A Lie of the Mind

Lie of the Mind, A (1985), a play by Sam Shepard. [Promenade Theatre, 185 perf.; NYDCC Award.] Jake (Harvey Keitel) believes he has beaten his wife Beth to death and so runs away. Beth (Amanda Plummer) is not dead, but she has suffered brain damage and is returned to her oddball family. Jake's brother, Frankie (Aidan Quinn), visits them, hoping to bring about a reconciliation or at least an understanding while Jake returns to his home and his flighty mother (Geraldine Page). In the end Jake and Beth are left to work out for themselves their probably bleak futures. Although the play took four hours to perform, it was usually gripping, especially in the fine production accorded it. However, viewed from a distance it could be seen as a modern‐day Tobacco Road, crossed with strong influences of The Glass Menagerie school of drama.

• Artist: Original Soundtrack
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1990
• Total Time: 36:18
• Type: Soundtrack, Cast (Broadway, television or movie)
• Genre: Country

Review

The presence of playwright Sam Shephard must have the same effect on some people that mothballs are supposed to have on moths. Eyes glaze over, backs stiffen, and a sense of being totally uncomfortable sets in. As much as North Carolina's Red Clay Ramblers have expressed enthusiasm for their collaborations with Shephard, the soundtrack recording to his play A Lie of the Mind does not display the group at their most relaxed or lively. In fact, the band has been Shephard-ized beyond question. It is all perfectly respectable music, the songwriting drawn not only from the band's usual blend of the traditional and originals, but also including some Lefty Frizzell with a tasty country piano solo from Mike Craver. Most of what the band attempts -- honky tonk, serious singer/songwriter material, cornpone rural humor -- comes across as if someone had dropped an enormous and sopping wet blanket on top of it. The instrumental medley that closes the first side is an exception; it represents the totally rousing sound of this band at their best, bringing to mind students in a campus pub discovering old-timey music for the first time. "Light Years Away" is also a beautiful ballad, effectively followed by the romping "Cumberland Mountain Deer Chase." Hovering over the old-timey music atmosphere, however, is the Shephard rain cloud. One cringes in apprehension of what kind of awkward, uncomfortable drama is wed to this music. It is an inevitable difficulty for any music group doing a soundtrack album, since the house a group may build for their current family of songs is bound to be more relaxed than the hotel room offered by a playwright using a live music group for dramatic effect. Furthermore, Shepard obviously hopes the rich dramatic content and emotion of the old-timey music or the Skip James blues will rub off on his play. It is not a transaction one should bank on, since the formality of the dramatic process strips away much of this music's intensity. In only one sense is this album a necessary addition to a collection of recordings by this group. That is the excellent little bits of incidental music, much of which gets into interesting areas that these musicians are more than capable of dealing with, but have tended to avoid on their own recordings. Recorded sound is indeed good, but a little too clean overall. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Run Sister Run	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(3:32)
South of the Border/In the Pines	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(3:46)
Honey Babe	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:35)
I Love You a Thousand Ways	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(3:25)
Home Is Where the Heart Is	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:15)
Seeing It Now	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(:38)
Blue Jay/The Gal I Left Behind Me	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:04)
Light Years Away	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:51)
Cumberland Mountain Deer Chase	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:01)
Red Rocking Chair	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(2:26)
Montana Underscoring	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(1:47)
Killing Floor	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(3:27)
Can't Live Without 'Em Blues	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(1:56)
Folding the Flag/Hard Times	The Red Clay Ramblers	The Red Clay Ramblers	(3:35)

Credits

Gary Bristol (Producer), Michael Holleman (Percussion), Gary Bristol (Bass), The Red Clay Ramblers (Arranger), Clay Buckner (Harmonica), Glenn Meadows (Mastering), Tommy Thompson (Banjo), Anne Militello (Photography), Jack Herrick (Harmonium), Mike Craver (Piano), Jack Herrick (Flute), Jim Watson (Mandolin), Jack Herrick (Bass), Jack Herrick (Guitar), Jack Herrick (Bouzouki), Jack Herrick (Bouz), Jack Herrick (?), Raymond Simone (Design), Jack Herrick (Vocals), Jack Herrick (Cello), Jack Herrick (Harmonica), Mike Craver (Harmonium), Clay Buckner (Vocals), Mike Craver (Vocals), Clay Buckner (Fiddle), Jack Herrick (Producer), John Post (Engineer), Jim Watson (Guitar), Stephen Holden (Liner Notes), Tommy Thompson (Vocals), Noah Evans (Assistant Engineer), Jim Watson (Vocals)

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