An E.C. Ball Memorial album. We debated about even listing this record, as there is almost nothing positive we could say about this shameful travesty, but we feel that a warning to our customers is in order. At first glance the album looks very promising, with a nice photo of the wonderful mountain singer & guitarist from Virginia, and a listing of 16 great songs such as CABIN ON THE HILL, JENNY JENKINS WARFARE, TRIBULATIONS, and others that E.C. and his wife Orna did so well. Obviously someone knew and appreciated the talents of this fine couple, so it's inexplicable to us how they could turn this into such a disaster with totally inappropriate, raucous backing and singing that is even worse. The list of "performers" (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, The Sandpaper Dolls and the Handsome Family") should give us a hint of what to expect, I guess. We won't name names (there are around a dozen different "singers"), but if you want to hear something so bad that it is laughable, try track 9, with tracks 6, 12, 14 and 16 not far behind. There are just 3 cuts that are decent, including LORD I WANT MORE RELIGION by Rayna Gellert, but we even wonder how these folks could get involved with this wretched project that really disrespects two wonderful people. It's another black eye for major labels (TOMPKINS SQUARE) that should know enough to stay away from projects they have no understanding of.
