Search - Mac Mcanally :: Semi-True Stories

As good as it gets . . .

Terry Mathews | a small town in east Texas | 07/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"SEMI-TRUE STORIES is one of the those little gems that get lost in the glitter and glamour of the music industry, which makes it all the more important to spread the word about just how good this CD is.



Mac McAnally's been recording since he was 18 . . . he's worked with some of music's greatest headliners (Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Sawyer Brown, Reba, Billy Joel, Alabama and Lyle Lovett) . . . he's a long time member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band . . . and he's been Jimmy Buffett's friend for some 30 years. . . but he's also a picker/singer/songwriter with extraordinary talent whose music is deeply influenced by his Mississippi roots.



MEANWHILE is an up-close and personal look at a man who has just realized time is finite.



LAST MAN STANDING (on Buffett's FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD CD) is a rousing anthem to party animals. It's an ironic song for Mac to have written, because he's pretty much the straight man of the Coral Reefers and says he's usually the first man sitting. *Grin*



THE FAR SIDE OF HEAVEN and THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE are "closure" tunes about bad breakups. I wouldn't be surprised if some big player in country music didn't record THE FAR SIDE OF HEAVEN. I think it's going to be a "classic divorce" tune. THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE is a plea to think about the children first during a divorce.



HARD WAY TO GO looks at how race relations haven't changed much since 1823 . . . and what a pity it is that we've chosen to take the "hard way to go".



SEMI-TRUE STORIES, a song Mac wrote with Jimmy for Jimmy, has one of my all-time favorite lines . . . "it was too much tequila or not quite enough." Makes you wish you'd been there "the day God's Own Drunk was recorded."



The swinging COME ON IF YOU'RE COMING will ring true with any man who's waited on a woman to get ready to go out for the evening. It features Greg "Fingers" Taylor, Buffett's former harmonica player and a huge talent. This one would be a perfect cover tune for ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. Toe-tapping, honky tonkin', swing music at its zenith!



STEPHON (THE ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE REINDEER), on first blush, is quirky, but, upon a closer listening, it holds a mirror up to the way our has become so dadgum polarized. It has something to offend almost everyone - - - so unlike the mild-mannered Mac we've come to know and love.



HOME AGAIN seems to be a tribute to Mac's deep Mississippi musical and hard shell Baptist roots.



However, the most surprising cut, at least to me, is WHEN TROUBLE COMES AROUND.



"When trouble comes around

And you don't know where to turn

For all the pain it brings

You know there's certain things

There's just one way to learn."



Fellow Coral Reefer Band Members Peter and Jim Mayer and Roger Guth add the perfect bluesy feel to the music that compels you to slow down and listen to the message . . .we all have to endure trouble and learn from it and live to endure it again and again.



Powerful stuff here.



Do yourself a favor. Get this CD.



Enjoy!"

"Stories" Has Some Semi Pleasing Truth

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 07/29/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: The Far Side of Heaven, Meanwhile, Hard Way to Go



McAnally's no slouch: after producing critically accolade studded albums by Jimmy Buffett, Chris LeDoux and Sawyer Brown and penning scorching hit records for Linda Davis, Sawyer Brown, Shenandoah, he has taken the time to release what is his 10th album. McAnally, for those unfamiliar with his music, owes his musical musings more to James Taylor than Merle Haggard. This is to say "Semi True Stories" is a closer kin to 70s-styled soft rock country than spit and sawdust honky tonk. Though not as poignant as his previous albums (such as the almost perfect "Live and Learn" or the philosophically enticing "Knots"), "Semi True Stories" continues McAnally's winning streak of reflective, introspective and piercing observations about life and relationships. The big difference this time however is that McAnally tries, albeit unsuccessfully, to lighten up at least on one cut: the awful Christmassy parody "Stephon the Alternate Lifestyle Reindeer." To put it respectfully, "Stephon" is an embarrassment to the residents of the North Pole, the holiday season, the gay community and the animal kingdom.



Fortunately, "Stephon" is the only moment where McAnally has sunk to such mire of ignominy. The rest of the album at least is more redemptive: with the best moment coming from the heart wrenching ballad "The Far Side of Heaven." With a sonic and emotional resemblance to the McAnally penned "All These Years" (recorded by Sawyer Brown), "Far Side" has the same heart numbing effect with lines such as: "And the heart that I gave you I had frown attached to. It's an optional organ for someone like you and the Lord I am told is amazing with grace. And I hope he'll grace you with a much better place on the far side of heaven a long way from me." Betrayal had never been so alluringly depicted.



With some romantic mandolin lines and soothing guitar licks, "Meanwhile" is this album's most country track. "Meanwhile" sings home the somber warning against hedonism in the unpredictability of life. Less effective because of the constant cord changes is the minor key ballad "When Trouble Comes Around." The tempo accelerates a minuscule on the socially conscious, "The Opposite of Love." Contemporary Christian artist Lenny LeBlanc's vocal support is not only apropos, but welcomed. Sawyer Brown's Mark Miller joins McAnally in composing the blue-collared rocker "Hard Way to Go." With a sumptuous guitar treat from Peter Mayer and a propulsive beat, it's almost Sawyer Brown's "The Boys and Me" all over again.



On the other hand, McAnally's take on Jimmy Buffett's popish "Last One Standing," the gospel infused "Home Again" and the repetitive rouser "Come On If You're Comin'" fail to impress. They are simply not McAnally at his finest. Also, my other quibble, though minor, is the shoddily designed CD booklet with its appallingly amateurish photos. "Semi True Stories" has some chapters worth savoring, but compared to some of McAnally's more classer outputs, "Semi True Stories" falls short."

This CD gets better everytime I listen to it.

Nancy M. Graham | Birmingham, AL. | 03/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"And that's a lot. As usual, Mac has put out a good product. Does this man ever do anything that's not exceptional? I don't think so. Mac, who is everyone's favorite Coral Reefer, appears to tell a story with each cut. I particularly like 'Last Man Standing'. Being the straightest Coral Reefer, I'm sure Mac is the "last man standing" a lot of the time. I really don't know what to think about 'Come on if You're Comin'. Men and women probably view this song differently. Men will identify with what Mac is singing about while women will just say, "We're just trying to look our best when we're out with you." 'Stephon, the Alternative Lifestyle Reindeer' is a cute song with political overtones. 'The Far Side of Heaven' makes me tear up a little. My favorite cut, however, is the title song, 'Semi-True Stories'. I've heard Mac talk about the background in which he wrote this song. It's a true story that he made up. We'll never know. It's 21st Century Mac. I love Mac's older stuff, but as a pop/new country kinda girl, I've really grown attached to this CD.



If you like Mac, buy the CD. If you've never listened to Mac, buy the CD."