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The Ridgetop Sessions by Bad Livers
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fave it Bluegrass | Power-folk
12 tracks | 42 minutes
Released Sep 2006
on LumpyDisc
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:16 Interplanetary Music lyrics BUY MP3 02:16 Interplanetary Music lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:16 Interplanetary Music
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:58 Better Times lyrics BUY MP3 02:58 Better Times lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:58 Better Times
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:28 Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me/country Blues lyrics BUY MP3 05:28 Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me/country Blues lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:28 Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me/country Blues
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:26 Ghost Train lyrics BUY MP3 02:26 Ghost Train lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:26 Ghost Train
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 00:28 Phone Message From David lyrics BUY MP3 00:28 Phone Message From David lyrics "GIFT MP3" 00:28 Phone Message From David
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:36 Life in the Food Chain lyrics BUY MP3 02:36 Life in the Food Chain lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:36 Life in the Food Chain
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:34 Shot At a Bird, Hit Me a Stump lyrics BUY MP3 02:34 Shot At a Bird, Hit Me a Stump lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:34 Shot At a Bird, Hit Me a Stump
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:00 Yearning lyrics BUY MP3 05:00 Yearning lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:00 Yearning
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:24 It Takes One to Know One lyrics BUY MP3 03:24 It Takes One to Know One lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:24 It Takes One to Know One
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:06 Counting the Crossties lyrics BUY MP3 04:06 Counting the Crossties lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:06 Counting the Crossties
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:59 Black Diamond/blue Monk lyrics BUY MP3 04:59 Black Diamond/blue Monk lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:59 Black Diamond/blue Monk
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:50 Hell Broke Loose in Georgia/old Folk's Shuffle [live] lyrics BUY MP3 05:50 Hell Broke Loose in Georgia/old Folk's Shuffle [live] lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:50 Hell Broke Loose in Georgia/old Folk's Shuffle [live]
Pioneer alternative-bluegrass legends recorded live at the height of their powers.
Editorial review
Bad Livers started as a fairly straight, although quite progressive and somewhat irreverent, bluegrass band. Over the course of six albums, they got progressively more experimental, alienating many of their more purist fans. Well, those fans should seek out The Ridgetop Sessions: a living-room session featuring just Danny Barnes on banjo and vocals and Mark Rubin on bass and vocals. That's it. It was recorded in Rubin's living room, with a single microphone run straight to a DAT recorder. As such, this is the type of performance that could have taken place at any point in the last 50 years -- just a couple good old boys sangin' and playin'. They play songs off their albums, a couple choice covers (Sun Ra!), and a great medley of Don Stover's "Black Diamond" paired with Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk." These are relaxed, very informal sessions, but not at all sloppy. As usual, Barnes' banjo playing is great, and Rubin always gives great support. The set is capped off with a live track recorded several years earlier that also features former Bad Liver Ralph White on fiddle. No revelations here, just a damn fine, stripped-down set from one of the finest and most interesting bluegrass acts of the '90s. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
Ridgetop is the name of the central Austin neighborhood where this informal recordings was made. Situated on top of a ridge that at one time overlooked the whole of the city at it's northly most point, it's right in the path of Robert Mueller airport in the heart of central Austin today. Luckily, no planes flew over during this recording session
"If the Bad Livers have effectively called it quits, as someone recently claimed is the case, then The Ridgetop Sessions is a quiet, sagacious way to go out -- particularly coming on the heels of their previous release, the loud, electric Blood and Mood.
Recorded almost entirely over the course of a single morning through a single microphone in the front room of Rubin's North Austin home, this session finds the Livers -- Rubin and Danny Barnes -- at their loosest and most comfortable. The two pick their way through a good batch of Barnes' originals as well as a few interesting covers.
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