| Track by Track Review
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CD 1
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A Woman's Way
Old school blues, bluegrass and some rockabilly are heard on this. The lyrics are seriously misogynistic and don't hold up well today, but they were a feature of their era I suppose. |
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A Story Book Affair
Down-home, deep South country music is on the menu here. I'm not crazy about this number, but it works well for what it is. |
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I Couldn't Keep From Crying
The fiddle on this brings a lot of style. This is another old time country piece. It's more effective than the one that preceded it, as far as I'm concerned. |
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That's Me Without You
Old school country sound is on the menu here. The sound on this leaves something to be desired. The tune works reasonably well, though. |
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Mexican Joe
More energized, this is a fun tune. |
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Honeymoon On A Rocket Ship
Hoedown, bluegrass music is on the menu here. This is quite entertaining, and I really like the fiddle playing a lot. |
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Big Jim Boogie
There is a heavy helping of pedal-steel guitar on this. The fiddle work is classy, too. This is a bluegrass instrumental romp that works well. It has some electric guitar soloing at play at times, too. |
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Honeycut Stomp
This instrumental piece has some killer guitar. The fiddle is tasty, too. I like this a lot. |
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Wednesday Night Swing
Built on a lot of bluegrass texture, this instrumental is also solid and competent. |
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Wild Strings
A bit more of a rock and roller, this instrumental is one of the standout pieces here. It has a great retro sound and some definite country angles to it. |
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Long Lost Girl
Another old-time bluegrass styled number, this is solid. |
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Making Believe
Old time country music drives. You'll likely recognize the melodies on this because it shares a lot of them without a couple tunes, including "On Top of Old Smoky." This is a fun piece, but it feels a little too slow. |
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More Than A Man Can Stand
A fairly slow, down-home tune, this works pretty well. |
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You Ain't Got My Address
I dig the driving energy of this bluegrass, hillbilly romp. I'm not as sold on the vocals, but this little tune is a lot of fun. I really love the guitar solo, too. It brings some rock and roll to bear. |
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By The Sweat Of My Brow
There is a slow blues vibe to this old-school country type piece. |
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Mama Loves Papa (And Papa Loves The Women)
More bluegrass and country-styled sound is on the menu here. |
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I Wanna Feel Good
Here we get an energetic rock and roller that's so much fun. It has some killer guitar work on display. |
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I Knew Her When
A slow moving, country ballad type number, this has a dense vocal arrangement. |
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I Used To Love Her
I dig the rock and roll and electric country sound on this tune a lot. It also has a great energy. |
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Too Used To Being With You
More balladic, this reminds me a little of Elvis Presley. It's a solid tune. |
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Baby Brother
Now, this is really different. There are some weird sounds that feel almost experimental as it starts. The tune has a real early 1960s rock sound to it. It's a fun romp. |
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Ride Gunman, Ride
A classy and dramatic Country Western sound is on the menu here. The vocals are in a particularly low register. We get some whooping voices in the background at times. |
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Ramblin' Fever
There is both country music and early rock and roll in the mix here. This is another solid tune. |
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Half Hour Til Sundown
Country and folk are merged here. This is a song about a man going to the gallows. |
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Stowaway
There are some hints of Island music on this tune. It feels a little like a novelty tune. It has plenty of folk and pop music of the time in the mix. |
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Seven Years
This electrified country stomper makes me think of Johnny Cash to some degree. It's a potent tune. |
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When God Dips His Love In My Heart
The pedal steel is a big part of the arrangement here. This is an old-school country tune. The lyrics land it in the gospel music zone. |
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Amazing Grace
I am not a fan of this song. In fact, there has only ever been one or two versions of it I could stand. This is not one of them. It's a pretty traditional gospel approach on display here. |
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This World Is Not My Home
Gospel based country music is the idea here. This works reasonably well, but is not any kind of standout. |
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Where We Never Grow Old
An echoey country sound is in the driver's seat here. |
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Cool Tom Cat (tape fragment - unedited)
I love this rock and roller. As you can guess from the parenthetical, it just sort of jumps right in. There is some killer drumming, and everything here works well. |
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Secret Date (unedited version)
A shuffling tune, this is a song about infidelity. It's an intriguing piece.
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Secret Date
This version is much slower. It also feels a little overdone in this recording. |
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CD 2
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Cool Tom Cat
This is an energized rock and roller. It includes a short drum solo, and it's a lot of fun. |
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Jailer Man (unedited)
This is a solid tune, but nothing all that special. |
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Jailer Man
Another version of the tune, this isn't a huge change, but it does feel a little more immediate. |
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Jailer Man (alt. take with guitar overdub)
Here we get one final version of the song. I think I like this one best. The guitar overdubs definitely help the cause. |
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Legend Of Billy The Kid (unedited)
This is essentially a folk song. It's a good tune. There are some minor tape issues on this. |
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Legend Of Billy The Kid
More electrified and polished, I think I prefer the other version.
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Cross Road Bill Carter
Down home country music is the concept here. |
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Good Lord To Keep Me Happy
This country tune is bouncy and shuffling. |
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Won't You Go There With Me
A slower tune, this has both gospel and country music in the mix. |
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Full Time Religion
Bouncy and fun, I really like this a lot. It's packed full of country music and gospel lyrics. |
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Thank You Dear Lord
Down home country merges with gospel here. |
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Only A Tramp On The Street
This sounds quite a bit like the tune that preceded it. |
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Your Last Day On Earth
There is some static on the recording here. This another tune set in both country and gospel zones. |
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God's Mansion In The Sky
I like the energy and the melodies on this. It's another country gospel song. |
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Ain't You Gonna Change
While this is in much the same territory as the last few, it has an acapella section that sets it apart. |
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The Gates Of Glory
Not a big change, this is another gospel song. |
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Where You Gonna Hide
More rocking, this isn't a big change. It has an intriguing vocal arrangement. It also has some cool guitar work. |
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Glory In Your Soul
This is a bouncy gospel tune that works pretty well. It's catchy and fun. |
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Pony Express
A country and western number, this is a nice change from the last batch of tunes. It's also entertaining. |
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You'll Never Know
A bouncy tune, this is fun stuff.
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Dreambowl Commercial with Black Jack Wayne
This is what it says it is, an ad for an upcoming gig. The sound quality is not bad, but also not great. |
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Colt 45 -part I
This song seems to be a sequel to "Legend Of Billy The Kid." It's a folk styled western tune. |
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Colt 45 -part II
As you might guess, there is no big difference between this and the last tune. |
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Shot Four Times And Dyin'
A bluesy country styled number, this has a real classic texture. |
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Stranger Shake Hands With A Fool
Another energetic country tune is what we have here. |
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The 12th Man
More bluesy and balladic, this is still fully set in country music zones. |
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From Time To Time
The sound quality on this leaves a bit to be desired. It's another country tune. It's fine, but not really stand out. |
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I'll Be Still Loving You
A slow balladic cut, this feels somewhere between country music and old-school rock and roll. It's a nice bit of variety. |
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Steamboat's A-Comin'
Down-home, stripped back country music is the idea here. |
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Climb That Scaffold, Jimmy
Here is another country tune. It's also another about a guy heading to the gallows. |
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Stranger Shake Hands With A Fool (uptempo version)
This energized take seems stronger than the earlier version. |
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Looking Through The Bars
Here we get another prison song. It's also another that reminds me of Johnny Cash. |
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I've Missed You
A country tune, this works well with a mid-tempo groove. |
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Better Times Are Coming
Fast-paced and fun, this has a lot of bluegrass in the mix. This is actually one of the strongest things here, making for a great closer. |
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