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Sam Baker - Cotton

1. Sam Baker still makes music that hangs together by threads. Still coming to grips with the train bombing that left him mentally and physically scarred over twenty years ago, Baker took his new lease on life to examine the small things that make up this world. On Cotton, his observational style helps pull the threads together – the homeless and disenfranchised that dot our landscape on Signs, the hazy night and “bourbon and ice” clinking on “Moon” and his signature weave of traditional songs – “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Hard Times” from the last record, “Dixie” and “Meet Me in Saint Louis” on this one all mesh in a way that makes perfect sense.

2. Baker’s sense of atmosphere is second to none – most singer-songwriters tend to think of words as their only vehicle, but Baker knows the value of space and separation. Ex-Whiskeytowner Mike Daly’s extended solo on Cotton’s title track give enough time to reflect on the first half of the song, though the instrumental “Say the Right Words” gets dangerously close to Jim Brickman territory.

3. Cotton is full of characters finding love and losing faith. The Mexican drifter in “Mennonite” who finds love in the backseat of a car outside a West Texas watering hole, to the Nazarene in “Palestine” and “Palestine II” who finds that he “burns to save” a woman’s soul, before she leads him from the tent to the piney woods.

4. Baker wrestles with forgiveness – “Angel Hair” finds him “carrying a torch” that he would gladly lay down, but theres “no promised land in sight”. He certainly has some people to forgive in his life, from the unknown bomber to his father who leaves early on in the album. Baker closes with “Snow”, assessing our common threads as humans: we are all far from home, deep in snow, and have a long road ahead of us. Perhaps we could use a little forgiveness.

via soundscountry.com

Tags: baker, cotton, reviews, sam

Comment by Kyla Fairchild on August 23, 2009 at 2:14pm: Thanks for posting this. I wasn't familiar with Sam Baker so did a little research and I'm excited to discover more.

Here's some info from his My Space page and a link to hear some music:

Texas songwriter Sam Baker is not that well known even in his adopted hometown of Austin. However, since the 2004 release of his debut mercy, word of Baker's songs have slowly, but surely spun its way around the world. On August 7, Baker returns with the second part of the story, the self released pretty world. Co-produced by fellow Texan and songwriter Walt Wilkins, the new songs reflect a life lived well and nearly lost.

Austin producer/songwriter Gurf Morlix said of mercy “It's the best writing I've come across since Mary Gauthier.” The UK's Maverick Magazine awarded mercy five stars and writers that have discovered this raw talent often compare him to fellow Texans Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.

A lot can happen in a few years and Baker can tell you that a lot can happen in seconds. Back in 1986, he was traveling in a train through Peru, when the car he was in was blown apart by a terrorist bomb, killing fellow passengers and leaving him clinging to life. Deafened and gravely injured, Baker spent the better part of the next decade working on both a physical and spiritual recovery. It was through storytelling and the art of songwriting that Baker turned to make sense of a sometimes senseless world.

Baker's songs are pictures sketched in short, spare lines and lay bare the honest truths and simple details of life. pretty world celebrates the moments large and small that frame our lives.

Comment by Kim Ruehl on August 23, 2009 at 3:44pm: I love this record. It took a couple spins, but maybe the third time, it just started shaking me. Thanks for sharing, Jeff!

Comment by TenLayers on August 23, 2009 at 8:46pm: Thank you so much for this.

Comment by Kyle Petersen on August 24, 2009 at 7:45am: Hey guys, if you think this record is good, you need to check out his other two. Three of the most beautiful Americana records I have ever heard.

Comment by garry on August 26, 2009 at 7:33pm: Sam Baker's songs (both lyrics and music) are great - - one of the few "Wow!" newcomers for me over the past few years. 'Mercy' remains my fave album of his, (and one of the best debut albums I've ever heard). His new one 'Cotton' is now a strong second behind 'Mercy'. And 'Pretty World'? It could only manage a top 10 ranking (at #10) in my fave albums of 2007 lists - - not bad for a "least fave" album by an artist.

Just for the helluvit I went back and looked at my year-end lists from the last several years - - mentions of Sam Baker's albums are copied below. I'm certain 'Cotton' will finish high up on my 2009 lists as well.

>>>2006: Top 10 Faves:
01 Bob Dylan: Modern Times: Yes I'm a Dylan fan, but no I don't
think everything he releases is gold. But the man has been on a
three album hot-streak over the past few years. This may not be the
best of the past three, but it's the second-best album I heard this
year (behind Sam Baker's 'Mercy', which I first heard this year and
which was, by far, my most-listened-to, highest-rated album of 2006;
alas, that it was initially released in 2004).<

>>>2007: Top 10 Faves:
...
10. Sam Baker: Pretty World
- - I wasn't nearly as taken with this one as I was with Baker's debut ('Mercy'), but he's still a unique voice (literally and figuratively) and this album crept into my final top 10 list as a slow-grower.<

Garry

Comment by DEADDRUNKANDNAKED on September 22, 2009 at 6:52pm: Got to agree with my bro above. This record is great, but Mercy and Pretty World are just ridiculously awesome.

Love "Mennonite"

Comment by Steven Hill on December 15, 2009 at 9:10am: I just discovered Sam... After reading a review of "Cotton" in "Vintage Guitar" (of all places!) I bought all 3 and I can't stop listening. I have not been so deeply affected since I discovered Vic Chesnutt (yes, I know that is an unlikely comparison, but I came to Vic's music with "Is The Actor Happy?" and he got so stuck in my craw that it took me a year to get his 5 CD's off the player!). I am already planning a spot for Sam next to TVZ, Guy, Vic, Billy Joe, and McMurtry in music I simply can't live without, even though its a bit premature, as he hasn't stood the test of time yet... So far, I think "Cotton" might be his best...

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