Search - Tom Rush :: Wrong End of the Rainbow

Two definitive albums from the "Great Interpreter"

Timothy Brown | 12/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tom Rush really had two careers. He started out in the early 60's doing nice covers of some great folk and country blues classic for Verve/Folkways, then Elektra. Then somewhere along the line he began discovering great music by then-unheralded songwriters, and his truly excellent covers of their songs often brought them more commercial attention than they'd had up to then. His covers of "Urge for Going" and "Circle Game" did good things for Joni Mitchell, he recorded "Something in the Way She Moves" and "Sunshine Sunshine" before James Taylor's first LP and "Shadow Dream Song" before Jackson Browne made it big. These two ablums (his first two for Columbia--he'd already left Elektra at this point) have great covers of Taylor, Browne, Jesse Colin Young, Fred Neil, and Murray McLaughlin, among others. I agree with some previous reviewers that Rush's rendition of "Biloxi" is one of the real jewels here, but let's set the record straight. It's not his song and it's not Jimmy Buffett's. The author is Jesse Winchester. If you want to hear more like it, hunt down Winchester's self-titled debut on Bearsville Records.

P.S., both of these albums have some great lead guitar work by Rush's long-time sideman Trevor Veitch."

A Great Two-For-One Package

brunetteshock | Quincy, MA | 02/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What joy to have found two great Tom Rush albums together on CD?! Here and there I have combed music stores throughout the years since these came out but could never find either one on CD! "Wrong End Of The Rainbow" was absolutely one of the best "soft" records I have ever heard. Tom Rush's voice just sounds like soft waves gently lapping on the shore as "the sun will set from off towards New Orleans." "Biloxi" is a wonderful song; if you close your eyes you can really see the ocean and the boy with his pail on the beach, seeing "creatures from a dream of the water." Tom just lulls you into a summer-induced dream with no hurry at all. Highly recommended!!!

P.S. I also stole this album from my older sister before she moved out, as well as her "Tom Rush" album!"