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Dagwood Country CD's
 Josh Turner - Your Man. In Stores January 24th. Hear it now on Dagwood Country Radio. Click on this CD cover to Pre-order the CD and help support this station.
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 Jack Ingram - Live Wherever You Are. In Stores January 10th. Hear it now on Dagwood Country Radio. Click on the CD cover to Pre-order the CD and help support this station.
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I've been out of town so much in the last two months (October/November) I've fallen hopelessly behind reviewing and reporting on CD's we've received here at Dagwood Country Radio. Here are just some of the CD's we've received in that time. Cast your vote, and share the love, for your favorite artist or track by using the "Song Request" feature on this or the home page.
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Highwaymen: The Road Goes On Forever (released 09/27/05)
Before rock & roll gave listeners the Traveling Wilburys, country music spawned the Highwaymen, a supergroup of mythic proportions that featured living legends Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. The foursome had worked together in various combinations over the years, but teamed up under the Highwaymen umbrella in 1985. Their first single together, "Highwayman," topped the country charts that year and spawned an album of the same name on Columbia. The album also proved mightily popular, hitting number one on the country listings and producing a Top 20 follow-up single in a cover of Guy Clark's "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train." Afterward, the members returned to their individual careers for a few years, but reconvened in 1990 to record a sequel, Highwayman 2. It reached number four on the country album charts and spun off the minor hit "Silver Stallion," but didn't cause quite the same stir overall as its predecessor. Another layoff followed, and when the Highwaymen returned for a third outing in 1995, they inked a new deal with Liberty/Capitol. The Road Goes on Forever was produced by Don Was, but proved a distinct commercial disappointment, and the group did not record again prior to Jennings' death in 2002. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
This CD is worth the money if only for the bonus tracks and outtakes. In the outtakes we hear 4 master musicians and songwriters sitting around playing tunes for each other, someone can be heard tapping their foot, there are children running around in the backgroup, the sound of dishes - someone is fixin' dinner - this is real. We're like a fly on the wall listening to greatness just being themselves and Dang! wouldn't it have been great to be there?
The whole CD should have been done like that. You get four guys with this much talent, that know and respect each other... you don't need a recording studio and a set playlist. Set up your sound equipment in someone's kitchen, living room, on the back porch or patio, hand these guys their guitars, hit the record button and they will do the rest. The six bonus tracks here are worth the price of the CD.
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Martina McBride - Timeless Due in stores October 18th.
This is a great collection of Classic Country tunes. If you can't afford to own the original recordings of each of these tunes this is the next best thing. I appreciate that Martina didn't try to "modernize" these tunes but sings them with pretty much the original voicing and instrumentation.
The one sour note for me is the single, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden". I never liked this tune. I was going to add that this isn't a Country tune and that having Martina sing it doesn't make it so. But upon reflection, it's a love song and I suppose love songs defy genre classification. Still I don't think this song lyrically is in the same league as the other tunes in this collection. One might choose to assume the selection of this track for inclusion was made by the record company but a lot of people liked this tune when it was originally released, perhaps Martina was one of them.
Eighteen tracks and only one sour note ... I forgive her.
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Marty Stuart, "Badlands Due in stores October 25th.
I want to say this is a GREAT album. Certainly the theme aspires to greatness. I don't think Country Music does theme albums very well. Perhaps it's because they get little practice. The theme of this CD is the American Indian's great but tragic history. The music is always great but there are time when I feel the music doesn't suit the lyrics. Some of these songs and their themes I think other artists like Chris Ledoux, were he still alive or Garth Brooks or George Strait would have done a better job. Dispite this criticism I give Marty two thumbs up for attempting such an album and the title track gets 4 1/2 stars from me. I can't remember when I last gave a song 4 1/2 Stars. This is an excellent album but it misses greatness.
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Gary Allan, "Tough All Over Due in stores October 11th.
Not much I liked here. I liked the title track and the current single, 'Best I Ever Had'. 'He Can't Quit Her' and 'Life Ain't Always Beautiful' are OK. The rest of the CD does nothing for me.
(Note: Most of my reviews here are after hearing the CD only once.)
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Little Big Town,"The Road To Here" Due in stores October 4th.
Can't say too much about this CD I've only listened to it once so far. There are 5 tracks I liked immediately, "Good As Gone", the current single, "Boondocks", "A Little More You", "Looking For a Reason" and "Welcome To The Family". And a hesitant thumbs up to the track, "Bones". I'll have to listen to this CD more. You can request all the tracks now through our automated, "Song Requests". With two female singers, two male singers and the penchant for todays Country Music to encroach on the genre of light rock. The group at times reminds me of a Country Fleetwood Mac. This is Country Rock - 'Light rock with twang and a banjo'. For those who've read before what I think of the banjo, in this case I think it was used well, sparingly and to good effect.
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 Clint Black, "Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic". Release date October 4, 05
Despite what the title of this CD might suggest, this isn't a collection of drinking songs. The title track and the track, "Longnecks & Rednecks" are the only two track that have anything to do with drinking, but they aren't the kind of raucous sing-a-long tunes you might call a drinking song.
This is Clint's eleventh CD since 1989, including two Christmass albums, and though much of country music today has embraced light rock, Clint hasn't. In the song, "Too Much Rock" he expresses his feeling on this subject but the protest isn't very forcefull couching it in a double-entendre. Clint acknowledges the presence of rock in todays country music but he isn't going down that road. If you like Neo-traditional Country Music, if you've liked Clint Black in the past, you'll like this CD.
The two singles from this CD, "Code of The West" and "Rainbow in The Rain" are the two best tracks on this CD but there are others I like nearly as much; The two 'drinkin' tracks I've already mentioned, plus "Too Much Rock", "Back Home In Heaven" and "A Big One".
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