Music Feedback
New This WeekAround TownMusicFilmArtTheaterNews & FeaturesFood & DrinkAstrology
  HOME
NEW THIS WEEK
EDITORS' PICKS
LISTINGS
NEWS & FEATURES
MUSIC
FILM
ART
BOOKS
THEATER
DANCE
TELEVISION
FOOD & DRINK
ARCHIVES
LETTERS
PERSONALS
CLASSIFIEDS
ADULT
ASTROLOGY
PHOENIX FORUM DOWNLOAD MP3s



Don Walser
DARE TO DREAM: THE BEST OF DON WALSER
(TEXAS MUSIC GROUP/LONE STAR)

Stars graphics

If the first ten seconds of "Cowpoke" don’t catch in your throat as surely as Texas singer Don Walser’s timeless yodel soars above the plains of myth and history, you might not care about the rest of this collection. On the other hand, if musical moments that feel stirring, sad, and ennobling all at once tend to get your attention and Walser’s not already in your album collection, then Dare’s a great way to get to know the 67-year-old yodeler’s unique brand of country. Culled from a nearly 50-year performing career (though, oddly, his career only kicked into high gear in 1994, after he’d retired from the National Guard and began recording for the Watermelon label), this 20-track retrospective makes a convincing argument for Walser as one of the purest, protean singers in all of country music. There’s the yodel, of course — a genuine freak of nature and a joyous sound to behold — but of equal importance is the plaintive, courtly ache in his voice on tracks like "Please Help Me I’m Falling" and "Whispering Pines." And age hasn’t done a thing to dampen or mute Walser’s unique instrument — just compare his singing on the 1964 version of his best-known tune, "Rolling Stone From Texas," with those on the reading he cut three decades later, both of which are included here.

BY JONATHAN PERRY

Issue Date: February 14 - 21, 2002
Back to the Music table of contents.


home | feedback | about the phoenix | find the phoenix | advertising info | privacy policy | the masthead | work for us

 © 2002 Phoenix Media Communications Group