专辑简介

This double album contains two discs, ostensibly two versions of the same record. The first disc contains Mullins´s crude demos of 9 of the 10 songs on the album, recorded on a battery-powered box only a few days before his untimely death. Even with the abundance of tape noise, pops, clicks, and bum notes, Mullins´s skill as a performer and passion for this material shines clearly through. The second disc contains the same songs, fully produced by Rich´s band, the Ragamuffins, with special guests Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Ashley Cleveland, and Phil Keaggy. These performances feel haunted as well, trying to be faithful to Mullins´s vision as a performer and folk/ethnic musicologist without resorting to grave robbing. Pennywhistles, accordians, and upright bass strike a jagged edge against the polished sheen of orchestras and children´s choirs. The guest vocalists make Mullins´s songs their own, while the Ragamuffin-sung tunes naturally carry more of the spirit of his own recordings.