Actually, one of the Streamabout crew's great claim to fame is that they were in Chicago in 2000 in a music store on Michigan Avenue (because they were at BBDO) when this Album was launched live by the then, largely unknown, Ryan Adams.
It was his debut solo album, he had just left his 'Whiskeytown' Band (very Gram Parsons) and was known for his work with 'The Cardinals'.
The Album title 'Heartbreaker', was something he saw on a Mariah Carey T-shirt they say....but Ryan would be too cool for that, we think. Nice story though.
In a way this is country folk but with heart by a grumpy singer.
'My winding wheel', 'Amy', 'Oh my sweet Carolina', 'Damn Sam', 'Call me on your way back home' are all simply cracking tracks.
But 'Come Pick me up' is a song that just won't leave you.
This is Ryan Adams at his best although the follow-up 'Gold' Album did very well (with the 'New York, New York' track) but his 2015 'Live at Carnegie Hall' just doesn't make it. But when Ryan Adams is at his best, it's something to behold. Emotional, raw, sensitive and sung with troubled feeling, it makes you think.
There was hardly a songwriter at the time as good.
And it's all here on 'Heartbreaker'. Give it a go but start with 'Come Pick me up' and you'll know if it's for you. It's that typical winter night record.
