Dale Watson - Little Darlin Sessions 1 (15 tracks) +Album Reviews

What might have been...

John Gervickas | Cape Coral, Florida United States | 05/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The previous review is indeed taken directly from Dale's website. After listening to the disc, it does indeed sound like what he describes (a first run, unfinished album). That being said, I could listen to Dale doing "Little Darlin' karaoke" all night. How can you go wrong with Dale singing old Paycheck songs with Lloyd Green on steel. Songs such as "Touch my heart", "Apartment #9", "If I'm gonna sink", "The pint of no return", and "Jukebox Charlie" are classics, and among my favorite Paycheck songs. There's a few cuts that aren't on any Paycheck album (that I'm aware of), so they might as well be new. I really love "He thought he'd die laughing (and he did)"! I can probably guess the songs Dale didn't want to cut, but there's no real clunkers here. This certainly would have been a 5 star (or maybe 6?) disc if there had been a few Dale originals, and if he had been allowed to finish the sessions as he wanted to(shame on you, Koch!). That being said, any fan of Dale (and classic hard country) can't go wrong with this one."

Dale Watson protests the release of this record

J. Zinn | West of Texas, CA | 05/13/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The Little Darling CD was never finished ( we cut a lot of songs but never were given the chance to correct mistakes or overdub background vocals or anything else.) i.e. We were given one run through and that was it. They wouldn't allow any of my originals and that result is tandem to me doing Karaoke on Little Darling songs. A couple of the songs I begged not to have to sing as I really did not like them. In that regard it really was Nashville 1966. KOCH is releasing it under protest of me and Lloyd Green.

They are basically unfinished roughs. We offered to go in for free and fix the record but they were done spending anything on it. I plan on the next record to be with Lloyd and the guys again but with me and Lloyd producing, and with a lot of my new originals. The next Hyena release will be the monumental record of legendary musicians meeting new originals thus being the record that the Little Darling Sessions failed to be. To those of you that choose to buy the record, please give a sympathetic ear to my vocals and the musicians playing. Many of these recordings were run throughs. It's is not the record we thought we were making. That said, it was a joy to work with these legendary pickers and look forward to recording the next record

with them.

Sincerely,

Dale

"

Dale Watson's half-finished tribute to Little Darlin' Record

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 05/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, Dale may be P.O.-ed about the release of what he considers a subpar record (and has every right to stick up for himself) but I think the one-star review below may be a little misguided. If you rate the record based on what you hear, rather than the behind-the-scenes politics, this ain't bad at all. There are several fine weepers, notably "If I'm Gonna Sink" and the gloomier-than-gloomy "Touch My Heart," and even if he didn't get the chance to make this record as well as he wanted, it's still got plenty of soul. In my book, a Dale Watson demo tape is still more fun to listen to than a Tim McGraw megasmash. Hopefully Dale will get his fair share of the royalties and can go on to make the records he wants to make, the way he wants to make 'em. Meanwhile, fans can make up their own minds about the merits of this album. I'd give it a 3.5."

A Real Keeper - Understated Greatness

taoistcowboy123 | 05/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow...every hear truisms like "less is more" or "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"? Great hard core real underground Country Classics and Craftsmen doin their thang on a single take?!!! Dale may not like it (please ask him or his entourage personally at one of his shows), but did Van Gogh love his ear? Sometimes... getting out of one's own way is "the way" when our own perfectionism obstructs the flow of simplicity. The polictics and business of an artist's expression and creative license may be one of the most difficult energies in the world for any outside influence to control or influence. That being said, I absolutely love this CD. It is understated greatness and elegance. From the opening number "Touch My Heart"... the songs clearly, easily, and bawdly meet "the standard" and lineage of easy listening ol honky tonk that touch the heart and move the soul. Dale's smooth vocals blend more (on this "underproduced" effort) as an instrument along side master muscians as their respective influences unassumably interweave to emotive forefronts on this solid and steady CD throughout (plaintive steel guitar, rolling piano, insightful fiddle). When "it" comes through the contours of the complexities of the human heart..."it" stands alone, naked, simple, ugly, pretty, broken, and whole....and sadly sometimes the process of business as usual and not being as good as it gets, sucks. But it is what it is. Make no mistake, from very far outside lookin in, these are "stand alone" gems that have been written by a hand that knows... when old meets new somethings got to give. Though these songs reputedly are of just "demo" quality, - and dale's own written songs did not even make the cut (ouch-hard to believe but true), it's my favorite and best "dale watson cd" for all the reasons listed above.

I'm sorry to hear of dale's protestation, truly... cus this one's a classic and it sure is a beauty!"

Search - Dale Watson :: Little Darlin Sessions 1

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