JOHNNY POPE

I don't know man...sometimes you just need to hear a dude from New Mexico singing modern country tunes about rodeos. Fuck rodeos, by the way, in every way imaginable, but still....a good jam is a good jam. And to hear Pope sing "she's a liberated woman // she's a breed of her own" - well I'm almost able to believe that he's a progressive cowboy and not just singing about a horse. I'm thinking Johnny listened to more than a few Marty Robbins records, and I would suggest that those listens served him well. Enjoy.

RODEO: WINNING AND A LOSING

TOM T. HALL

The best country artists are the storytellers, and there are few in league with TOM T. HALL. As many other heavyweights, he first achieved notoriety as a songwriter (ever heard "Harper Valley, PTA"?) but soon made a name by picking and singing the tales himself. These are the sounds of my youth, and 1975's I Wrote A Song About It received countless plays around the Collins household in the second, divorce-ridden half of that beleaguered decade, and even though I didn't have a sip of The Devil's Elixir for another 15 years, The Young Wizard knew every word to "I Like Beer" as a five-year-old.

I WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT

MERV AYLESBURY

There must be innumerable MERV AYLESBURYs languishing in cut-out bins around the United States. Over produced schmaltzy country pop with horribly dated keyboards and processed drums, the absolute worst that would-be-radio-rock had to offer in 1986. So....why do we like it? We say that we like to make fun of it...but we keep listening, don't we? There's the arbitrary hard rockin' "Angel Looking For A Place To Fall" (what you doin' here if desire hasn't called?) with its unnecessarily ever present guitar and cornball tracks like "My Kind Of Woman" that would make Christopher Cross ashamed for what he did to pop music (sometimes she's less than a lady // sometimes she talks like a saint). There's a glimmer lyrical hope on "Two Against The Night," but when Merv slows down on "We Can't Do This To Love," any dreams of finding even a historical justification for these sounds are finally crushed. But still we listen...because the 25¢ bins just keep on giving.

I CAN LEAD YOU TO LOVE

APRIL WALKER

A seemingly nice grandmother type from Arizona belting out endearing versions of your favorite '70s/'80s pop/country faves. Her rendition of "Could I Have This Dance" (Anne Murray) sounds like a high school talent show version of the original, while "Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For" might swing even more than Crystal Gayle's version (wait, who am I kidding? but April manages to pull this one off nonetheless). I wonder if she had a backing band? Session musicians? Regardless, finding a crew to belt out Tanya Tucker's "It's Only Over For You" and make it sound authentic is no mean feat - right down to the drum fill into the initial chorus. "Talkin' In Your Sleep" sounds almost fresh from Walker, feel free to file this track alongside legends Crystal Gayle (several reworkings of her hits in this collection) and Reba McEntire, who both had good runs with the same simple (and simply perfect?) song. Some of the instrumentation is admittedly hokey (take "Somebody Loves You" as a prime example), but this is a solid collection, crafted by an obvious fan...enjoy.

SINGING THE HITS