SNIDER, TODD - Peace, Love and Anarchy (Rarities, B - Sides and Demos, Vol. 1) (CD)

Todd Snider's Peace, Love and Anarchy (Rarities, B-Sides and Demos, Vol. 1) is a carefully constructed collection, and a testament to the potency of a catalogue built during Snider's five-year tenure with the small-but-stout Oh Boy Records' family. For the listener, the album is an unprecedented window into Snider's workroom. It's an invitation for us to peer in and watch a gypsy whittle, and for us to whistle along while he works. ~ Peter Cooper The Tennessean - After five years on John Prine's Oh Boy label, Snider joined New Door Records, leaving behind unreleased demo and studio material at Oh Boy. Many artists, unsure of the quality of their outtakes and demos, resist releasing them, as the Beatles did until the Anthology series. Luckily, Snider helped compile this one, a collection of material (including a haiku) as powerful as his finished work. Beginning with a wonderfully loose rendition of his original "Nashville," one hears Snider's renditions of tunes he cowrote that were later recorded and released by his cowriters, including "Barbie Doll" and "Feel Like I'm Falling in Love" (Jack Ingram) and "Deja Blues" (Billy Joe Shaver). "Combover Blues" offers his satirical view of middle age. Ironically, "East Nashville Skyline," an outstanding performance featuring pedal steel legend Lloyd Green, didn't appear on the Snider album that used the song's title. The entire compilation reflects the raw immediacy of a field recording. In fact, that's what's endearing about it. Sometimes, even alongside a great studio performance, an earlier version, rough edges and all, packs a punch all its own. --Rich Kienzle