The soundtrack to Shainee Gabel's directorial debut, A Love Song for Bobby Long, is steeped in the regional sounds of New Orleans. Based on the novel Off Magazine Street by Everett Capps, the film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht, and John Travolta -- the latter performs two cuts ("Barbara Allen" and the Howard Barnes/Don Robertson hit "I Really Don't Want to Know") -- focuses on the grittier, blue-collar side of the Big Easy. Capps' son, singer/songwriter Grayson Capps, provides three of the compilation's most affective tracks, "Washboard Lisa," "Love Song for Bobby Long," and a gorgeous duet with Theresa Andersson called "Lorraine's Song (My Heart Was a Lonely Hunter) -- both have cameos in the film. Nathan Larson's brief but powerfully atmospheric score appears twice, casting a long shadow of melancholy that permeates classic cuts from celebrated bluesman Lonnie Pitchford, Lightnin' Hopkins, Magic Slim, and Big Bill Morganfield. Other highlights include Los Lobos' previously unreleased "Someday," an outtake from 1990's Neighborhood, and Nada Surf's achingly nostalgic "Blonde on Blonde," rounding out a collection that effortlessly and continuously provides the listener with dusk-tipped emotionality and a succinct sense of place. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
