Rambling Boy - Harry Potter 6 Books

Track Listing

1. Single Girl, Married Girl
2. Rambling Boy
3. 20/20 Vision
4. Wildwood Flower
5. Spiritual
6. Oh Take Me Back
7. You Win Again
8. The Fields Of Athenry
9. Ocean Of Diamonds
10. He's Gone Away
11. A Voice From On High
12. Down By The Salley Gardens
13. Road Of Broken Hearts
14. Is This America? (Katrina 2005)
15. A Tramp On The Street
16. Old Joe Clark
17. Seven Year Blues
18. Old Haden Family Show
19. Shenandoah

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-23
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Listeners familiar with the Charlie Haden's celebrated career may not know of the legendary jazz bassist's early years in country music performing with his family. Charlie Haden Family & Friends: Rambling Boy brings the artist's personal history full circle and presents a new generation of the Haden Family - a legendary Midwest music institution in the 1930s and 1940s, now reborn in the 21st century. Rambling Boy includes songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Hank Williams alongside fabled traditional tunes and some striking original compositions. The performing cast includes Haden, his wife and co-producer Ruth Cameron, all four of his children (the triplets Petra, Rachel and Tanya Haden, their brother Josh Haden), and his son-in-law Jack Black-- each of whom has his or her own career in music. In addition, Rambling Boy features guest appearances by some of the most illustrious names in contemporary Americana and popular music: Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Vince Gill, Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs & the Whites, and Dan Tyminski and also includes such illustrious musicians as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton and more.

Featured Guest Artists:

Ruth Cameron

Josh Haden

Tanya Haden

Rachel Haden

Petra Haden

Bruce Hornsby

Roseanne Cash

Ricky Skaggs & the Whites

Vince Gill

From the Artist
Charlie Haden was literally born into country music. His parents Carl and Virginia Haden (professionally known as "Uncle Carl" and "Mary Jane") led the self-contained Haden Family. The Haden Family--which also included Charlie's two older brothers, Carl Jr. and Jim, and his older sister Mary-- was heard on every major radio station in the South and Midwest. The group had its own radio show on radio station KMA in Shenandoah, Iowa, performing both popular songs of the day and Carl Haden originals like "Moberly Mine Disaster" and "Ozark Moon."

"My parents toured all over the country, going from one radio station to another to perform" Charlie recalls. "They were on their way to Des Moines when a snowstorm came up. They stopped at a motel in Shenandoah, where my dad called the local radio station and asked if they could come in and audition. They got the job and ended up staying there."

Charles Edward Haden was born August 6, 1937 in Shenandoah, Iowa; he was not quite two years old when he first sang on the radio. This precocious performance by "Little Cowboy Charlie" was recorded--and now appears as "Haden Family History," the penul¬timate track on. Rambling Boy. It segues into "Oh Shenandoah," sung by the mature Charlie Haden in a moving tribute to his parents.

When Charlie Haden was four years old, his family moved to Springfield, Missouri to take a job at radio station KWTO ("Keep Watching the Ozarks"). In an interview with Amy Goodman for "Democracy Now," the artist said: "My dad was the MC, he gave all the commercials--Wait's Green Mountain cough syrup, Sparkalite cereal, Allstate Insurance...We had all kinds of sponsors. We got bags of mail from all over the country. "

"And it was really a great experience for me...being close to my family and devoted to this music. My life was filled with music, and I learned so much about harmony and melody singing with them"

Charlie continued to sing with the group until age 15 when he contracted bulbar polio. The disease weakened the nerves of his vocal cords, and effectively put an end to his singing career. But Haden continued to play bass, the instrument he'd picked up a few years earlier, and his life changed forever when he heard Charlie Parker play on a "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert in Omaha, Nebraska.

"That's when I decided to play jazz," he says. "So in order to save enough money to get to L.A. and go to music school and meet my idol, [pianist] Hampton Hawes, I began playing bass on `The Ozark Jubilee,' a network television show based in Springfield."

"Red Foley [1910-1968] was the host of the show and then Eddie Arnold [[1918-2008]. Eddie Arnold's guitar player was Hank Garland and Grady Martin was the guitarist for Red Foley. They were both wonderful musicians and we'd play jazz tunes whenever there was a break on the set...I've always found that really good country musicians are usually jazz fans."

In 1956, Charlie Haden moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at Westlake College of Modern Music. Within a year, he was playing jazz with Hampton Hawes and saxophonist Art Pepper; soon after, drummer Lennie McBrowne introduced Charlie to Ornette Coleman...and the rest, as they say, is history.

About the Artist
Always one to defy conventions and expectations, bassist Charlie Haden attained his now legendary status through his ground-breaking work with the original Ornette Coleman Quartet in the late Fifties, recording some of the most seminal albums in the genre with artists like Keith Jarrett, and leading his own Liberation Music Orchestra. Charlie's consistently broadminded approach to music has led him to record with everyone from John Coltrane to Ringo Starr to Herbie Hancock - as well as continue to record his own unique and timeless albums

Throughout this three-time Grammy Award winner's career, there is palpable evidence of his deep and abiding passion for American roots music. Haden's duo recording with guitarist Pat Metheny, Beyond the Missouri Sky, created a set of unforgettable aural landscapes evocative of their shared Missouri roots. Haden also explored the American spiritual music tradition with the legendary Hank Jones on his classic album Steal Away.

But even those listeners familiar with the artist's celebrated career may not know of Charlie Haden's early years in country music performing with his family. Charlie Haden Family & Friends: Rambling Boy brings the artist's personal history full circle and presents a new generation of the Haden Family - a legendary Midwest music institution in the 1930s and 1940s, now reborn in the 21st century. Due out in August 2008, this 19-track collection is the artist's first release for the Decca/Universal label and a singu¬lar addition to his illustrious discography.

