Big Bad Love Soundtrack CD

From the debut directing movie of actor Arliss Howard, with 2 new songs from Tom Waits plus Tom Verlaine, Steve Earle, Kronos Quartt and more. 12 tracks

Producers include: Tom Waits, Stephen Prutsman, Bob Levy, Matthew Johnson, Tom Verlaine.
Includes liner notes by Larry Brown.
Personnel: Steve Earle (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Robert Belfour, Asie Payton, Tom Waits, T-Model Ford (vocals, guitar); Derek Trucks, Kenny Brown, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, Tom Verlaine, Buddy Guy (guitar); Peter Rowan (gut-string guitar); Norman Blake (dobro); David Harrington, John Sherba (violin); Hank Dutt (viola); Jennifer Culp (cello); James Cotton (harmonica); Nick Phelps (trumpet, French horn); Roy M. "Junior" Husky (acoustic bass); Larry Taylor (upright bass); Spam , Bryan Barry, Sam Carr, Billy Ficca, Kenny Malone, Howard Grimes (drums).
Audio Mixer: Bruce Watson .
Liner Note Author: Larry Brown.
Recording information: Acoustilog Studio, New York, NY (??/1991-03/2001); Ardent Studios, Memphis TN (??/1991-03/2001); Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL (??/1991-03/2001); Junior Kimbrough's Juke Joint, Chulahoma, MS (??/1991-03/2001); Lunati Farms, Holly Springs, MS (??/1991-03/2001); Magic Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (??/1991-03/2001); Masterfonics, Nashville, TN (??/1991-03/2001); Prairie Sun Recording, Cotati, CA (??/1991-03/2001); Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ (??/1991-03/2001); Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, CA (??/1991-03/2001); The Money Shot (??/1991-03/2001).
The soundtrack to the movie Big Bad Love, made from Larry Brown's collection of stories is, as it should be, a very Southern affair -- more accurately, a thing of the Mississippi hill country, also acting as a very effective ad for the Fat Possum label, since seven of the tracks here come from their artists. Fine stuff it is too, with R.L. Burnside in great form on his own "Come on In" and a surprising cover of Dylan's "Everything Is Broken," which works so well for him because of its blues structure, although he brings a surprisingly sophisticated approach to it -- by his standards, anyway. Asie Payton's "I Love You" is so intense it's scary, and Robert Belfour's "My Baby's Gone" simply drips with ache. Former Television man Tom Verlaine contributes a couple of tracks, with "Sleepwalkin'" being a forgettable, twangy instrumental and "Spiritual," a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, faring better -- but still not world class. Steve Earle delivers on "Goodbye," letting the spaces in the song talk eloquently, but what will attract a lot of people to this disc is the appearance of two new Tom Waits tracks. "Long Way Home" takes him on the kind of blues route that's become so familiar in his work -- a kind of enigmatic blues that remains a love song and a promise for the future, putting it in the same realm as "Jayne's Blue Wish," a Waits-ian lullaby with gentle, if sometimes disturbed, dreams for tomorrow, his guitar work cast into relief by a quiet trumpet solo. It might not all hang together as an album -- there seems to be a divide between the gutbucket blues and the rest -- but it still makes for some excellent listening. ~ Chris Nickson
The film BIG BAD LOVE takes place in the North Hill Country of Mississippi, where vestiges of the old America still remain intact. One very vital manifestation of those vestiges is the presence of a number of soulful, gritty bluesmen including R.L. Burnside, Asie Payton, and T Model Ford. Nobody's fool, writer/director/star Arliss Howard helped compile a soundtrack for the film that relies heavily on the earthy, penetrating contributions of the aforementioned artists. More than local color, Burnside and company provide something of a sonic heartbeat for the film (in fact, R.L. appears onscreen). The BIG BAD LOVE soundtrack isn't limited to blues, though. Arliss's taste apparently walks hand in hand with his powers of persuasion, as he managed to entice Tom Waits to compose and perform tEntertainment Weekly (3/1/02, p.81) - "...consists of rafter-shaking Mississippi hill country blues..." - Rating: A-