Search - Ronee Blakley :: Welcome

"For Mama and Daddy" (but only 3 stars for the transfer)

A. Hickman | Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria | 01/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ronee Blakely produced two albums in the 70s, the eponymous first ablum and "Welcome," which hoped to capitalize on her success (an Academy Award nomination) in Robert Altman's "Nashville," perhaps the best film of the 1970s. The early album has its moments, including a rendition of "Dues" that shows off her vibrato, but it's on "Welcome" that Blakley really shines. I can't overstate the impression this woman's music made on me when I first heard it, but it absolutely broke my heart. I memorized the entire album and continue to sing it on my "internal" soundtrack yet today. Perhaps I was confusing Ronee with Barbara Jean, the tragic character she plays, no, "inhabits" in "Nashville." The most powerful piece of filmmaking I have ever seens occurs in the closing moments of that film and is made that much more evocative by Blakley's singing of "Idaho Home." Furthermore, thanks in great part to Pauline Kael's ecstatic review in the New Yorker, I will forever hold in my mind an image of her character singing "Dues" just before she is assassinated on stage. When I recently watched the movie again, it all came back to me, and I was thrilled to find the DVD of "Welcome" available on Amazon. So, here it is, in all its brilliance. From "American Beauty" to the title tune, this is songwriting of the first order. I can't imagine why this gem of a recording was virtually ignored when it first appeared. Did the right audience not find it? Did Altman fans balk at the thought of another country album? There are certainly country-influenced songs here (I prefer the word countrypolitan), but there is also, as on the first album, God's plenty, including the Spanish-flavored "I Was Born to Love You (Naci Para Amarte") and the blues-inflected "Need a New Sun Rising." One of my personal favorites, "If I Saw You in the Morning," is pure pop. Indeed, the music is so marvelous, one wishes that the transfer were better. Blakley deserves better, and so do her fans."

"Welcome" is Ronee Blakley at her best!

NoWireHangers | Sweden | 10/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like so many others, I loved Ronee from the first time I saw/heard her in Robert Altman's "Nashville" and bought Nashville: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack immediately. After buying her self-titled debut LP (this was just before I heard they were being rereleased on CD), it didn't quite live up to my expectations (see my review for that one), but "Welcome" is certainly no disappointment.



Her first album was more of a singer/songwriter album than a country album. "Welcome" is a perfect mix of country and rock. On her first album, she tended to strain her voice at the upper limit of her register a bit too often. On "Welcome", her singing is wonderful.



Here's a good mix of fast and slow songs. The album starts with the up tempo "American Beauty", then a beautiful ballad in both English and Spanish, "I Was Born to Love You (Naci Para Amarte)". The song has an overall spanish feeling with guitar and all. Then the catchy "Please", which is currently my favorite song on the album, followed by the beautiful song "Young Man". The to familiar territory for those who've seen "Nashville"; a new version of "Idaho Home", which is - if possible - even better than the one in the movie. "She Lays It On the Line" is a ballad that brings back thoughts to her first album. "Nobody's Bride" and "If I Saw You In the Morning" are two more good songs, then on to a new version of "Tapedeck" (from "Nashville) and "I Need a New Sun Rising", which Ronee also performed on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. This is followed by two more songs that are not bad but also not very memorable.



"Welcome" is exactly the album I hoped for. Don't hesistate. Buy it!"

FINALLY! One of the best true country-rock albums ever.

L. S. Slaughter | Chapel Hill, NC | 11/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, it took enough darn time for this to appear on CD! I've loved this LP for almost thirty years. "Welcome" is one of the most heartwarming, piercing country songs ever penned, and her Cajun vocals just cut right though the solar plexus. There's not a lame cut on the second LP (I didn;t care much for the first, except for the tune "Along the Shore"), and cuts like "Locked Behind My True Love's Door" and "Tapedeck in His Tractor" are rousing, powerful and humorous.



I saw Ronee in San Francisco last in '84 at a small venue. She was still rocking, but rumor has it she didn't care for showbiz or touring after Dylan, after "Nashville" and after the dull thud from the public when she released this unsung work of art.



Get it!!"