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Opinions of the 2 cd collection: Prime Time, Chain Lightning & Believers.

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Believer	Opinions of the 2 cd collection: Prime Time, Chain Lightning & Believers.	Lead	[-]
Posts: 3 (10/26/09 9:17 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None I was playing with the formatting and somehow I blew up this photo of Don Mclean that I found on the internet. Nice photo don't you think. It was for sale on Ebay. I was wondering what some of you might think of the 2 cd collection of Prime Time, Chain Lightening and Believers. If you don't have this two cd set put out by Edsel just comment on the albums you are familar with. Personally the two cd set is growing on me but some of the songs are far from being the best. I also don't like the arrangements of some songs and especially the cheesy background singers. Disc: 1 Prime Time 1. Prime Time 2. Statue 3. Jump 4. Redwing 5. Wrong Thing to Do 6. Pattern Is Broken 7. When Love Begins 8. Color TV Blues 9. Building My Body 10. Down the Road/Sally Ann 11. When a Good Thing Goes Bad 12. South of the Border 13. If You Can Dream Chain Lightening 14. Words and Music 15. Crying 16. It's Just the Sun 17. Lotta Lovin' 18. Chain Lightning 19. Your Cheating Heart Disc: 2 1. Wonderful Night 2. It Doesn't Matter Anymore 3. Since I Don't Have You 4. Genesis (In the Beginning) 5. It's a Beautiful Life 6. If You Could Read My Mind Believers 7. Castles in the Air 8. Isn't It Strange 9. Left for Dead on the Road of Love 10. Believers 11. Sea Man 12. I Tune the World Out 13. Love Hurts 14. Jerusalem 15. Love Letters 16. Crazy Eyes 17. Sea Cruise 18. Dream Lover Last Edited By: Believer 10/31/09 12:25 AM. Edited 4 times.
Believer		#1	[-]
Posts: 4 (10/26/09 9:34 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	One thing that I noticed immediately is that Don and or the record company, Edsel, used NEW and IMPROVED pictures for Prime Time and Chain Lightening. Perhaps these covers are not new in a world of cds but I bought PT and CL lps on the internet and they both feature less than desireable cover photos. I have the lp of Prime Time with Don's head facing a jet airliner. In this day and age I couldn't help but think of 9/11/01 and the terrorist attacks and the twin towers in New York City. Also I have Chain Lightening which is just a simple and kinda goofy photo of Don's face. Both of the photos are much improved. If you are not familiar with the newer album photos just look over on Amazon.com. The photo for the three album collection features the new picturs on the front and also the back.
Believer		#2	[-]
Posts: 5 (10/26/09 10:06 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't know where to begin a discussion of these albums so I'll just mention a song or two at a time. It's sad that the Chain Lightening lp is cut in half. It's hard to compare the albums when they are chopped up in this manner. First, I never knew that "Love Hurts" was originally a Roy Orbison song. Don's voice is nice and fine on this one. "Since I Don't Have You" is a very nice song and probably the only one that I appreciate the background singers on. It has a great Doo Wop feel to it and I'm not familiar with who first made the song famous. "Genesis (In the Beginning)", I think this is a particularily WEAK song. I don't care for it. "Jerusalem" I was only familiar with this song from "Starry Starry Night" the video/dvd and the cd set. I probably prefer Don's live version of this but both are nice, and NO, I don't like the background singers. "Dream Lover" Don sounds great on this one again but puhleaaaasssseee, I could DO WITHOUT the background singers. Also, the piano part on this song is very nice. "Sea Man" is a very interesting song and Don singing it accapella is pretty cool. I have this on a 1991 or so video. I also have it on bootleg recordings. "Prime Time" I had only heard this one live and Don omitted a verse or two from it, so the studio version introduced me to new lyrics. I like this song. "Statue" I think this song is pretty bad. I don't think it works at all. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" Don sounds good on this one but I still DON'T like the background singers. I also don't know if I understand Don's affection for Buddy Holly. "Left for Dead on the Road of Love" I think this studio version lacks some vitality. I've heard it done much better live. It's a good song. "If You Could Read My Mind" I have a radio show with Don doing this song and I much prefer that version to this one, AGAIN, because of the background singers. I mean what was Don going for, a "Lawrence Welk" sound. I understand that Don likes the old sound but I guess this must be where I part with the guy. I think Don lost his audience when he started going with all the smoozy, (not a word) sappy sounding stuff. I prefer Don leaning towards Rock and Roll and Folk music but not music that my mother or grandmother listened to. "It's a Beautiful Life" This song has a unique studio sound to it that one other live version that I have heard does not have. I guess it is the early 80's Dominion Theater version that I have heard and am referring to. Both versions are good. "Your Cheating Heart" I really don't like Don's version of this song at all. I guess Don was reimagining the song but I'm also a Hank Williams Sr. fan so this version of the song just didn't work for me at all. "Building My Body", I guess you had to be there in the 70's to appreciate where Don was coming from with this song. It's commonplace now to see people running, walking and working out to keep there health. And from a video on youtube that I have see where Don is playing "Castles In the Air" or it may be "And I Love You So", Don is quite fat there and he would do well to start taking care of himself. Still, the song is allright but I think it is also a waste of Don's time. "It's Just the Sun" This is a catchy song. I'm not sure now how much I like this song, since it is on disc one and I am currently listening to disc two. I have listened to disc two much more than disc one. "Castles In The Air", Don claims this is now the "Hit Version" of the song. Personally I like the song well enough in both incarnations but it's not one of my favorite Don Mclean songs. I don't like the lyrics. I mean, Don moves on but he has someone else tell a woman how he is moving on. Don can't be part of her "cocktail generation". I understand what Don is saying about living a simpler life with a "country wife", but at the same time Don sounds condescending to me. Those are some of my thoughts on some of Don's songs. I am mostly listening to disc two at this point. I have the first two albums on lp but I just couldn't enjoy the sound quality as compared to cd. I got a good buy on this three album set. Please pick it up while it is still available.
