On first glance, I mused it looks okay, but are all these artists in the bracket used? I looked again, and took stock of the acts and decided there was more than met the eye. I was right too, sure you had a bunch of big names from the current country scene, but better than that a bunch of material that both held up and hadn’t been done to death. Up at the forefront you have true blue country acts Josh Turner (“Long Black Train”), Randy Travis (“Three Wooden Crosses”), husband and wife, Amy Grant and Vince Gill duet and on “I Need Thee Every Hour/ Nothing But The Blood”, backed up by the relaxed singing of Kenny Chesney and Travis on “Baptism”. From today’s crowd Scott McCreery has a good one in story-ballad “That Old King James” and to close the first CD, Brad Paisley with a little help from Dolly Parton a typically paced Paisley ballad “When I Get Where I’m Going” also hits the spot.
Disc two may have one or two surprises, but there is nothing too out of place. Just a new-er look on the subject, although there is noting eclipse or come near the likes of Carl Perkins’ “Daddy Sang Bass” (performed by his old friend, Johnny Cash; with a little help from the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers and you may even have Perkins in there too?) or Charlie Daniels Band’s version of the oldest song on the record, “I’ll Fly Away”; performed with gusto, Charlie’s fiddle sets a pace hard to match, and with his southern-fried, a little rough round the edges lead embraced with some delightful harmony vocals and smart as you like finger picked guitar it couldn’t be better. Nice one to check out, and with the likes of LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood (via an impressive “Jesus, Take The Wheel”) and Wynonna (“What The World Needs”), Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw do all, and in the case of the latter two more than anticipated. As for Ms Judd you tend to take never less than superb performance for granted; talking of whom what us she currently up to these days?
Maurice Hope