Track Listing

1. Looking for Elvis
2. Like Any Woman Would
3. Town Called Heartbreak
4. Play Around
5. Rainy Day Man
6. Word
7. Bad for You
8. Run, Run, Run
9. Play It as It Lays
10. Black Ladder

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18437 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-09-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Patti Scialfa can't utter a sentence, let alone issue an entire album, without the world scanning it for Bruce Springsteen-related subtext, so on Play It as It Lays--the sharpest, most assured, and best record of her solo career--she gives up. This beautiful, world-weary record, rich in girl-group harmonies, folk-roots rhythms, and clear-eyed lyrics, gets to the heart of what it means to be in a long-term relationship, whether it's with a rock god or a shoe salesman. There are sacrifices ("Like Any Woman Would"), concessions ("Town Called Heartbreak"), thrills ("Rainy Day Man"), and long spells of casting aside wistfulness and scraping up hope ("Looking for Elvis"). Most of all, though, there is honesty. Scialfa, a longtime E-Street band member and mother to the three Springsteen teenagers, sings these songs in the dark, grainy voice that's distinguished her from the start, but here it takes on a weightier, more lived-in quality. She's as comfortable with this material as she was with her backing band for the project--Willie Weeks, Nils Lofgren, Cliff Carter, and Mr. Springsteen himself all piled into a room in her New Jersey farmhouse for the sessions, christening themselves the Whack Brothers along the way--and it shows. Play It as It Lays is Scialfa's Born in the USA; her masterpiece. --Tammy La Gorce

Patti Scialfa Photos

More from Patti Scialfa

23rd Street Lullaby

Rumble Doll

Customer Reviews

LOVED IT!!
Give Patti the attention she is due!!! This new CD is clearly another outstanding example of Patti's gift, in her own right, as singer and songwriter! Simply put, I LOVE IT!

Beautifully crafted tunes with real lyrics, and layered musical composition, Patti delivers her own magic with her unique style. Upbeat and rocking or pensive and introspective, she draws you in and takes you on her journeys. This is one smart and sensitive woman who embraces her experiences and shares them with us through her music! How lucky we are!

"Play It As It Lays", the CD and the song itself, is full of promise and wisdom - "Like Any Woman Would" - boy can I relate...

Messages full of fire and grace, Patti puts it down for all to hear and you won't be sorry for the listening!!! Oh yes, and the band is full of amazing talent as well!!!

So listen up and beware the nay-sayers who judge her on anything other than her own musical merits!

Thank you, Patti, for a great ride!

Wonderfully Bluesy/Souful Album
Would I have ever heard of Patti Scialfa, much less bought a CD by her, were I not already a fan of her husband and his famous backing band? Probably not (although I have to admit that I'm not much of a fan of some of the other Jersey Shore bands who were brought to my attention because of their affiliations with or support from Bruce Springsteen). But that doesn't change the fact that this is an excellent album that demonstrates what a powerful and literate singer/songwriter Patti is. She seems to have toned down the vibratto in her vocals that many people find annoying, and her singing has a definite edge and roughness that fits the material very well. She reminds me of a cross between Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, but creates a style that stands on its own independent of any comparisons. "Waiting for Elvis" would make a very good single if artists of Patti and her husband got any regular radio airplay anymore, but the whole album is very accessible and listenable with no filler to be found. I would love to see Patti on her own tour, or have her sing some of these songs on an E Street Band tour. I'd also like for Bruce and Patti to do a "duet" album together, rather than just making background appearances on one another's records. Live renditions of songs like "Mansion on the Hill" and "If I Should Fall Behind" prove that they have great chemistry and that they can achieve gorgeous harmonies. Regardless of your opinions about Bruce Springsteen, however, don't let your views about how she may have gotten a recording contract jade you or prevent you from enjoying what is a genuinely fine album.

Excellent CD from an often overlooked singer/songwriter
I was so excited to find out that Patti Scialfa was releasing a third CD, that I was worried I might be disappointed ultimately. Not to worry. This is a fantastic CD. With each CD, she changes her perspective some. "23rd Street Lullaby" was told by a woman looking back at her past and how that past had helped to make her the person she had become. On "Play it As It Lays," the woman is a little more world-weary, battered around by life and love, but still optimistic. Her lyrics are like poetry and reflect some of the very things I, a long-married, middle aged mother of teenagers, often think about my life and relationships. She's really put my thoughts into words, and done it beautifully. Also, I love her singing voice; it's tender and tough, playful and sad. Extremely interesting. Like her famous husband said, it's "sawdust and sugar."

Favorite tracks are "Looking for Elvis," "Like Any Woman Would," "Town Called Heartbreak, "Run,Run,Run," and the hauntingly beautiful "Play It As It Lays." I love the message of "Play It As It Lays," that no relationship is perfect, you take the good with the bad and because you love the person, you play it as it lays. The chorus is so beautiful.

I highly recommend this CD. Also recommend Rumble Doll and 23rd Street Lullaby.

PS--I don't know how anyone can say they cannot understand the lyrics. I had no trouble. What I heard was eloquent. I also don't see how anyone can say she wouldn't have a recording contract if it weren't for Bruce. She had this contract BEFORE she was even involved with Bruce, i.e. since the early 1980s.