Celebration of Cass County

[shunlvswx]

Happy 1st Birthday to Cass County. This album is one of my favorites of Don. I'm so glad Don finally put it out after being on the shelf for 2 years.

[buffyfan145]

Happy Birthday to Cass County!!! :D I love the album too.

[AlreadyGone95]

Happy first anniversary to Cass County. It doesn't seem like it's been a whole year since it's release. I think it's my favorite of Don's solo albums.

[L101]

Happy 1st birthday to Cass County! It's one of my favourite Don albums and it's still going strong :-)

[rcknalwys]

I'm a little behind on Cass County, just bought it a few days ago. I haven't listened to country music in so long that it was a bit of a shock to my system I'm embarrassed to say. But I persevered and continued to listen and after several times through, I'm liking it. So happy 1 year birthday Cass County.

[WS82Classics]

Easily the best album Henley's ever done. "The Cost of Living" is a stand-out performance. I look forward to the next one.

[DivineDon]

Happy anniversary CC - it was worth the long wait!! ;)

My favourites are 'A Younger Man' (how I'd love to hear Don sing this live - I think I'd faint though ;) ) and 'There's a train in the distance' (it just gets me in the gut everytime I hear it)
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[UndertheWire]

It's now available to stream through Amazon Prime. The first time I listened, it was just 12 songs, but last night it had 16. I haven't bought the CD so this was my first time listening.

First time through, I had it on more as background and was pleasantly surprised. Second time, I was paying more attention and by the end it was beginning to drag a little (I didn't quite make it to the end). Possibly it was just my mood. Maybe the extra 4 songs was too much. I'm not used to country music and I'm not keen on Don's voice when it's strained (whereas I love it on the early Eagles albums). I'm not giving up, yet.

[thelastresort]

I will do a song by song breakdown when I have the time, but will say the first half of the album is a lot, lot stronger than the second. Still a fine album though, and I do still listen to a lot of the songs from it even a year after its release. Belated happy birthday CC!

[thelastresort]

I will say, if the four extra songs are the deluxe edition inclusions, then I only really rate The Brand New Tennessee Waltz. I think album does suffer slightly from Long Road Out of Eden Syndrome: if it had been a ten-song release of the best material it would have been a blinder, but for being in the format it is it does drag on.

[Funk 50]

I will say, if the four extra songs are the deluxe edition inclusions, then I only really rate The Brand New Tennessee Waltz. I think album does suffer slightly from Long Road Out of Eden Syndrome: if it had been a ten-song release of the best material it would have been a blinder, but for being in the format it is it does drag on.

I remember, a long, long time ago being put off buying Joe's, You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind because it only had 6 tracks on it. I don't think I've ever, not bought an album because it had too many tracks. It's a case of, if you want the album to sell or be regarded as an exceptional peice of work.

In the analog age, album editing and track sequencing were a very important part of the creative process, in the age of mutli gig drives on random play, there are an irrelavance.

I think Cass County is a great album, I like some tracks more than others but there are no constantly skipped tracks. If it was to be cut to, a more palitable 10 tracks, I think we would all choose a different 10.

Favourite tracks; Younger Man and Bramble Rose
I can't really pick out a least favourite as I've enjoyed them all at one time or another.

It must have been an incredible time in the early 70s when it was standard practice for all artists to release an album a year.

I look forward to reading your song by song breakdown thelastresort. :thumbsup:

[Jonny Come Lately]

Happy first birthday to Cass County! :birthday: It is difficult to believe that a year has passed since its release. To start with I'd like to thank Soda and Dreamer very much for sending me the album as my prize in the HOTE quote competition last autumn - I was absolutely delighted when it arrived and I still get a warm glow whenever I look at my copy.

Overall I think it is a very good album, and I'm very glad that Don released it. I'm far from an expert on the country genre, but I can certainly enjoy the album. Another thing that is nice about CC is that everyone in my household likes it - it's quite unusual for all four of us to really like an album, normally at least one of us has to 'tolerate' an album, so it is refreshing when we find one we can all agree on enjoying like this one. Of course, I'm also delighted that he toured in the UK this summer so I could see his superb show!


I will do a song by song breakdown when I have the time, but will say the first half of the album is a lot, lot stronger than the second. Still a fine album though, and I do still listen to a lot of the songs from it even a year after its release. Belated happy birthday CC!


I will say, if the four extra songs are the deluxe edition inclusions, then I only really rate The Brand New Tennessee Waltz. I think album does suffer slightly from Long Road Out of Eden Syndrome: if it had been a ten-song release of the best material it would have been a blinder, but for being in the format it is it does drag on.

