Search - The Woodys :: The Woodys

Excellent performances and memorable music.

Craig Nielsen | 09/28/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well done. The duets work well with an exceptional match of voices. The music is great with pleasing melodies and lyrics. First class listening for fans of this type of music."

Country couple produced by Brian Ahern

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 01/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Woody and Dyann Brown were both popular singers in their Colorado college days but although they knew each other, they did not sing together, nor did any relationship develop between them at the time. After college, Michael went to Nashville while Dyann headed for Los Angeles. Michael had some success as a songwriter, notably providing the Desert rose band with a number one country hit, He's back and I'm blue (which the Woodys recorded for their more recent album, Teardrops and diamonds), but also having songs recorded by Barbara Mandrell, Steve Earle, Clay Walker, David Lee Murphey and others. Eventually, Dyann was advised to go to Nashville and did so in 1993. She met up with Michael again - this time things were different and they married later that year.



Michael co-wrote nine of the twelve songs with a variety of different co-writers (Chris Hillman, David Lee Murphey, Steve Earle and Cactus Moser of Highway 101 among them) and is the lead vocalist on all the songs. He also plays acoustic guitars, harmonica and mandolin. Dyann contributes harmony vocals and plays acoustic guitar but gets no songwriter credits. In reality, this is a Michael Woody solo album. With the exception of two up-tempo songs (I don't mean maybe, Mama and her), this is a very mellow album



Of the three outside songs, the most famous (Like strangers) is a cover of an Everly Brothers song while High lonesome (Gretchen Peters) and I don't mean maybe (Buddy and Julie Miller) are also excellent. The Everly song reinforces Brian Ahern's idea that the Woodys are a nineties male-female version of the Everly brothers. I can see what Brian means but the comparison should not be taken too far.



Among the songs that Michael co-wrote, most of them are love ballads but there are other songs too. Mama and them is about Michael's family - he explains that Dyann will get on well with Mama and them (though he doesn't mention Dyann by name). Alabama shine tells the story of a moonshine trader dodging the law. The rain came down is about the harsh realities of life on the farm.



This is a wonderful country album, at times veering towards folk-country or country-rock, but never towards the commercial mainstream."

A Undiscovered Legend Finally Takes Front Stage.

Craig Nielsen | Colorado | 06/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Woody has a long, albeit popularly unrealized, place in American country/bluegrass/folk/rock musical history. He once seemed poised to pick up and carry the country-rock torch fumbled by the untimely death of Gram Parsons. But the music business and what consumers "consume" is, to say the least, fickle. After decades of dues paying and near misses, while others musical mainstreamers (such as The Desert Rose Band, Steve Earle, Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris) reaped the rewards of Woodys songwriting talents, FINALLY Woody and perfect musical partner/wife Dyann, get their chance to work hard to take a long overdue and well deserved front stage on the American music scene. Odds are you've already heard a lot of Woodys songs through the years, you just didn't know they were HIM. Big name acts probably scramble to get their hands on the new songs everytime Woody cranks them out. As he has been doing for decades. "Habits of the Heart" on this CD is a prime example of missed top of the charts talent caused by the whims and fickleness of the music business. And its just the simmering topping of a thick and deep, flavorful, musical stew best savored with your own ears. Check out the samples for yourself here on Amazon. To bad you aren't given a taste of ALL the songs on the CD here.Do yourself a favor, give yourself a treat, empower yourself musically, and don't miss the undiscovered gems of a ongoing American musical heritage available in abundance on this album. Hear America in the perfect harmonies and song structures of "The Woodys"."