Drew Womack "Drew Womack" (Smith's Music, 2004)

Lee Ann Womack - see artist discography

Darryl Worley "Hard Rain Don't Last" (Dreamworks, 2000)

Darryl Worley "I Miss My Friend" (Dreamworks, 2002)

Darryl Worley "Have You Forgotten?" (Dreamworks, 2003)
Top Country hunk Darryl Worley gets points for his social conscience, and for his clever timing, rushing this stirring, patriotic pro-war dirge out onto the market quick enough to hit the top of the Billboard charts, even as the bombs were still falling in Iraq. But while his heart seems to be in the right place, he falls a little short in terms of really understanding the war, embracing the faulty reasoning that linked the September 11th bombings to the rickety regime of Saddam Hussain. Worley begins by singing, "I hear people saying we don't need this war," (True.) and goes on to recount the sorrows of September 11th, concluding, "...And you tell me not to worry about Bin Laden..." Well, wait a minute. False. In fact, all the people I talked to who were against (or wary of) invading Iraq never said boo about not wanting to nail Osama Bin Laden -- instead they pointed out that Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain had very little in common, and indeed had hated one another for many years. Bin Laden is a religious fanatic who despises non-religious, secular Arabs like Saddam Hussain, and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual. If anything, most people who were critical of the war complained that the $100 billion we just spent to buy ourselves a really big, really violent West Bank of our own could have been better spent actually combatting terrorism, rather than provoking it, and that we could have used the money to help local and state governments pay for the massive domestic security costs involved in making sure September 11th never happens again. But I guess that would be a difficult sentiment to express in a four-minute pop single. Otherwise, this disc is pretty good. It's mostly cobbled together from Worley's last two albums, Hard Rain Don't Last and I Miss My Friend, which are both fine examples of reasonably vigorous, reasonably traditional country. Worley's a good singer, with a nice mix of sensitivity and machismo, and he's got real country roots. With four new songs, this is a pretty decent best-of, with a few extra goodies to make fans happy. I think Worley's wrong about the war, but he's sure right about his rhythms.

Darryl Worley "Darryl Worley" (Dreamworks, 2004)
Hey, who am I to argue with success? Obviously, Worley dips liberally into the commercial end of things, but he also has a really great voice, and when he plays real country music (for example, check out "If I Could Tell The Truth"), he's top-rate. Heck, even on corny modern tearjerkers like "If Something Should Happen," where a guy about to have surgery for cancer and asks his best friend to check up on his wife and kids, Worley just sounds so darn sincere that he makes it work. He's good. The album is solid. It's completely corny, but it's good. This is Nashville the way it oughtta be. Oh, yeah, the political thing... Well, he kind of mentions the state of the world on "Awful Beautiful Life" (the album's first single), but he swiftly deflects towards religion, and the bluntly titled "Wake Up America" turns out to be about drug abuse, not Al Qaeda... So I guess that whole out of sight, out of mind thing seems to be the operative word here. At least Worley hasn't pegged himself as a flag-waving one-trick pony, which is fine by me, since he's much more enjoyable as a damn fine, straight-up country singer. Recommended!

Chely Wright "The Woman In The Moon" (Polygram, 1994)

Chely Wright "Let Me In" (Polygram, 1996)

Chely Wright "Let Me In" (MCA, 1997)
(Produced by Tony Brown)
Her third album, and her first for MCA... A nice mix of bouncy, upbeat numbers and slower but still quite pleasant ballads... She has a torchy feel that's kind of like Rosanne Cash, and a sentimental side that brings Don Williams to mind (particularly on songs like "Emma Jean's Guitar"). She's got a real twanginess about her, and a feel for heartsongs that's refreshing to hear. Nice version of "Feeling Single, Seeing Double," too!

Chely Wright "Single White Female" (MCA, 1999)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon & Norro Wilson)
It's still mostly working for me on here; at least the title track is kinda fun Although with the tilt towards slower ballads, she is starting to sound a little Reba-ish... A pop-oriented flatness is starting to creep into her work, but I still find Wright herself to be a pretty appealing performer. Wish she'd stick more to the upbeat material.

Chely Wright "Never Love You Enough" (MCA-Nashville, 2001)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon, Dan Huff & Paul Worley)
Absurdly over-the-top Nashville pop, with painfully over-obvious lyrics. Huge, oceanic sound beds drape her vocals, mercilessly herding the listeners into little sonic rodeo chutes and forcing them to coexist with shrill, tinny melodic pop riffs. I mean... her sound almost works, but it's really a bit much. Hate those too-clever drum machines riffs that are "slyly" added to the mix, just letting you know that this ain't your grandma's country music... Wright has an okay voice, but this music is far too intrusive and bossy -- it doesnÕt give you a chance to think, it just keeps trying to subdue you and get your ears to surrender. Markedly prefab and unsubtle. Yuck.

