Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
Released in February 1990, Tell Me Why was Jann’s first album as a solo artist after a decade of paying her dues working the taverns and serving a stint with Asleep At The Wheel. As it happens, Tell Me Why would prove to be Jann’s moist successful album, reaching #46 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, and producing her two most successful singles.
The title track was the second single released on the album reaching #18. The song was written by Gail Davies and “Handsome Harry” Stinson and is a song of doubt with sparkling guitar by some fellow named James Burton.
The next track “Ain’t No Train” was co-written by Jann along with Pat Gallagher. I guess you could call it an up-tempo rocker. Albert Lee plays the lead guitar on this track.
“Til A Tear Becomes A Rose” was written by the husband and wife team of Bill & Sharon Foster. I like Jann’s version, but it would become better known as a duet by Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan. James Burton and Byron Berlin are featured in the arrangement. This song could be described as a slight twist on the theme of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”
“Louisville” is a mid-tempo shuffle written by Jann along with Pat Gallagher. My understanding is that it was featured in the film Pow Wow Highway, but I’ve not seen the film. This song was the forth single released from the album, but it only reached #75.
“Mexican Wind” was the third album single released from the album. The song is yet another Browne-Gallagher collaboration. The song failed to chart, although it is a very nice ballad about heartache and unrequited love. Emmylou Harris provides some lovely harmonies on this song.
Paul Kennerley wrote the harshly pragmatic “Losing You”, a song about a woman coming to terms with a man soon to be gone.
“You Ain’t Down Home” was the first single from the album, reaching #19. Written by Jamie O’Hara, it was one of the first of his songs (perhaps even the first of his songs) to chart. Although not Jann’s biggest hit, it is the best remembered as country cover bands featured the song for over a decade after its release.
You know all the right people
You wear all the right clothes
You got a snappy little sports car all your own
You got the cool conversation on your high tech telephone
But you got one little problem, baby
You ain’t down himYou ain’t down home where the people got their feet on the ground
Down home where there’s plenty of love to go ’round
You got the cool conversation on your high tech telephone
But you got one little problem, baby
You ain’t down home
You got a brand new Jacuzzi
All your credit cards are gold
There ain’t a high class place in town where you ain’t known
You make it all look impressive, yeah you put on quite a show
But you got one little problem, baby
You ain’t down home
You make it all look so impressive, yeah when you’re showin’ all your dough
But you got one little problem, baby
You ain’t down home
Jann reaches deep into the Harlan Howard song bag for “The One You Slip Around With”, a song that Harlan wrote with his then-wife Jan Howard. This song would prove to be Jan Howard’s first major hit in 1959. Jann gives the song the western swing treatment.
The “Queen of Rockabilly”, Wanda Jackson, joins Jann on “I Forgot More (Than You’ll Ever Know) . Written by Cecil Null, the song was a #1 hit for the ill-fated Davis Sisters (a car crash took the life of Betty Jack Davis while the song was still on the charts; Skeeter Davis eventually resumed her career after recovering from her injuries.
Members of “New Grass Revival” join Jann on “Lovebird”, a gentle mid-tempo ballad in which Jann pines for the love of a man who has left her. Iris DeMent provided the high harmonies on this song.
I like Jann Browne a lot, although she is not possessed of the best voice. Her musical tastes and sensitivities make up for much of the missing power in her voice, that plus her ability to select accompanying musicians make all of her recording worthwhile.
This is not her best album (her later Buck Owens tribute deserves that honor), but it is a good album – B+
1953 (Sales): There Stands The Glass — Webb Pierce (Decca)
1953 (Jukebox): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): Let Me Be The One — Hank Locklin (4 Star)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: If We Make It Through December — Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1983: Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer To You) — Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers (Columbia)
1993: I Don’t Call Him Daddy — Doug Supernaw (BNA)
2003: There Goes My Life — Kenny Chesney (BNA)
2013: Stay — Florida Georgia Line(Republic Nashville)
2013 (Airplay): Drunk Last Night — Eli Young Band (Republic Nashville)
1953 (Sales): There Stands The Glass — Webb Pierce (Decca)
1953 (Jukebox): Caribbean — Mitchell Torok (Abbott)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: The Most Beautiful Girl — Charlie Rich (Epic)
1983: Tell Me A Lie — Janie Fricke (Columbia)
1993: My Second Home — Tracy Lawrence (Atlantic)
2003: I Love This Bar — Toby Keith (DreamWorks Nashville)
2013: Stay — Florida Georgia Line (Republic Nashville)
2013 (Airplay): Sunny and 75 — Joe Nichols (Red Bow)
1953 (Sales):I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox):I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): A Dear John Letter — Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: The Most Beautiful Girl — Charlie Rich (Epic)
1983: Holding Her And Loving You — Earl Thomas Conley (RCA)
1993: Reckless — Alabama (RCA)
2003: I Love This Bar — Toby Keith (DreamWorks Nashville)
2013: We Were Us — Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): Mine Would Be You — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)
1953 (Sales): There Stands The Glass — Webb Pierce (Decca)
1953 (Jukebox): A Dear John Letter — Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: Paper Roses — Marie Osmond (MGM)
