Search - Jim Ford :: Big Mouth Usa (Rstr)

A rip-off? Kinda...

Sound/Word Enthusiast | Rhode Island, USA | 05/28/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was thrilled when I heard that Bear Family would be rifling through all of Jim Ford's unreleased tapes and doing a series of reissues. Bear Family is a label for collectors, by collectors, and they always spare no expense in terms of searching out rare materials, researching liner notes and photos, and crating deluxe packages that are simply unparalleled.



That's why I was fairly disappointed in these new Jim Ford disks...here are the reasons:



1. 90% of this material was released on the prior two Jim Ford collections on Bear Family. That's right -- it's mostly been out there before, and these are largely redundant. In the case of "Big Mouth USA," the only recordings that are new to Ford fans will be "If There's A Will There's A Way" and "Family Tree."



2. Aside from a small paragraph on the back of the digipak, there are no new notes or photos. No musician credits. No photos of the original acetate. Even the quotes from Sly Stone and Bobby Womack are recycled from the previous Ford compilations. There is no booklet -- these are just skimpy digipaks.



I mean, I get it...these are the tracks as Ford (or someone else) in the order that Ford (or some other producer) intended them to be heard. That's kinda cool, but we could have done that via iTunes or a programmable CD player.



The hardcore Ford fan still has to have 'em, but I'd recommend not paying over eight or nine bucks. Hopefully the next round of reissues will be more interesting and well-presented. A rare black mark on Bear Family's prestigious record."