Track Listing

1. Still Learning How To Fly
2. Fate's Right Hand
3. Earthbound
4. Time To Go Inward
5. The Man In Me
6. Ridin' Out The Storm
7. Preachin' To The Choir
8. It's A Different World Now
9. Come On Funny Feelin'
10. Adam's Song
11. This Too Will Pass

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54020 in Music
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Fates Right hand-discovering Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell Fates Right Hand

Rodney Crowell is one of America's least heralded music icons, a Grammy winner who has avoided the limelight and allowed his music and talent to speak for itself. The many hundreds of artists who have recorded Rodney Crowell songs, from the Grateful Dead to Andy Williams, would readily attest to the quality of his song writing.
Rodney Crowell has been writing and performing since the early 1970's when he got his big break as the rhythm guitarist in Emmy Lou Harris's band. His career has remained intertwined with that of Emmy Lou, although he has also collaborated with many other famous names, which includes producing five albums for Rosanne Cash.
Fates Right Hand is Crowell's latest offering, and he wrote all the tracks. Make no mistake, this is a fine album that enhances Rodney Crowell's reputation. Varied in pace and tempo the album's opens with 'Still Learning How to Fly' This is followed by the title song, which is one of the stand out tracks on the album. Edgy, insistent, with an addictive driving rythem, 'Fates Right Hand' demands attention and it still has me reaching for the repeat button countless plays on. This is followed by a sequence of strong, varied and interesting songs. 'Earthbound'is delivered with gusto and pace, while 'Time to go Inward', is spoken as much as sung in an uncompromising Texan drawl. 'Riding Out the Storm' is a moving comment on the homeless in New York. Crowell wrote this after a chance meeting one day when he was walking with his daughter, and he tried to explain the value of compassion and giving.
The songs go on but the quality never drops, leaving the listener wondering why 'Fates Right Hand' hasn't found a wider audience. Recent live performances would indicate that neither the enthusiastic audiences nor the musician himself are too worried about that. Those who know enjoy the music.
Rodeny Crowell is not easily categorised, possibly belonging in the Americana branch of Alternative Country. Does anyone really know what all these categories mean anyway? Does anyone really care, all you need to know is that this is a fine album which improves on repeat listening.

Rodney's Got It Right
Rodney Crowell's last CD, "The Houston Kid" told the story of his younger life. Fate's Right Hand explores Rodney's life as it is. And what a story- the music is superb, knife-edged at times, rhythm and rhyme so complete you wish the melody would go on and on. Rodney has a particular way with his guitar- the beat slightly grooving and then gradually slides down the scale that causes a shiver in your spine. This is Rodney Crowell not afraid to expose his inner self. A more mature man who is in the process of understanding who he is.
The first song, "Still Learning How to Fly" explains that life's been good and he is still movin' on. Lyrics are self-explanatory.
On to "Come On Funny Feeling" which sounds like an anxiety attack,"get this freakin' anvil off my chest" The music on this CD claims you,helps you feel like you are in a better place and ready to move on . Rodney Crowell is moving on and will take us with him- his best CD to date- can't wait for the next one.

Excellent follow-on from the Houston Kid
With the release of 2001's The Houston Kid, however, Crowell seemingly was reborn as he presented an album at least partially autobiographical in nature. Fate's Right Hand, his latest effort, finds him focusing less on the past, and instead offering his observations and musings on both the present and the future, all with his customary keen eye for observing human experience. The songs are bound together by the destinies of their characters and the choices that they make as they go about living their lives.
Although Crowell speaks from personal experience, he implores the listener to take the introspective journey with him. It's an album that questions what fate means. It's about making decisions, and how those conclusions inevitably determine the pathways that we traverse -- be they the Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr debacle or the educated man who finds himself homeless. It's about coming to grips with oneself and trying to be a better person. It's about living within our societal means and halting the imposition of Western culture on civilizations around the globe. It's about acceptance of personal responsibility and understanding what things are beyond our control.

Fate's Right Hand is a work of art; it's a minor masterpiece and one that shimmers with all the joy and heartache of every day living in a world gone mad.