Released a year after Koch's Bare Tracks, Edsel's The Columbia Years: Bare's Picks covers the same ground -- the six years Bobby Bare spent at Columbia between 1978 and 1983, and the seven albums he released during those years. The two collections share seven songs, including five hits -- "Numbers," "Tequila Sheila," "Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go)," "New Cut Road," and the Rosanne Cash duet "No Memories Hangin' Round," all front-loaded here -- but the two take very different approaches, with the selections on the Edsel ...
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Released a year after Koch's Bare Tracks, Edsel's The Columbia Years: Bare's Picks covers the same ground -- the six years Bobby Bare spent at Columbia between 1978 and 1983, and the seven albums he released during those years. The two collections share seven songs, including five hits -- "Numbers," "Tequila Sheila," "Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go)," "New Cut Road," and the Rosanne Cash duet "No Memories Hangin' Round," all front-loaded here -- but the two take very different approaches, with the selections on the Edsel disc being far less hits-driven and far more idiosyncratic than the Koch collection. Perhaps this is due to Bare's participation in the song selection, or perhaps his co-compiler John Lomax III was interested in digging up some hidden gems from these overlooked records, but either way they wound up with an album that's a perfect compliment to the Koch disc. On the whole, it has a slightly quieter, introspective feel, with even Shel Silverstein songs like "The Jogger" feeling less rowdy than their counterparts on Bare Tracks and with a far heavier quotient of ballads and introspective mid-tempo numbers and narratives. This is an attribute, since the different emphasis offers proof that Bare's Columbia LPs were as deep as his RCA/Mercury recordings; sonically, they may have been a little streamlined, whether they were taking in rock guitars, folk styles, or singer/songwriter trappings, but the quality of the material remained very high, something this collection of largely reflective material illustrates. Sometimes, the good-natured rowdiness -- which is apparent on the shared tracks, including the ridiculous closer "Greasy Grit Gravy" -- is missed, but this quieter side is missed on Bare Tracks, which is why both collections are necessary. Taken together, they give a full picture of the range and quality of material Bare tackled on his unheralded Columbia albums, and both prove that, despite their lack of success on the charts, they easily hold their own among his finest work. Now, if only somebody would reissue the proper albums.... ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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