If That Ain't Country

In this week's episode, we're featuring a 2018 album for RFD-TV personality Merlin Gene, "People, Places & Things". With the first season of the popular Hee Haw-style variety program "The Merlin Gene Show" well underway at the time of recording, Merlin Gene's star was on the rise. Combining an effortless vocal and an excellent sense of humour with a deep reverence for country music's heritage, "People, Places & Things" strikes an excellent balance between originality and tradition. With the twangy bark of a Bakersfield telecaster from the legendary Eugene Moles and steel from Hall Of Famer Doug Jernigan, Merlin Gene sparkles on stage in Manuel-tailored rhinestone suits a la Ray Price, Porter Wagoner and Little Jimmy Dickens. And the music reflects those classic country influences - with a definite Del Reeves connection, Merlin Gene covers Jerry Chesnut's "Good Time Charlie's" and "Looking At The World Through A Windshield". The Kentuckian powers his way through some excellent country drinking tunes on "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Glass" and "I Think I'll Give Drinkin' Another Try" - the latter of which deservingly racked up a stack of streams in it's first months after release. Get you some Merlin Gene.

In this week's episode we're featuring an excellent slice of 60s Texas country from Al Dean & The Allstars: "From Texas To Nashville" (1967). Hailing from "The Golden Triangle" in South Texas, Al Dean already had a loyal following when his recording of "Cotton Eyed Joe" became a massive smash in Texas in 1967 - eventually becoming the most programmed song on jukeboxes in that state, ever. "From Texas To Nashville" was probably recorded to capitalise on that success as Dean tripped to Music City to make an album under the production of Pete Drake, who also played steel. Al Dean & The Allstars was a true family affair - both Al's wife Maxine Dean and his son Galen Dean sing lead on and wrote several cuts on our feature album. Dean's brand of fiddle-and-steel country music is infectious and intentionally suited to all variations and beats of the Texas two-step - our feature album helps partially explain why Al Dean & The Allstars were working well into the 21st Century. Highlights include an ode to the oilfield worker in "Ruff Neck Pay Check"; some excellent lead from an 18-year-old Galen Dean on the jumping "Change Your Ways Of Living" and a man who just can't get out of the service in "Just One Of The Boys".

In this week's episode we're featuring Vern Gosdin's final charting album on Columbia: "Out Of My Heart" (1991). Already into his 50s by the time commercial success finally came his way in the 1980s and having suffered his share of setbacks, Gosdin's voice had aged to perfection by 1991. Described as "a walking heartache" by one reviewer, Gosdin's music during his commercial peak relied heavily on haunting background vocals - hearkening back to his history with brother Rex Gosdin in the 60s as some of the West Coast's finest harmony singers. With three divorces to draw from it was true that Gosdin's musical trademark was sorrow. And there are plenty of weepers on this week's feature album. The equally painful "A Month Of Sundays"; "The Song Wrote Itself" (while I cried) and the forlorn "The Bridge I'm Still Building On" have Vern in comfortable territory. But to see the lines on his face when Gosdin sang the exquisite and tragic "The Garden" on The Grand Ole Opry in 1991 is to understand the feeling the man put into his music and how he earned the nickname "The Voice".

In this week's episode, we're featuring George Jones' last album of the 20th Century: "Cold Hard Truth" (1999). After an association with MCA for most of the 90s which resulted in decent sales but not so many radio hits, he found himself signed to Asylum Records - a signing which turned out to be his last major label deal. At 68 years of age, Jones was still in sterling vocal form and all that was asked of him was that he "do the record he would have done 20 years ago had he been sober". Jones approached the project with vigour, laying down the vocal with the pickers live in studio for all ten tracks with the intention of coming back to touch up certain parts later. However, after a serious alcohol-related SUV crash, those touch ups never happened. The Possum's near-death experience scared him into sobriety for good, and while he was hospitalised, Asylum released the album's first single. "Choices" wasn't given the radio attention it deserved - but to many fans, and perhaps to Jones himself - it served as a bittersweet summary of his career. Alongside the stark title track this album saw Jones return to his hard country best - after half a century of doing it better than just about anybody else, despite his self-inflicted pitfalls.

In this week's episode we're featuring a typical David Houston album from his Epic heyday: "Where Love Used To Live/My Woman's Good To Me" (1969). Aside from his monster million-selling, Grammy-winning 1966 hit "Almost Persuaded", Houston hardly rates a mention in most conversations about 60s and 70s country music. A man gifted with an extraordinary vocal range, David Houston could effortlessly glide from warm baritone to lofty tenor and is a prime example of just how good the Nashville Sound could be. After Billy Sherrill signed Houston to Epic in the early 60s, Houston delivered the label it's first real hit with "Mountain Of Love" in 1963 and remained with the outfit for the next thirteen years or so. Sherrill's genius production touches are all over "Where Love Used To Live" - very similar touches on some tracks to Tammy Wynette hits of the same era - and with tasteful use of a chorus, sparing strings and the steel guitar of Pete Drake never far away, Houston's Epic output remains unmined gold. Highlights include a plodding lament to jealousy in "Where Love Used To Live" (catch those "I Don't Wanna To Play House" licks!); a tearjerker in "Lullaby To A Little Girl" and a reminder of how many hits David Houston had while at Epic on "David's Song".