I feel more or less exactly the same way about the album. I agree with you in that I'd have preferred a very strong 10-12 track album, and none of the extra songs on the deluxe edition are among my personal favourites. I don't feel the same way about Eden as I think that offering such a large number of songs and such a wide range of styles is one of the album's greatest virtues (funnily enough from what I've read it was Don who wanted LROOE to be a great single album rather than a double, which Glenn argued for), but CC is more focused on one style of music and therefore I think it doesn't benefit as much from having a larger number of songs. I'm also with you in thinking that the first half of the album is stronger, although having said this my favourite song is quite close to the end. On the positive side, I agree it has plenty of strong songs, which are standing up well a year after their release.

I've not listened to the 12-song 'standard edition' track list in that order, so I probably need to hear it that way to see how it plays compared to the 16 song version (looking at it closely I am surprised how different it is - I'm really not sure why, especially at the start and end of the record where none of the additional tracks were inserted). I have to admit I'm not a great fan of the current trend for 'deluxe edition' releases of albums with three or four additional tracks - to me, the album should be the album. I can understand it as it is probably easier for people to buy the deluxe edition rather than including the extra songs as B-sides on singles which have to be acquired separately, but I think it's difficult to do it without weakening the album (I don't like to skip tracks, but I will if there is a song that I find annoying or does nothing for me) or spoiling its integrity, although luckily I think only the former is an issue with Cass County.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

So sorry I'm late on this, but belatedly ...

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CASS COUNTY!!!

I have to say although I think Cass County is a good album, country music has never been one of my favorite genres. Don's voice is still awesome and I love how he collaborated with other artists on many of the songs. Still, it's not among my personal favorites of his solo efforts. As I've said before, I feel very similar about this album as I do with Glenn's After Hours - both good albums, but just not my favorite types of music.

[sodascouts]

Can't believe it's been a year already!

I wouldn't rate it as Don's strongest album but it has several standout tracks and I'm just so happy he's still making music and putting himself out there.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Hope you don't mind me asking, but is there any thread in this section for ranking Don's solo albums? I've never seen one in my time on here, but I'm way of starting a new one in case there's a suitable topic already in existence. I think it might be a timely juncture to do this given that the new kid in town amongst Don's solo albums has just reached its first birthday.

[sodascouts]

Here's an old topic we have on the matter, JCL, but it's so old it doesn't include Cass County. You can either revive it or start a new one - up to you!

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452

[Brooke]

Can't believe it's been a year! Happy Birthday to Cass County!

Not my favorite of Don's albums, but I like! Favorite song right now is Train.

[DivineDon]

"Younger Man" was written about me

That's a very tantalizing statement! Are you talking literally or figuratively like the rest of us Don fans? :)
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[Brooke]

literally , based on a conversation I had with him while I was waiting tables. I'm not really a fan . Didn't even recognize him , thought I was just talking to some random guy from my home town.

So, maybe his song Waiting Tables would be interesting to you? :hmm:

[DivineDon]

I'm sorry you feel that way, Tracy. I have to admit that I don't quite understand what you're saying but that's none of my business. But if you mean that you think those two songs that Don wrote based on conversations you had with him mock your experiences then all I can say is that's not how they come across to me. I find them heartfelt and poignant but I might feel different if I was in your position.

Like I said I'm not really clear about the situation.

[RudieCantFail]

To continue the conversation about transcribing lyrics to Cass County from the "Reviews and Comments about Timothy's album 'Leap of Faith'" thread, does DonHenleyOnline.com need the lyrics to the songs? Are we supposed to transcribe it by ear, or is it alright to just type it from the liner notes? I have the Target Deluxe and it has lyrics to all of the songs, except the last two bonus tracks. I wouldn't mind doing some of it, if JCL and/or others want to help out as well. No promises though, but I could do some if I'm watching TV. If it has to be done by ear, I'm sorry but that would take too much time and any contribution from me would be limited.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Thought I'd give an update - I've had a bit of time this afternoon and I've managed to type up lyrics for nine of the twelve tracks from the standard edition of Cass County (the only ones I haven't done yet are Waiting Tables, When I Stop Dreaming and A Younger Man). I've yet to do the deluxe tracks or the Target bonus tracks.

RCF, I think it would be a great idea to write up the lyrics from the liner notes. This means that if I do the songs 'by ear' then we will have two separate lists and can then compare the lyrics from each to see whether there's any difference or not. I have seen discrepancies in album lyric sheets before now, so having two sets of lyrics sourced independently using different methods seems a sound method of getting them accurate. I have the 16-track deluxe edition of Cass County on CD which I'm pretty sure also includes the lyrics. However, as my CD is over a hundred miles from my current location, this a non-starter for me right now, so I'm quite happy to do the others by ear as well.

