Search - Dorothy Shay :: Park Avenue Hillbillies and West End Cowboys

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Mark Rosen | New Paltz, NY United States | 10/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is as enjoyable as it is offbeat--from beginning to end. The songs mostly deal with the collision/collusion of a corn-ponish (is that a word?) country and western swing sensibility with a more refined cosmopolitan jazz band and pop music attitude. The results are incredibly clever, often hysterical, songs that read like vignettes of American culture clash. From the sepulchral western swing tones of Zeke Manners and His Swing Billies' "Mr. Ghost Goes To Town" (you gotta hear this!) to the wonderfully politically barely-correct more urbane Dorothy Shay (featured on 10 of the 25 tracks), there's a surprise at every turn here. Hell, even Arthur Godfrey and Dinah Shore deliver the goods. A wonderful album that's held together by an inventive spirit and a rather unique theme."