Music From The Big House Soundtrack

To summarize the liner notes, Rita followed the famed Highway 61 and found herself in Louisiana’s Angola Prison, one of America’s roughest houses, and culled together the inmates to join her on these songs, which turned into a documentary. All the performances are inspired and magnetic and Rita’s vocals, in particular, are strong and soulful. Instrumentation of guitar, bass, drums, keys. It’s blues, gospel, country, r&b. Great stuff. No FCC’s.

*My Favorites*: All are great.

1. (1:19) Slow. INSTRUMENTAL, atmospheric piano dirge with indecipherable background voices and birds.
2. (4:32) Slow. Slow blues mourner with guitar, bass, drums about a man’s troubles.
3. (4:12) Mid. Two-step stomper with male lead and backing vocals. Drum driven and a catchy chorus.
4. (4:29) Mid. Take-off on the Bob Dylan ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’. All-out gospel with strong piano, drums, guitar and great vocals.
5. (5:04) Slow / Mid. Beautiful male female duet. Nice guitar work with big drum sound and piano.
6. (4;09) Mid. Gospel doo-wop by the men. Piano, drum driven. Great guitar work.
7. (2;29) Mid. Rita intros the song, they play and talk about it as they play it. Acoustic guitar and vocals.
8. (3;58) Mid / Fast. Bass, drum, piano, guitar. Big-time gospel, just like being in church. Killer.
9. (0:55) A cappella rehearsal for next song.
10. (3:39) Slow. Mellow r&b soul stirrer. Great lead vocal with backing vocals by the men.
11. (2:25) Mid. Country song with Rita on the lead vocals. Great guitar work with a plodding drumbeat.
12. (3;54) Mid. Bright, upbeat take on the classic ‘Midnight Special’, which originated among southern prisoners. Great performances all the way around. Organ, drums, guitar and a big chorus of singers.
13. (1:25) Slow. INSTRUMENTAL. The sparsest of piano pieces.