Chely Wright "Metropolitan Hotel" (Dualtone, 2005)
(Produced by Jeff Huskins, Stephony Smith & Chely Wright)
With somewhat of a hit-or-miss relationship with the Nashville charts, Chely Wright has the luxury of going in just about any musical direction she wants to... She kicks this disc off with Katrina Elam's "It's The Song," a relatively rootsy ode to the road in which she pledges allegiance to the spirit of Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, with pedal steel and banjo galore. But right after that, Wright forsakes her twangitude in favor of more conventional, piano-heavy pop-country ballads. The album's first single, the self-penned "Bumper Of My SUV," is an Iraq War-related patriotic number which is remarkable in several ways... First off, there's the super-minimal arrangements, with Wright halfway reciting the lyrics over a simple, sparse backdrop of piano and mandolin... Other than the timeliness, it's almost amazing that it was released as a single! The lyrical content is also striking, but in a more subtle way: even though she's sticking up for the Marine Corps, Wright also leaves some room in there for us to still question authority ("And yes, I do have questions/I get to ask them because I'm free..." she sings, leaving a little more political wiggle room than on your average chest-thumping, flag-waver anthem.) In general, I like the songwriting on this album, but the production doesn't always seem like a perfect match. "I Got Him Ready For You," for example, is an outstanding subject for a chick-centric power ballad -- a woman laments all the work she put in to transform her ex-lover into an emotionally mature adult -- but structurally the song itself seems to drag on a bit; a more concise, pointed rendition of this song would have made it absolutely devastating. Probably the best song on here is "What If I Can't Say No Again," in which late-night phone calls and a knock on the door make a woman question her ability to rebuff her ex, who has since hooked up with someone else... If I was still programming a commercial country station, that'd be the song I'd pick as a dark horse favorite. Once again, Wright doesn't totally live up to her potential, but she says what she wants to and has a distinctive presence. It's worth checking out if your a commercial country listener.

Michelle Wright "Michelle Wright" (Arista, 1990)
A so-so debut by a Canadian artist who seems pulled in several directions -- soft country-pop (with a slight traditionalist/rockabilly undercurrent on a few tunes), along with bluesy-torchy vocals, ala k.d. lang... She seems like an artist who could've caught fire, given the right musical backing, but as is, this album feels a bit flat.

The Wrights "Down This Road" (RCA/Sony-BMG, 2005)
(Produced by Keith Stegall & John Kelton)
A memorable debut album of sweet, well-crafted country duets by this husband-wife songwriting team, Adam and Shannon Wright. The Wrights were introduced to country fans earlier in the year when they sang on Alan Jackson's What I Do album, where they contributed musical backup as well as two new songs... Adam Wright does just happen to be Jackson's nephew, and Uncle Alan does just happen to make an appearance on this album as well, but one listen to this disc and you'll know that they got here based on their talent, not anything else. This is a really striking record for a modern commercial country release -- it's got a softness and sincerity that's really quite refreshing. The Wright's never sound like they're straining to find a hit, or trying out whatever styles or gimmicks they can think of to see what might stick. They have a nice, simple sound and they stay with it, giving them a distinctive presence amid all the pop-soul crossovers of recent years. Also, the production is smooth and assured, and pleasantly restrained, given how over-the-top the Nashville studio cats have gotten. This is a classy record, a well-measured piece of craftsmanship that never blunders into by-the-numbers commercial formulae... If you enjoy Barry and Holly Tashian's records or the mellower stuff by Buddy and Julie Miller, then you may find kindred spirits here... Check it out!

Tammy Wynette "Anniversary: Twenty Five Years Of Hits" (Epic, 1987)
Her tumultuous marriage to George Jones aside, Tammy Wynette is a rather remarkable figure in country music... She hit the charts pretty consistently in the 1960s and '70s, starting with her first big hit, "Apartment #9," which was originally recorded for an indie label in 1967. She was an early protege of producer Billy Sherrill, who helped shape her sound over the next two decades, and who paired her up with ole Possum for several of his biggest countrypolitan hits. But what's most remarkable about Wynette is the extent to which she specialized in sexually subservient, emotional doormat songs, in which the best way for a woman to keep her man is to keep him, um, happy. Feminists criticized her for recording "Stand By Your Man," and while you might think, "oh, that was just a one-off novelty song," indeed, the forget-his-sins, just-keep-yourself-pretty-and-available theme is actually the basis for almost all her major hits. And it really is astonishingly retrograde and demeaning...! Anyway, this CD is a strong collection of Wynette's best material, twenty tracks in all, and while hardcore fans may be left wanting more, for most country fans, this should be more than enough.

Tammy Wynette & George Jones "16 Biggest Hits" (Epic, 1999)
This CD is notable because it has several fine middle-ranked '70s hits that didn't make it onto the old, standard-issue George Jones best-ofs, including "Take Me," "Jet Set," "Let's Build A World Together," "God's Gonna Getcha For That" and "Southern California..." These may not be the most classic works to have ever come from the Sherrill studios, but they're definitely worth tracking down. There may be slightly grey sound quality on the mastering of this disc, though.

Wynonna - see The Judds

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Hick Music Index

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