[sodascouts]

Gosh, I've been quiet remiss in not posting the lyrics to Cass County on Don Henley Online (http://www.donhenleyonline.com), I know. I usually use the official lyrics unless there's an obvious discrepancy - for instance, sometimes to save space, they'll leave off a chorus. Regarding the site, the impediment is not so much the lyrics but the fact that I have to design a Cass County sidebar for the lyrics pages. I keep meaning to do it but it seems something else more urgent always seems to pop up. I'm ashamed that I've let a year go by, however, and still haven't put up the lyrics.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I was listening to CC yesterday and remembered that in an earlier post in this thread I said I needed to listen to the 'standard edition' version of the album, as the sequencing of the tracks on the deluxe edition is somewhat different. This seems quite unusual to me, as most deluxe versions of albums I've come across are essentially exactly the same as the standard one, just with the bonus songs. Well, I did actually give it a listen several months ago. However, I never got round to commenting on it!

As I'm mainly familiar with the album in the deluxe edition format, I find it helpful to remind myself of the 12-song standard edition tracklist:

1. Bramble Rose
2. The Cost Of Living
3. Take A Picture Of This
4. Waiting Tables
5. No, Thank You
6. Praying For Rain
7. Words Can Break Your Heart
8. That Old Flame
9. When I Stop Dreaming
10. A Younger Man
11. Train In The Distance
12. Where I Am Now

By contrast, this is the sequencing on the deluxe edition (I've left the numbers off the four extra songs on the deluxe edition to allow a more direct comparison between the respective positions of the tracks on the two versions):

1. Bramble Rose
2. The Cost Of Living
3. No, Thank You
4. Waiting Tables
5. Take A Picture Of This
(Too Far Gone)
6. That Old Flame
(The Brand New Tennessee Waltz)
7. Words Can Break Your Heart
8. When I Stop Dreaming
9. Praying For Rain
(Too Much Pride)
(She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune)
10. Train In The Distance
11. A Younger Man
12. Where I Am Now

The differences between the two editions can be summarised as below:
- Take A Picture Of This and No, Thank You (tracks 3/5) swap places.
- Train In The Distance and A Younger Man (tracks 10/11) also swap places.
- Praying For Rain is effectively moved back from track 6 on the standard edition to track 9 on the deluxe.
- By contrast, That Old Flame is effectively moved up from track 8 to track 6.
- When I Stop Dreaming is track 9 on the standard edition, but effectively moved up to track 8 on the deluxe.

Having listened to both versions, I have to say that I think the sequencing is better on the deluxe edition. I was quite surprised by how different the album felt with Take A Picture Of This as the third song rather than No, Thank You, and overall I didn't think it was for the better. Although No, Thank You isn't one of my favourites from the album, after the two relatively slow opening tracks its energy provides a change of pace, which I think improves the flow. By contrast, while I prefer Take A Picture Of This as a song, I feel it's an anthem rather than an uptempo song and therefore it doesn't work as well there for me - track 5 feels too late to put the first higher energy track IMO. I also think putting Train before A Younger Man works better - although I think the latter is a good song, it is quite a 'downer' which makes it hard to enjoy Train (which is melancholy but a lot less bleak) as much after it, whereas the musically and lyrically upbeat Where I Am Now provides an instant pick me up after the album's bleakest track.

On the other hand though, the one thing I do definitely prefer on the standard edition is that Praying For Rain is earlier on the album - this is probably because it's one of my favourite tracks but on the deluxe edition it's surrounded by what I feel are among CC's less impressive tracks. I also think That Old Flame is slightly better positioned on the deluxe version than the standard edition- it's probably the album's catchiest song and I feel it should probably have been earlier in the running order. On balance, I'd suggest it maybe should have taken the track 3 slot on the standard version, as it's catchier than No, Thank You but has much more energy than Take A Picture Of This.

Overall, I think this would probably be my ideal 12-song version of Cass County with only the standard edition tracks:

1. Bramble Rose
2. The Cost Of Living
3. That Old Flame
4. Waiting Tables
5. Take A Picture Of This
6. No, Thank You
7. Praying For Rain
8. Words Can Break Your Heart
9. When I Stop Dreaming
10. Train In The Distance
11. A Younger Man
12. Where I Am Now

I'll need to get around to listening to this version too at some point too! :hilarious: Maybe next summer...

(Apologies for such a lengthy post, but I should have done this ages ago!)

[RudieCantFail]

I'm really sorry that I didn't get to the lyrics for this. I'm working on it now as I type this. Hopefully, JCL still has his version of lyrics from listening by ear.

EDIT: There aren't any official lyrics in the Cass County Target deluxe booklet for the bonus songs, "It Don't Matter to the Sun' and "Here Come Those Tears Again."

