You Better Call Somebody, There's A Lot Of Casalties Here!

Alright, alright, Billy Ray Cyrus was maybe a bridge too far, let's go back to some certified value from a beloved commodity, shall we? It's been a good long while that we had some Neal Casal on these here pages, so here comes part two of the three part series or rarities and stray tracks that I have assembled. Casalties Volume One chronicled Casal's early days, from songs cut before his dbut album to 1998's Basement Dreams. Volume Two, our One Buck record of the day, jumps right in at that moment, as a matter of fact there is one escapee from the Basement Dreams sessions, "Junkyard In The Sun", preceded by ripping rock'n'roll opener "Twilight On The Floods", a stray track issued on a couple of music magazine compilations. 

From there we move on to a couple of collaboration projects: a duet with Angie McKenna (released posthumously),  tracks from an album Casal recorded with Kenny Roby (including a beautiful live take on "Maybe California") and from an EP he did with Shannon McNally. I chose the songs on which Casal sings lead, is sharing lead vocals or otherwise prominently featured. And the back half is then comprised of live tracks, covering the period from Anytime Tomorrow (probably my favorite Casal album) to No Wish To Reminiscence. Tracks are sourced from various live concerts (or live in the studio for the album-closing "You Don't See Me Crying"), as well as odds-n-sodds comp All Directions. 

I don't think I have to tell you what to expect: very fine mostly acoustic music, beautifully played and sung, as per usual for Mr. Casal. If you still haven't been converted, by this blog or another place, then dive into some further Casalties for that sweet 70's Westcoast vibe that Neal Casal could conjure so magnificently and effortlessly...