Album of the Week: Margo Price, 'Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman'
by Bill DeVille
December 07, 2020
It's been nine months since most of us have seen a live concert. Virtual concerts are all well and good, but there is nothing like the real thing. In 2018, Margo Price triumphed at her homecoming residency at country music's mother church, the Ryman Auditorium, in Nashville. I sure would have loved to have attended one of them. Thankfully the shows were documented.
Margo Price has a new live album called Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman. This album makes you feel like you are at a live concert. Price has her live show dialed in with her longtime backing band, sometimes known as "the Price Tags". You can tell she is a seasoned pro living her dream when she's on the stage.
This album is so fun to listen to! There are covers like Rodney Crowell's "Ain't Living Long Like This," which Waylon Jennings probably played at least once at the Ryman." I love her version of "Proud Mary," this isn't the straight up Creedence Clearwater Revival version of the track. It sounds almost like Tina Turner singing with Elvis Presley's band in Las Vegas!
On her own song "Hurtin' On the Bottle," Price shows she knows how to be a rock star supreme, in the mode of Bono and Springsteen when she incorporates a line of both Willie Nelson's "Whiskey River" and Merle Haggard's "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink." I also just love the freshened up waltz version of "A Little Pain."
Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman makes your feel like you are there, at a concert again. This album came along at a perfectly perfect time! Let's hope Margo comes north in 2021!
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