played Here
4 Spring & All
5 Vivid
6 Dusty Woods
7 Billy from the Hills
8 Speaking in Tongues
9 Enough
10 Hurt So Nice
11 Wild Like a Sonny Boy
12 Down at the Mill
13 Why Don't You Just Go Home

From Amazon.com

Only American poet with something to say

 Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Brown takes you from some backwoods small town sawdust pile right into the armpit grit of the modern world of urban distortion,tecnology,cynicism and everything in between. But the real human element is always there, the good the bad and the who give's a damn...you just got to listen. For most it does not come easy, but the truth usually hurts...and once you hear it you get hooked.Both Bo Ramsey's and Greg Brown's playing is unbelievable, the musical blend of these two wizards is a tapestry of "less is more" in a style most muscians never achieve, the ultimate fusionists. I was floored when I first heard this six or seven years back, and I just re-purchased ...it's all as relevent or more so then ever. Brown has timeless raw insights to share, Americana a la 21st century. Mr. Brown has a stack of albumns, I have heard most and never found the music or prose lacking.Thank you Mr. Brown.

Don't "mind" if I do . . .

 Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Probably Greg Brown's coolest album! And that's saying somethin'.
It pulls you in right off the top with "Whatever It Was" and takes you for a nice ride all the way through.
"Mose Allison Played Here" is a tasty tribute to Mose.
Out of 13 tunes, "Wild Like Sonny Boy" is the only one I woulda left out.
I'd recommend picking up "The Poet Game" next.
Enjoy the Ride!

Growly

 Album Rating: (3 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: I like Greg Brown when he's being wry and lyrical. This CD is gruffer, less melodic, less intimate and unfortunately, less appealing. Most of the songs are half-spoken instead of sung, and I just wished there were a couple of gentle tracks to break it up. If you like your folk music bluesy and growly with lots of words but not many tunes, this will be for you. It's not bad, but so not my favourite GB album.

Bluesy Folk Grooving With Depth

 Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Johnny Cash fans might dig Greg Brown.

He's got a folk sound, but with a blues undertone, and a western overlay. There's a Bruce Cockburn sensibility, with some nuances of Elvis Costello. Even Bob Dylan fans will find something in "Slant 6 Mind," especially those struck by Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" and "Oh Mercy" albums.

Brown has a deep, relaxed voice. The guitars are sometimes picked, sometimes strummed, with a jazz-folk, front-porch flavor.

The lyrics are personal, in the manner of Springsteen and Van Morrison, though not as blue collar thematically. He draws, instead, from the experiences of a rural, country growing up.

From the first song, "Whatever it was," he slides in some ironic humor:

"She says, "Come hither", but when I get hither she is yon.
I was looking for what I loved. Whatever it was, it's gone."

It is all visual and metaphoric throughout the album, like his envisioning of blues man Robert Johnson, in a mournful lowing "Dusty"

"He licks the pencil, looks around, writes a few words down,
and pulls a moan from his guitar
A hound dog answers low and he stands up real slow
He's got a ways to go, he don't know how far"

Find passion and slow slide guitars and harmonicas, rich mixing that never overwhelms a song. Buy it for your next long drive down I-80 or up Rt. 66 and put it on repeat. You'll like it the first time, and it'll grow on you.

I fully recommend "Slant 6 Mind" by Greg Brown.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Another classic

 Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Like everything he did in the 90's, this is great. Just not as great as "Dream Cafe" and "Poet Game".