Rambling Boy includes songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Hank Williams alongside fabled traditional tunes and some striking original compositions. The performing cast includes Charlie Haden, his wife and co-producer Ruth Cameron, all four of his children (the triplets Petra, Rachel and Tanya Haden, their brother Josh Haden), and his son-in-law Jack Black-- each of whom has his or her own career in music. In addition, Rambling Boy features guest appearances by some of the most illustrious names in contemporary Americana and popular music: Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Vince Gill, Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs & the Whites, and Dan Tyminski and also includes such illustrious country & bluegrass musicians as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Bryan Sutton, to name a few .

Yes, this is the same Charlie Haden who set the jazz world on fire with Ornette Coleman on Change of the Century and Free Jazz. Yes, this is the same musician who re¬kindled the mystery and passion of "noir jazz" with Quartet West on the albums Haunted Heart and Now Is the Hour.

Customer Reviews

Great Album -- Who Knew Charlie's Country Music Past?
I've heard Charlie Haden in varied contexts for many years - usually jazz, sometimes off-beat projects such as his contributions to Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill. But like many others, I had no idea that he grew up in one of those 1930's small town country radio families. It's like learning that Jozef Zawinul is the lost Louvin Brother or that Johnny Cash's band was the Tennessee Three before Dave Brubeck left.

In Rambling Boy, Charlie Haden makes a nostalgic, wistful and joyful return to the old-time country and gospel music he grew up playing. And he brings the whole family. The Haden Triplets (Petra, Rachel & Tanya - all better known in very different styles of music) deliver terrific 3-part harmonies, appropriately chirpy on the musically upbeat/lyrically downbeat "Single Girl, Married Girl." Son-in-law Jack Black begged his way onto the album for a suitably rambunctious "Old Joe Clark." It probably will not reappear on his next Tenacious D project.

Rambling may well be the operative term here. Much of the material sounds like the Soggy Bottom Boys repertoire from "O Brother Where Art Thou" (especially on the tracks where George Clooney's movie voice, Dan Tyminski, sings) but Haden pal Pat Metheny helps take the project into areas familiar to those who know Metheny's jazz CDs. Some times it works - the solos by Metheny and Jerry Douglas rescue "The Fields of Athenry" from getting cloying and clichéd. But sometimes, he sounds like he's just on the wrong album. And the album really did not need his instrumental "Is This America? (Katrina 2005)" - even if I agree with the sentiment behind it. He's not on most of the album, so no real harm done. Bruce Hornsby chimes in with an uncharacteristically ominous and effective 20/20 Vision. Elvis Costello once again reminds us of the injustice of his being born in England by singing the Hank Williams classic "You Win Again."

In any event, this album is so packed in its 19 tracks that many different sets can be gleaned from the album with judicious deletions from your iPod or skipping a few tracks with your remote control. There are a few songs that are just too earnest for my tastes, and I suspect most folks will bring the 19 tracks down to a more manageable and cohesive album to their liking. It's well worth the effort.

Tore me apart and put me back together again
So much talent, so much shear musical joy is given in this CD. Crying, laughing, joy and pain enough to tear you apart and put you back together again. Thanks to all the fine performers and their musical gifts they present to us.

Highly recommend!!

One of the Most Remarkable Recordings of 2008
By now, you undoubtedly know the back story. In the 1940's Carl Haden, Sr. was the patriarch of the singing Haden family. They hosted a radio show from their hometown of Shenandoah, Iowa. This was the midwestern counterpart to "The Grand Ol' Opry." The Haden family sang country folk songs, and the Haden counterpart to Michael of the Jackson family or Donny of the Osmond family was 2 year old yodelin' "Cowboy Charles."

But 10 years or so later, Charlie Haden had gravitated to jazz, and by 1958, he was the bassist in one of the most revolutionary recordings in jazz history, Ornette Coleman's "The Shape of Jazz To Come." That recording sounded 20 years ahead of its time - and still does. At that point, Charlie Haden was a 21-year-old wunderkind.

However, as the years rolled on, Mr. Haden proved that he was more than "just" a musician "searching for the notes outside of the chord." He expanded his horizons, including a beautiful 1994 recording with the legendary pianist, Hank Jones, of Negro spirituals.

And now, as a senior citizen, Charlie Haden has come full circle. As the new patriarch of the singing Haden family (featuring his triplet daughters, Petra, Tanya and Rachel; his son, Josh; his wife, Ruth; and his son-in-law, actor Jack Black), he has recreated the Haden family radio show - with 21st century sound.

And perhaps as a tribute to his greatness and his influence, Charlie Haden has recruited the most interesting gaggle of musicians to help the family. From the jazz world, we have the legendary guitarist, Pat Metheny; from the jazz cum rock world, we have the legendary pianist, Bruce Hornsby; from the country world, we have the legendary Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill; we have the crackerjack country/bluegrass sidemen, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and mouth harpist Buddy Greene; and joining the festivities for a song are the legendary Rosanne Cash and the peripatetic Elvis Costello.

This is not a "jazz-country" album. The two genres don't mix well, and there are precious few such recordings to choose from. (The best one I can think of is Chet Atkins and Les Paul, "Chester & Lester," ca. 1978)

Instead, it is a single-minded attempt by a number of gifted musicians from different genres to re-create the best sounding folk-country album imaginable. And they succeed.

2008 was bookended by two remarkable albums: Otis Taylor's "Recapturing the Banjo" at year's beginning, and this one at year's end. American music is alive and very well. RC