Recommend Nanci Griffith/Iris DeMent Albums

I have 'Lone Star State of Mind' (thanks to my uncle) and I really like it. Are there any other Nanci Griffith titles that are as good or better than that one?

Also, any good albums for/with Iris DeMent?

 

Her first two: Infamous Angel and My Life. They were life-changing albums for me. The latter is a masterpiece.

 

Two of my favorite artists. Infamous Angel for sure. Totally wonderful album. I actually prefer it to My Life, although I think that puts me in the minority.

Nanci Griffith has several great albums. Little Love Affairs is probably my very favorite, followed by Storms. Both are contained in their entirety on The Complete MCA Studio Recordings 2-CD set, which also contains the Lone Star State of Mind and Late Night Grande Hotel albums. The latter is also wonderful, although more pop than the others. I recommend starting with that set and then working backwards to her earlier folk recordings and forward to her later stuff on Elektra. I find the Elektra albums spottier than the MCA ones but most people love Other Voices, Other Rooms, a collection of covers. There are also lots of high points on Flyer and Blue Roses from the Moons.

 

Nanci Griffith: One Fair Summer Evening & The MCA Years should do you just swell for the early years.

 

Tom Russell's great release from 1998, The Man From God Knows Where (HighTone), has some great vocals from Iris DeMent. Russell has also written & recorded with Nanci Griffith, so it's time to search him out too!

 

My favorite album of Nanci's is her first, There's a light Beyond These Woods. Great songs and it's very well recorded, mostly her and a guitar. From there I would consider her albums on Philo, which was the height of her folk and pre-mainstream career. The MCA albums that came later, were good but, IMHO, some of them were over produced and polished for commercial success. Her later albums on Elektra, like Flyer and Blue Roses For The Moon were excellent.

 

I think Nanci Griffith is a great songwriter but my favorite album is Other Voices other Rooms. All songs written by other artists....Kate Wolf, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and more. That was a life-changing album for me. The follow up - Other Voices, Too is great too.

 

I'm a huge long-time Nanci Griffith fan. I think she has four albums that represent the best phase of her work:

The Last of The True Believers
Poet In My Window
Once In A Very Blue Moon
There's A Light Beyond These Woods

Perhaps certain later albums could be contenders individually, but this was the era of her music that I think defines her...at least for me.

 

Another recommendation for Other Voices|Other Rooms by Nanci. It might lead also you to some other discoveries by the song writers on this album.

Iris' first three albums are all good: Infamous Angel, My Life, and The Way I Should.

On a side note you might try In Spite of Ourselves by John Prine. It's a duet album with women singers - three songs with Iris.

 

I'd have to agree that "Other Voices Other Rooms" is perhaps Nanci's best along with her first 4 or 5 albums closly behind. Her albums after 2000 haven't been in the same league as far as I'm concerned.
Iris' first two albums are classic and essential.
While I have your ear could I also recommend these albums from the holy trio of female singer songwriters: Lucinda Williams; Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Rosanne Cash:

Lucinda: Self Titled: Sweet Old World; Car Wheels...
Mary C C: Come on Come on; Shooting Straight in The Dark; Stones in The Road
Rosanne: Interiors; The Wheel; 10 Song Demo

Also you should really check out the two women who inspired all these ladies:
Mary McCaslin
Kate Wolf

 

Nuther vote for Once In A Blue Moon...Ballad of Robyn Winter Smythe is one of my all time fave songs.

 

If you look at Nanci's albums in phases, Lone Star State of Mind belongs with the two before it, Once in a Very Blue Moon and The Last of the True Believers, so that seems like a logical place to go next. Beginning with Little Love Affairs, there's the James Hooker influence, so things change a little. The first two albums were a little different, too.

 

Agreed.

Just found my bootleg from the 2001 Landmine Benefit show at the Allen Theater. Emmylou, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Patti Griffin, Chapin Carpenter, and Bruce Cockburn on stage together taking turns playing their songs. Nanci Griffith comes off a bit distant. Patti Griffin and Emmylou steal the show, particularly the latter's prerelease version of "Top of the World."

 

Also worth seeking out, the soundtrack to The Horse Whisperer. Lovely performances from Iris, Emmylou and Gillian Welch among others.

 

I bought The Last of The True Believers after reading the review in '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.'

I got Poet In My Window and Once In A Very Blue Moon very soon afterwards. She then signed on with a major label and kind of lost something for me.

 

Fair Summer Evening is outstanding... Just great..

 

I agree that the MCA albums are overproduced. My favorites are:
Other Voices, Other Rooms
Other Voices, Too
Flyer
and the 4 Rounder/Philo albums

 

I'd recommend 'Last of the True Believers' on Classic Records DVD 24/96 while you can still get one.

 

Get anything you can find of Iris Dement's.

Essential Nanci Griffith in addition to what you already have would be:

The Last Of The True Believers

Once In A Very Blue Moon

Little Love Affairs


and my personal favorite...

Other Voices, Other Rooms


Of course, you are still gonna miss some really good stuff, but those are the best, imo.

 

Nanci Griffith - Anything up to "Little Love Affairs" plus "Other Voices, Other Rooms" constitutes her best work.

Iris DeMent - Theres only 4 (soon to be 5) albums - Buy them all. Theres a wealth of collaborations with other artists including John Prine as someone else has pointed out above. I'd also look at Tom Russel's "The Man From God Knows Where" - DeMent features on 7 tracks.

 

Yes, I have that too (from my uncle too). Great soundtrack!

 

I was a quick convert, started reading this thread, hunted down her first album (light beyond the woods) and played track 1 and 3 while reading the rest of the thread. First impression was her voice is very edgy, not sure I liked it, maybe needed to turn the volume down a touch, but by the end of Micheal Song I was liking it. Now to find a few more of the suggestions.

 

Anyone interested in the new Iris DeMent album should check out the Noistrade.Com website. Free download of 2 new tracks plus the original version of Iris's "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms"

 

Griffth's Storms is an excellent album too. I love You made This Love a Teardrop.