Good Dog, Happy Man

Good Dog, Happy Man
Studio album by Bill Frisell
Released	1999
Studio	O'Henry Sound (Burbank, California)
Genre	Folk jazz, new acoustic, Americana
Length	61:51
Label	Elektra Nonesuch
Producer	Lee Townsend
Bill Frisell chronology
Gone, Just Like a Train (1998) Good Dog, Happy Man (1999) The Sweetest Punch (1999)

Good Dog, Happy Man is the 11th album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 1999 and features performances by Frisell, steel guitarist Greg Leisz, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Jim Keltner with a guest appearance by Ry Cooder on slide guitar.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

JazzTimes called the album "the latest, logical extension in the saga of Frisell’s maturing voice." and summarized; "Triads galore, sweet tunes, organic funkiness, and a general laconic grace keep the music rooted, while also searching. What else could we ask for? Good Dog, Happy Man is a recording full of gentle things, bolstered by innate smarts and rugged musicality.[4] The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "Again, Frisell often captures a loose, evolutionary jamming quality in these sessions, playing the country accents off of his jazz sensibilities. Unlike its predecessor, though, you can't imagine this being recorded on a backwoods front porch, for there are some production tricks and distant-sounding electronic loops that give away its Burbank studio origins. Purists on either side of the jazz/country divide are hereby warned to back off so that the rest of us can enjoy this".[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

Track listing

All compositions by Bill Frisell except as indicated.

1. "Rain, Rain" – 2:45
2. "Roscoe" – 3:43
3. "Big Shoe" – 3:49
4. "My Buffalo Girl" – 8:50
5. "Shenandoah" – for Johnny Smith (Traditional) – 6:09
6. "Cadillac 1959" – 6:16
7. "The Pioneers" – 5:16
8. "Cold, Cold Ground" – 9:01
9. "That Was Then" – 5:29
10. "Monroe" – 4:19
11. "Good Dog, Happy Man" – 2:33
12. "Poem For Eva" – 3:41

Personnel

• Bill Frisell – electric and acoustic guitars, loops and music boxes
• Greg Leisz – pedal steel, Dobro, lap steel, Weissenborn, National steel guitar and mandolin
• Wayne Horvitz – organ, piano, samples
• Viktor Krauss – bass
• Jim Keltner – drums and percussion
• Ry Cooder (5) – guitar

References

1. Nonesuch Records album info accessed 12 September 2008.
2. Ginell, R. Allmusic Review accessed June 20, 2011
3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 513. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
4. Woodard, Josef JazzTimes accessed October 6, 2019