Believer		#3	[-]
Posts: 6 (10/27/09 1:29 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I looked up "Since I Don't Have You". It was a hit for the Skyliners back in 1959.
JimMonaghan		#4	[-]
Posts: 106 (10/27/09 6:56 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Believer - Some great stuff in your posts here...and a great photo of Don I've never seen before. Don's affection for Buddy Holly is shared by many. Buddy was one of the first singer/songwriters. And not only did he write and record his own material (which was very unusual for its time), but he also produced some of his own sessions. Lyrically, songs like "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," "True Love Ways" and "Well...Alright" were light years ahead of much of what passed for pop music in the late 50's. The background singers you mention have been the subject of some discontent on the part of some long-time fans who have fond memories of Don's recorded output from Tapestry through Homeless Brother and the days of touring solo. To my ears, it was Don's attempt to recreate the sound and feel of some of his favorite songs growing up. Remember, he's a BIG Frank Sinatra fan. One final note - Don noted in an interview on the official site that he had a medical condition that required cortisone, making it appear he had "put on a tremendous amount of weight."
Believer		#5	[-]
Posts: 7 (10/30/09 10:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Jim, thanks for the response. I'm Dean and my name or Believer will do just fine when addressing me. I'm still very much just getting my feet wet, so to speak, with much of Don Mclean's music. All of my interest and admiration of Don Mclean and his music grew from when I had a 45 rpm record of "American Pie". From there I went on to buy the lp of "American Pie", then the cd and then the newest version with the extra tracks. Somewhere along the way I picked up "Don Mclean" on vinyl and I just got that album on cd. I bought "Prime Time", "Chain Lightening" and "Homeless Brother" on Ebay. I also have six or seven bootlegs of Don Mclean live. I also have Solo on lp and cd. I have a vhs tape show of Don from about 1991. That show is not great but it has it's moments. Also, I have a copy of collection of Buddy Holly's greatest hits. I also have copies of Linda Rondstat doing Buddy Holly songs. I think Linda does a great job of "I guess it doesn't matter anymore". Oh, I also have "Starry, Starry Night" on cd, vhs and cd. Then too I have that double cd set of B-sides and rarities. I also have a very nice double cd set called "Don Mclean American Pie" on the Landmark cd label. It is a very good quality audio and a LIVE recording that seems to have been recorded in London at the Dominion Theater in the fall of 1980. I wasn't very happy with this set of music when I got it due to the songs that were recorded since I was really only familiar with the songs that were covered on the "Solo" live album. Anyway, I recommend the Dominion Theater show. It seems to be offered in at least three forms: one, as "Don Mclean American Pie Greatest Hits" on the Landmark label---- the cd is red with a DIAMOND on the cover, then two, the Dominion Theater show seems to be offered as a ONE disc LIVE set or as TWO cds and I know this because I got the SINGLE disc version by mistake and so I compared it to my cd set with the DIAMOND on the cover. They are the same recordings. And thanks for the link to the Don Mclean interview. I never considered that Don's appearance could have been altered due to a medical condition.
Believer		#6	[-]
Posts: 12 (11/01/09 5:55 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Don's affection for Buddy Holly is shared by many. Buddy was one of the first singer/songwriters. And not only did he write and record his own material (which was very unusual for its time), but he also produced some of his own sessions. Jim, you are also very right about Buddy Holly. He was a songwriter and producer who wrote and recorded his own material. This was groundbreaking at the time and it paved the way for other artists to do the same. I have seen the movie about Buddy Holly starrin Gary Busey. I like the story about the cricket also.

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