1983: One Of A Kind Pair Of Fools — Barbara Mandrell (MCA)
1993: Almost Goodbye — Mark Chesnutt (MCA)
2003: I Love This Bar — Toby Keith (DreamWorks Nashville)
2013: We Were Us — Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): Mine Would Be You — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)
1953 (Sales): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: Paper Roses — Marie Osmond (MGM)
1983: Somebody’s Gonna Love You — Lee Greenwood (MCA)
1993: She Used To Be Mine — Brooks & Dunn (Arista)
2003: I Love This Bar — Toby Keith (DreamWorks Nashville)
2013: That’s My Kind Of Night — Luke Bryan (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): Mine Would Be You — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)
1953 (Sales): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox): Hey Joe!— Carl Smith (Columbia)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: We’re Gonna Hold On — George Jones & Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1983: Islands In The Stream — Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton (RCA)
1993: Does He Love You — Reba McEntire with Linda Davis (MCA)
2003: Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me — Keith Urban (Capitol)
2013: That’s My Kind Of Night — Luke Bryan (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): It Goes Like This — Thomas Rhett (Valory)
1953 (Sales): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox): A Dear John Letter — Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky (Capitol)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: We’re Gonna Hold On — George Jones & Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1983: Islands In The Stream — Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton (RCA)
1993: Easy Come, Easy Go — George Strait (MCA)
2003: Tough Little Boys — Gary Allan (MCA)
2013: That’s My Kind Of Night — Luke Bryan (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): It Goes Like This — Thomas Rhett (Valory)
1953 (Sales): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox): Hey Joe!— Carl Smith (Columbia)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: Ridin’ My Thumb To Mexico — Johnny Rodriguez (Mercury)
1983: Lady Down On Love — Alabama (RCA)
1993: Easy Come, Easy Go — George Strait (MCA)
2003: Tough Little Boys — Gary Allan (MCA)
2013: That’s My Kind Of Night — Luke Bryan (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): It Goes Like This — Thomas Rhett (Valory)
1953 (Sales): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1953 (Jukebox): Hey Joe!— Carl Smith (Columbia)
1953 (Disc Jockeys): I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know — Davis Sisters (RCA)
1963: Love’s Gonna Live Here — Buck Owens (Capitol)
1973: Ridin’ My Thumb To Mexico — Johnny Rodriguez (Mercury)
1983: Paradise Tonight — Charly McClain with Mickey Gilley (Epic)
1993: What’s It To You — Clay Walker (Giant)
2003: Real Good Man — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2013: That’s My Kind Of Night — Luke Bryan (Capitol)
2013 (Airplay): Hey Girl — Billy Currington (Mercury)
Patty Loveless was dropped by Epic following disappointing sales and minimal airplay for her last album for the label, Dreamin’ My Dreams. She was in no hurry to make her next move, taking some time off the road to move down to Georgia, and dealing with family deaths and illness, but in 2008 she signed with the independent label Saguaro Road, and in September that year she released a new album, produced as usual by husband Emory Gordy Jr. She cast aside thoughts of regaining her chart-topping status, and instead recorded a tribute to traditional country music. It was heralded as a kind of companion piece or counterpart to 2001’s Mountain Soul, as it was billed on the cover as “the traditional country soul” of Patty Loveless. What resulted was even better than we could have expected. Sleepless Nights is a masterpiece.
Classic cover albums have a tendency to fall into one of two main categories: excessively cautious tributes where the artist sounds frankly overwhelmed by the thought of competing with a much-loved original, and ends up producing a carbon copy or high quality karaoke; and trying too hard to put their own stamp on the material in such a way that the merits of the original song are stifled. Sleepless Nights triumphantly avoids either pitfall. Patty sounds thoroughly invested in the material and style, and makes it sound alive. Her versions of each of these songs sounds as though it could have been the original classic version.
George Jones is a very challenging artist to risk comparison with, although perhaps it is less dangerous for a female vocalist where the comparisons will inevitably be less deleterious. Patty had already successfully tackled one Jones classic in the form of ‘If My Heart Had Windows’ back in the early days, and she chose to open Sleepless Nights with George’s first hit single (in 1955), the honky tonking ‘Why Baby Why’ (with a couple of minor lyric changes to fit the change in gender) which also served as the single released to promote this album. Sadly, if predictably, it was far too traditional for today’s country radio, but it is a perfect opening to the album as Patty tears into the song, the most up-tempo on the set.
Patty also picked three more Jones songs, including a truly lovely version of one of his greatest classics (written by Dickey Lee). ‘She Thinks I Still Care’ is altered here to ‘He Thinks I Still Care’. There is a fantastic take on ‘Color Of The Blues’ on which Patty actually achieves the almost impossible: improving on a song once recorded by George Jones as she infuses the lyric with pain. The most obscure Jones cover is ‘That’s All It Took’, from one of his 1960s duet albums with pop singer Gene Pitney, which is probably best known today from the 1970s cover by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Patty’s version features her former guitarist, Australian Jedd Hughes, on harmonies.
My Kind of Country 