The Queen of hard-core traditional nasal twangy country was 54 when this album was released.
Wells already had decades of very successful career behind her so its a little strange that after all this time she sounds like good natured amateur, her voice very unsure, wobbly and often flat - compared to other country nightingales she wasn't much of a singer - that album actually works very well in spite of singers faults and corny material is quite a surprise. I never cared much for Wells classic, early material because to me it sounds simply dated - here she is surrounded with contemporary and modern (for that time) sounds and it might be best Kitty Wells album I've heard so far. Music is flat-footed country that basically follows every cliché in a book (divorce songs, love songs, God songs) with just occasional uptempo number ("Reno Airport∼Nashville Plane") that comes as a nice surprise in this collection.
Trough it all, Wells sounds very likable and sweet, like some unpretentious neighbor lady hat everybody roots for. The very best song is the last one - "J.J.Sneed" - not only because it is a great story song about girlfriend who kills her outlaw lover (written by excellent Dolly Parton) but because it obviously gives Wells a pleasure to sink her teeth into it. It's such excellent end of the album that it makes you wonder why she didn't record the whole album of Parton songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment