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Newsday's
Best of 2007:
1. Tom Griffith, 40 Years Later - “In these funny, poignant,
sometimes angry songs, various boomer characters take stock of their lives
40 years after the Summer of Love. For many it's the winter of discontent:
A pacifist father grapples with a gung-ho son on "He Wants to Join the Corps";
a bitter divorcee discovers the flip side of The Beatles' "All You Need Is
Love" in "No
Love Is Free." Griffith's disc is like a little novel that gets better with
each read.”
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- Rafer Guzmán,
Newsday/NY |
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2007 Top List
#9. "All That I Am" -- Tom Griffith -- 40 Years Later
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- Bob Longman, D.J. at WUSB 90.1 FM/NY |
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“Tom Griffith is such an MVP as a producer and sideman
you might forget the guy can also write a song, but the evidence is there
on his long-awaited CD, 40 Years Later.”
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- John Platt, Program Director,
WFUV/NY |
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“I found 40 Years Later to be a very honest, funny
and unflinching set of songs about aging, family, and trying to hold onto
old values along the way. The production was very sharp, too--better than
so many discs I get. I really enjoyed it.”
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-
David Browne, Former Entertainment Weekly Music Critic and
author of Dream
Brother: The Lives and Music
of Jeff and Tim Buckley |
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“Fascinating collection
of songs tied together by the theme of what has happened to the
boomer generation as we hit the 21st century. Songs about disillusioned
idealists, interracial love, older unemployed workers, pacifist father vs.
marine son...an amazingly diverse collection of songs and styles, including
some beautiful love ballads, connected thematically by a wistfully enlightened
perspective. Wraps up at the end with a gorgeous and thoughtful ballad, ‘All
That I Am.’ Highly
recommended!!”
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- Henry Koretzky, Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange |
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“I
liked it very much - it's in my iPod now. Terrific production quality.
Tom's voice is very engaging and listenable. It was obviously a
labor of love. I related to the songs and was moved throughout the disc.”
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-
Roy Rede, award-winning songwriter and record producer
(Dolly Parton,
Nanci Griffith, Taylor Dane) |
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“Wow! Great job!
Thank you for sharing such an honest, wise, funny and poignantly thoughtful
journey.”
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-
John Brennan, lead guitarist for Poco |
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“Griffith . . . has songwriting
chops and a lot of them are on display in these even dozen tracks.
The album sounds great. The production is stellar . . . and the
packaging includes some of the best indie cover art we’ve seen. It’s
simply a nice job all around.”
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- Syl
Nathan, Good Times Magazine |
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“Forty Years Later limns the life and
times of growing up and older through a collection of wonderful
songs by gifted songwriter and singer Tom Griffith. It's smart
and sweet and Tom's voice has a wonderful listenable quality. I
love this album of songs more than I can explain.”
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- Seven Gaines,
biographer of The Beatles, Beach Boys
and Alice Cooper |
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“In the space
of 12 concise, tightly crafted songs, Griffith . . . looks back
at the 1960s through the eyes of various fictional characters . . . living
in the high-pressure 2000s and wondering what, exactly, happened to the
shining idealism and freewheeling hedonism of their youth.”
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- Rafer Guzmán, Newsday/NY |
