Personnel: Greg Brown (vocals, guitar); Prudence Johnson (vocals); Chuck Henderson (guitar); Gary Delaney (mandolin); Al Soucek (clarinet); Dave Moore (harmonica); Ron Rohovit (bass).
Personnel: Prudence Johnson (vocals); Chuck Henderson (guitar); Dave Moore (harmonica); Al Soucek (clarinet).
Audio Mixer: Tom Tucker.
Photographers: Dom Franco; Steve Zarodny.
Though 44 & 66 is full of the folkie touches and yearning for rural life that typify Greg Brown's early albums, there's a definite nod here towards his darker, more rough-and-tumble later work. "Early" is a nostalgic evocation of the town where Brown grew up, but the bittersweet melancholia of the minor key "Twenty or So" makes it a folk equivalent of "It Was a Very Good Year." "Downtown" is full of breathless lust for excitement, and the traditional folk-blues framework of "People Hide Their Love" supports an understated, masterfully composed rumination on the vagaries of human interaction.
The bonus cut "Comin' Into You" foreshadows some of Brown's subsequent, randier material with its single-entendre depiction of the carnal joys of life. Brown wasn't up to full speed yet on 44 & 66, but it still includes several memorable songs and is recommended to his fans.