[RudieCantFail]

Ok, I finished it. Here are the lyrics to Cass County:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/100XzVknoufqi8kNooUDBW4btHixayvpoWfGYRXeO6CA/edit?usp=sharing

I have the Target Deluxe version. Also, the lyrics don't contain Oxford commas. It does have repeat choruses in the official booklet.

If you don't have Google Drive access, I'll PM you a PDF version of this for copying and pasting.

On a side note, Soda, would you want the official lyrics from the booklet of Seeds We Sow from LB? I have a physical copy of the album. I don't think your BN site has it. It'll probably be a long wait, like Cass County though.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Yep, I still have the document with the 'by ear' lyrics in, although I'll admit I only got around to doing the standard edition tracks (partly because I did them around the time I listened to the standard tracklist). However, having listened to the album just a couple of days ago, when I looking at the lyrics for the four deluxe edition tracks, I don't notice any significant discrepancies (oddly enough, looking at the words written down, I think that with the exception of The Brand New Tennessee Waltz, these songs generally seem to have fewer lyrics than most of the other tracks).

The Google drive version works fine for me. I've noticed there's a few differences between my lyrics and yours. In most cases I think your version is correct, although there's a couple where I definitely disagree (the end of No, Thank You being one example). Easiest thing to do would probably be to annotate your existing document if that's possible - I've sent you an edit access request.

[RudieCantFail]

I shared it with you, so you could edit it, JCL.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 2nd Birthday to Cass County. I'm glad he finally put out an album after 15 years of waiting. I hope his next album won't be 15 more years. lol

[Delilah]

Happy 2nd anniversary to Cass County! (a day late :blush:)

This is a very good, all-around solid album. Some of the vocal pairings don't work that well but this is still a fine effort. My favorite songs are "Praying for Rain" "No Thank You" "This Old Flame" and "A Younger Man." There are no songs I actively dislike however. Don has come a long way since singing his first solo country song, "You're Not Drinking Enough."

It may have taken awhile for this album to finally appear but it shows Don still has it!

[thelastresort]

A belated happy second birthday. A brilliant album that has something for everyone. My favourites are Bramble Rose, The Cost of Living, Waiting tables and WCBYH, but I happily listen to all of it. A fine effort on Don's behalf.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 3rd Birthday to Cass County. One of my favorite albums from Don.

[sodascouts]

I just had a post come up in my newsfeed in Facebook - a memory of when I ran out and purchased it on the day of release! Happy birthday to Cass County!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO CASS COUNTY!!!

This is probably my least favorite of Don's solo albums simply because I'm not a huge fan of country music. But it's still a good album and I like that he collaborated with so many other artists to mix it up a bit.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 4th Birthday to Cass County. I hope it doesn't take Don another 15 years to put out an album. He still promise us that R&B album. :lol:

[sodascouts]

I was just listening to it today!

Happy birthday Cass County!


Happy 4th Birthday to Cass County. I hope it doesn't take Don another 15 years to put out an album. He still promise us that R&B album. :lol:
Do you really think the R&B album will materialize?

[shunlvswx]

I was just listening to it today!

Happy birthday Cass County!


Do you really think the R&B album will materialize?

Since this is Don. Nope :hilarious:, but I wouldn't be surprised if he squeezes out one more album before his voice is gone.

[thelastresort]

Happy birthday CC. I still remember the day this was released: time don't half go fast!

Still for me a mixed bag but there are a few blinders in there: Train in the Distance, Cost of Living, Waiting Tables, Praying for Rain...

[Ive always been a dreamer]

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO CASS COUNTY!!!

Since I'm not a huge country music fan, my favorite song on this album is No, Thank You because it is a bit more rockin' than the other tracks. I would love to see Don record an R&B album - I may be able to get into that a bit more.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 5th Birthday to Cass County.

I remembered how excited to finally get a new album from Don.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 6th Birthday to Cass County on yesterday.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

HAPPY BELATED ANNIVERSARY TO CASS COUNTY!!!

[Delilah]

Happy (belated) Anniversary to Cass County!!

Reading up on it a little revealed this is Don’s highest-charting solo album, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. He said he enjoyed making this album more than any in his career. It shows because this is a really good album.

I wonder if Glenn had a chance to listen to it and what he thought about it.

[WalshFan88]

Happy Belated Anniversary.

Definitely not my favorite Don album as I love the 80s synth-laden sound and the more rockin' or at least pop rock numbers of Building The Perfect Beast which is my favorite but I do like it a lot more than Inside Job. Personally I'd rate Don's solo albums like this. BTPB > EOTI > ICSS > CC > IJ.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Cass County is my least favorite of Don's solo work. Although, I like all the collaborations with other artists, I am just not a big fan of this genre of music. For the record, my rankings of Don's albums are EOTI, ICSS, BTPB, IJ, and CC.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 8th Birthday to Cass County

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Almost a month late, but happy anniversary to Cass County.