Up Front and Down Low
 | Verve Forecast, 2007, Audio CD Customer Rating: Recommend |
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Teddy Thompson's self-produced Upfront & Down Low features his angelic voice in distinctive and heartfelt readings of beloved country classics: George Jones' "She Thinks I Still Care" Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor over You" and Merle Haggard's "My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers." It also includes Dolly Parton's bittersweet "My Blue Tears" and the Elvis Presley chesnut "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone."
Yes, Teddy Thompson's parents are renowned folkies Richard and Linda Thompson. And, sure, he's spent the past few years touring the world with his good friend Rufus Wainwright, who recently wrote a song about their inimitable relationship called "Nobody's off the Hook." But it's Thompson's rich, twangy voice that deserves the spotlight. After turning out two thoroughly underappreciated albums of original material — it would be pushing it to even call them cult favorites — the lovelorn singer-songwriter takes on a dozen classic country tunes on Up Front and Down Low. It's a good fit, the bitter sentiments the inform his own work paired with the sterling melodies of Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor Over You" and Elvis Presley's "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone." Thompson gives each of the tunes a masterful makeover, polishing them up with an all-star cast of players that includes Iris DeMent, Tift Merritt, and Marc Ribot. Wainwright offers string his own "Down Low" into the mix without breaking the mood. It's the kind of stuff that could represent a breakthrough moment, as long as nobody gets distracted by the fact that he was born and raised in a Sufi commune. — Aidin Vaziri
- Change Of Heart
- Touching Home
- Walking the Floor Over You
- From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
- I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
- My Heart Echoes
- The Worst Is Yet to Come
- My Blue Tears
- Down Low
- You Finally Said Something Good (When You Said Goodbye)
- She Thinks I Still Care
- Let's Think About Living
- Don't Ask Me To Be Friends
Title: Up Front and Down Low
Sales Rank: 62104 in Music
Artist: Teddy Thompson
Label: Verve Forecast, 2007-07-17, Audio CD, 1 Disc
Item Dimensions: 0.2 pounds
Package Dimensions: 5.59 x 4.65 x 0.39 inches, 0.18 pounds
