Search - Randy Sharp :: Connection

Sharply Connected to the Heart

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 05/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: New Way Out, Or So the Heart Remembers, Some Walls



Songwriters, like movie script writers, are often sidelined. Yet, their presence is indispensable. Over the years, thanks to Randy Sharp's potent penmanship, Patty Loveless' "You Will," Clay Walker's "Then What," Restless Hearts' "A Tender Lie" and Alabama's "The Cheap Seats" have had the opportunity of casting their imprints on the country charts. Occasionally, these innocuous scribes have had the opportunity to share the limelight; "The Connection" is Sharp's claim to such fame. With a breezy tenor, calling to mind David Gates of Bread, "The Connection" is a solid effort of largely acoustic tinted songs with the strumming of the guitar providing the undercurrent. Jointly produced by daughter Maia Sharp and Sharp himself together with fellow songwriter Jack Wesley Routh, "The Connection" is Sharp's take of some of his compositions previously recorded by other artists as well as a few new tunes.



On Reba McEntire's "I Won't Stand in Line," Sharp, though not as sultry as the red headed diva, engages a spirited worked out offering the boot to his no-good multi-timing paramour. While on Peter, Paul and Mary's "Some Walls," Sharp's subdued testimony to the power of love has a quiet way of tugging at the heart. Taking a musical trip to south of the border, "Dreams of the San Joaquin," first tackled by Linda Ronstadt, showcases a languid Spanish guitar bridge. Not one to be constrained by boundaries, "Or So the Heart Remembers" finds Sharp in Bob Willis' territory as he gently swings on this tune of abiding love.



If there's one Randy Sharp's song that has been immortalized, it has to be "New Way Out," first popularized by Karen Brooks and later Anne Murray. A spine-chilling ballad, "New Way Out," is perhaps one of country music's most pain infested song about love coming to an end. Though Sharp's version pales to Murray's top notched version, nevertheless, to hear this song again is just a treat. The title track is the recent Grammy nominated song for Emmylou Harris, and while it's good to hear Sharp's own version, its linear melody doesn't come close to being a high-tiered Sharp tune.



Unlike many songwriter-singers, Sharp does not get too idiosyncratic in the way he tells his stories through his songs. Rather, he is acerbic in his observations of relationships and life. Further, they are crisply produced with a unobtrusive backing that ought to appeal to those who have taken an affinity to guitar-laden work. In short, Sharp does connect well with his songs."