Classic Rewind: Randy Travis – ‘I Told You So’

A very young Randy sings his own ‘I Told You So’, back when he was still known as Randy Ray:

Album Review: Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent – ‘Your Money And My Good Looks’

What happens when you pair the best male country vocalist of the last 35 years with the reigning Queen of bluegrass music ? You get the best album that will be released in 2011. I can think of no recent duet album that I’ve enjoyed as much as this album. Released on the Upper Management Music label, this album contains the warning ‘Contains REAL Country Music’, and truer words never were spoken.

Although Rhonda is a bluegrass artist, and there are touches of bluegrass on a few of the tracks, this basically is a modern traditional country album, with fiddles, steel guitar and truly outstanding vocals, both individually and in harmony with each other.

The title cut is probably the weakest cut on the album. This isn’t to say that Gene and Rhonda don’t sing it well, because they do, but the song itself is nothing special. The next two tracks “Gone For Good”, a slow ballad about breaking up, and “It Ain’t Nothing New” a mid-tempo ballad co-written by bluegrass legend Larry Cordle, are both really good songs, and on many albums they would be the standout tracks but on this album they are merely the hors d’oeuvres.

With the fourth track the album shifts into overdrive with a cover of Gene Watson’s 1976 hit “You Could Know As Much About A Stranger”. I had never thought about this song as a duet, but it works really well, as Gene and Rhonda trade verses and duet on the choruses, accompanied by a lightly updated version of Gene’s original backing.

From here the album covers a 1977 hit written by Cathy Gosdin for her brother Vern Gosdin, “Til The End”. Covering Vern Gosdin is a treacherous task at best, and while I regard Gene Watson as being the superior overall vocalist, Vern Gosdin had no peers at singing melancholy slow ballads. Still Gene and Rhonda do an admirable job on the song.

The Billy Yates-penned “Alone Together Tonight” is a clever twist on the theme of a lonely boy and lonely girl in a honky-tonk. The melody reminds me of the 1982 John Anderson hit “Would You Catch A Falling Star”.

Next up is a cover of Gary Stewart’s 1974 hit “Out Of Hand”. The arrangement and instrumentation are very similar to Stewart’s recording, but with very slight alterations to the lyrics, it makes a very successful male-female duet.

“This Wanting You” was co-written by Bruce Boulton, T. Graham Brown and Bruce Burch. I don’t recall the song being issued as a single but it was one of the standout tracks on TGB’s 1988 album Come As You Were and also appeared on a Bruce Burch collection.

“Making Everything Perfect Tonight” was penned by Rhonda Vincent, a spirited mid-tempo romp about life and one of the joys of domestic life.

“Sweet Thang” was a top five for its author Nat Stuckey in 1966; however, no one remembers Nat’s version anymore because of the spirited version done by the dynamic duo of Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn the following year. While the ET-LL version wasn’t a big radio hit, it was a popular concert favorite for years to follow. Gene doesn’t have quite the same degree of ‘rascal’ in his voice that Ernest did, but his vocals are better.

Saving the best for last, Gene and Rhonda demonstrate their blues chops on the old Hank Williams classic, “My Sweet Love Ain’t Around”. The track runs over five minutes so even in the good old days, it wouldn’t have received much airplay. I referred to Gene Watson as the best male vocalist currently performing in country music today but Rhonda Vincent may be the best female vocalist in country music, although most of her efforts have been focused on bluegrass. Rhonda had a crack at becoming a mainstream country star on Giant Records back in the 1990s but was let down by the material the label foisted off on her. Carrie Underwood should listen to this track, as she could learn a lot about singing from Rhonda’s vocals on this track. Carrie has a vocal range very similar to Rhonda’s but with much less command and control of her vocal abilities.

There actually is a ‘bonus track’ on the album, a bluegrass instrumental “Ashes of Mount Augustine, featuring Michael Rojas, Stuart Duncan, Mike Johnson, Michael Rhodes and James Mitchell.

This album won’t be released until June 6, 2011. By then I will have listened to the album a couple dozen times !

Single Review: Julie Roberts – ‘Nascar Party’

When Julie Roberts debuted on the scene in 2004, she won raves for her killer voice and astute song selection. Unfortunately radio didn’t bite past her first single, “Break Down Here,” and after two very underappreciated albums, she quickly faded into oblivion.

So imagine my happiness when I heard she finally has new music and picture my shock when I heard her new single, “NASCAR Party.” The song is poorly constructed and a case of style over substance. The story isn’t interesting enough to hold the attention of the listener and lacks the emotional depth needed to draw people in. The writers put little effort into making this even slightly memorable and it shows.

Not even Roberts can elevate lines such as “My man/he qualified/ he’s right there in the front of line” and make them sound exciting. When she starts singing about “The sweet smell of gasoline” in the second verse, it’s so out of character for someone who made a name for herself on gems like “Wake Up Older,” that you almost wonder who Roberts is artistically. She’s caved into the pressure for success with “Girl Next Door,” but even that doesn’t reek as bad as “NASCAR Party.”

But, surprisingly, it isn’t all that bad. Roberts is a gifted vocalist, and she tries to use that to her advantage here. While her voice tends to even out too much when singing with backing vocalists, she puts a great deal of energy into her delivery and doesn’t hide the twang in her voice. She seems to be mustering up a little effort to rise above the inane lyrical content. And with a song this underwhelming, that’s hard to do.

As a big fan of her music, I can only hope her new album Alive contains stronger material than “NASCAR Party,” and brings back the Julie Roberts I know and love.

Grade: C-

Watch the official music video here.