Southern Rock: Country Style

Performer: Various Artists
Engineer: Eddie Miller; Peter McCabe
Producer: Jim Ed Norman; Ralph Sall; Barry Beckett; Hank Williams, Jr.
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Larry Byron (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar); Reggie Young (guitar, electric guitar); Gregg Arreguin, Billy Crain, J.T. Corenflos (guitar); Greg Leisz, Paul Franklin (lap steel guitar); Terry McMillan (harp); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Steve Nathan (piano, organ, keyboards); Skip Edwards (piano); Gordon Mote (organ); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Greg Morrow, Jim Christie (drums); Myrna Smith, Scott Bennett, Scott Bennett, Jason Sellers, Matthew Sweet, Anita Cochran, Portia Griffin, The Sweet Inspirations (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Peter McCabe; Ralph Sall. Liner Note Author: Ralph Sall. Recording information: Bulletproof Recording Studio, Los Angeles, CA; Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Javelina Recording Studios, Nashville, TN; Quad Recording Stuidos, Nashville, TN; Seventeen Grand Recording, Nashville, TN. All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology. Authors: Collin Raye; Dusty Drake; James Otto; Jeff Carson; Jimmy Wayne; Mark Chesnutt; Mark Wills; Neal McCoy; Anita Cochran; Trace Adkins; Tracy Byrd; Billy Currington; Hank Williams, Jr.; Brad Wolf; Brian McComas; Charlie Daniels. Illustrator: Harry Rossit. Photographers: Brent Hedgecock; Nancy Lee Andrews; Adrienne Dickerson; Kristin Barlowe; Dana Tynan; Jim McGuire ; Tony Baker & His Orchestra; Russ Harrington; Jim Shea; Matthew Barnes; Scott Bonner; Ralph Sall. The concept behind Southern Rock Country Style is simple enough: take classic Southern rock songs, mainly from the '70s, and get a bunch of modern country singers to sing them. So simple, in fact, that it's been done before, most notably on the 1994 compilation Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, which was conceived by Ralph Sall, who also is behind Southern Rock Country Style. Sall makes the smart move of using a house band to give the album a unified feel (two tracks -- Trace Adkins' "I Know a Little" and Hank Williams, Jr.'s "Tuesday's Gone" -- are previously released, while Dusty Drake uses a different band for "Hold On Loosely"). This helps the album through a couple of rough patches, when either the singer and the song aren't well matched, or when the arrangement isn't quite right (as on Jimmy Wayne's unsteady "Midnight Rider"). However, there aren't many rough spots here. There's not much that's surprising either -- for instance, Charlie Daniels' "Sweet Home Alabama" pretty much replicates the original Lynyrd Skynyrd arrangement -- but that's not bad, since these are good songs, professionally, often engagingly, performed. Plus, there are a couple of real gems scattered through the record, including Tracy Byrd's take on the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "If You Wanna Get to Heaven," Mark Chesnutt's version of the Marshall Tucker Band's "Heard It in a Love Song," and Brian McComas' nice version of the Pure Prairie League's "Amie." Maybe Southern Rock Country Style isn't a major album, but it is a good time, and that's what counts. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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