Though most singers who act get about as much respect as actors who sing, Tim McGraw gets a pass. McGraw, who had a small part in Friday Night Lights a few years ago, is actually a decent actor, although the odds of an Oscar sitting on his mantel are pretty slim. The singer returns in Flicka, Fox 2000 Pictures' adaptation of Mary O'Hara's novel My Friend Flicka.
McGraw's first starring role has won him both good and bad reviews, but his song "My Little Girl," from the accompanying Flicka motion picture soundtrack, has struck a chord with listeners. The syrupy ballad, a top five hit on the Billboard Country charts, finds McGraw wrapping his saccharine voice around an acoustic arrangement that features a bombastic string section. While not his best, the track is certainly touching.
With McGraw being credited as executive producer on the soundtrack, it's no surprise that the 11-track disc has a few of his friends on it. Country-rock brother duo the Warren Brothers chip in the folkie "Where Did I Go Right." Weeping steel guitar and graceful mandolin match Brett's and Brad's laid-back vocals. McGraw's touring band, The Dancehall Doctors, don't fair as well. The Doctors do a brutal cover of George Strait's "The Fireman." The song, which is featured in the movie, sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.
Since McGraw hangs his hat in Nashville, one would expect the Flicka motion picture soundtrack to be heavy on country music. It isn't. Irish pop singer/songwriter Gemma Hayes opens the disc with the sparse "4:35 A.M." Hayes has a voice like a flower, it's pretty and delicate. Canadian beauty Chantal Kreviazuk is a fierier version of Hayes. Kreviazuk is brilliant on the self-penned "Weight Of The World," an optimistic pop track with quivering percussion and a catchy melody.
Folk singer Donovan's jangly "Catch The Wind" is a good fit for a movie about a father, a daughter, and a horse. The strummed acoustic guitars and brief harmonica break conjure up images of wild mustangs romping in the Rocky mountains. Natasha Bedingfield may steal the title of her song, "Wild Horses," from a famous Rolling Stones number, but she does it proud. Bedingfield sings like an angel on the track. Softly fingered piano and strings envelop Bedingfield's passionate vocals.
Holly Williams, granddaughter of legendary country music troubadour Hank Williams Sr., upstages everyone on the album. Williams, with only a slightly over-driven electric guitar and a barely audible steel backing her, sings the haunting "Rodeo Road." Williams' voice might just be one of the purest in all of music.
By Todd Sterling
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