This 14-track collection is a retrospective from Buddy and Julie Miller's recordings solo and together on High Tone. There are six cuts from their self-titled duet album including a scorching unreleased take of "You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast" two from Buddy's Cruel Moon, and one each from Midnight and Lonesome, Poison Love, and Your Love and Other Lies. "Take Me Back" and "Out in the Rain" represent Julie's two albums on the label, Blue Pony and Broken Things. The pair sing together on all cuts.
Having followed Leo Kottke since 1974 I can honestly say this album is a keeper. All the tunes are vintage Kottke but "Rings", written as sort of a joke by Alex Harvey and Ed Reeves, is fantastic. Time Step is Kottke's last recording on the Chrysalis label. It is the first of two Kottke albums produced by T-Bone Burnett, the second being My Father's Face. Guests include Albert Lee and Emmylou Harris. After the release of Time Step Kottke went into a three-year seclusion. When he returned later in 1986, it was as a guest musician on The Blind Leading the Naked by Violent Femmes, then his own releases with a new direction and picking style.
Released in 1992, Hollywood Town Hall wasn't a hit, but it received enough rave reviews to considerably raise the Jayhawks' profile, and it certainly heightened expectations for their next album. On 1995's Tomorrow the Green Grass, the Jayhawks found themselves in the tricky situation of trying to match the quality of Hollywood Town Hall without simply repeating themselves, and they came remarkably close to achieving that daunting task.
Behind blistering blues licks, TexiCali doubles as a roadtrip across Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s beloved home states and the memories within, honoring shared musical influences, friends gone too soon and all they’ve endured along the way. These folk heroes have now evolved their unbreakable bond into a fully-fledged musical and songwriting partnership. TexiCali continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).