Cody Johnson – Leather

My introduction to country music came, in earnest, at the beginning of the millennium thanks to regular trips to see Mickey Mouse, en famille, and my discovery of CMT (Country Music TV). I was quickly hooked due to the tunefulness, stories and positive energy. I used to clamber back onto the Jumbo with a suitcase full of CDs. These were of artists shifting big numbers  – Toby Keith, Travis Tritt, Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam, Montgomery Gentry etc. Johnson’s repertoire sits comfortably with these male artists. The strength of Johnson’s 2021 Human: The Double Album was a delight. He has a slightly retro sound and this is authentic country music. The tracks were lyrically engaging, varied in style and often with an acoustic foundation.

Johnson and producer, Trent Willmon now pick up where they left off with Leather, a mixture of heartfelt ballads, country pop and honky tonk. The lively earworm Work Boots starts the album replete with harmonies and a soothing fiddle. Jelly Roll (he’s frigging everywhere!) duets on the single ballad Whiskey Bent. Both voices work well and I have to say that wherever the tattooed one turns up (Jelly Roll is heavily inked!) he generally adds to the quality. George Strait could have sung Watching My Old Flame. The play on words is fabulous: as he’s watching his partner dress to go out he ponders “Yeah, she’s movin’ on from me, there ain’t no doubt / It’s the hardest thing watchin’ my old flame go out.” This ballad floats on a subtle pedal steel and is underpinned by acoustic guitar. Double Down is another play on the words of doubling down in either determination or sinking a couple of whiskies. Crafted stuff.

The Painter is a love song to his wife and was the lead single off the record. Strings and a shuffling snare help him sing her praises. In fact Johnson does ‘sentimental’ perfectly not least with Dirt Cheap. A family man rejects an offer to buy his house and cites a raft of memories buried in the soil of the property. Bravado comes to the fore with Jesus Loves You. It’s certainly nothing about a Sunday Service but an angry warning to a convicted house breaker – ‘Yeah, Jesus loves you / Lordy, all it takes is faith / And if you come near me and minе again / You’re gonna meet Him face to face’. This is red neck country with rock muscle and the offhand delivery that Tim McGraw used on Do You Want Fries With That.

Melodies, harmonies, light touch arrangements, wordsmithery and some expressive vocals make this an important release. Listening to an interview it appears he’s so top drawer that he has the pick of some great songs and around him he has a team who curate this quality of sound. It’s not by chance he’s got to this position as he has a laser sharp focus on his output. With releases as strong as this he deserves every success.

‘We freaking love this country’. The good news is that Sunny says she’s moving to England as she gushed about the kindness and courtesy of the people she’d met on her latest tour of UK venues. She think she’s sealed the deal by confirming it was logical as she already had a ‘Yarksheer” (Yorkshire) Terrier. The Texas born Nashville resident’s on her latest visit to these shores and it’s proved a blast playing small venues with Harley Husbands. Husbands played the melody and occasional bass lines on acoustic guitar as Sweeney played chords. In return the small, packed club were thrilled to have this country music troubadour grace us with her excellent repertoire. This included many laugh out loud moments as she filled in between the 17 songs. She touched on albums old and more recent; all guaranteed to deliver a favourite you’d know and love.

It was an awfully wet wintery night in Manchester but those who came out were happy to be there and were singing along word perfect on a number of her songs. Take a great set of country pop songs, a running commentary, tales from the road, fan worship and it was always going to be fun. I liked all the songs but Grow Old With Me was a 5 Star experience even though she said it was written to her dog! She played Still Here, one of the less obvious tracks off her 2022 Married Alone album as Bob Harris had recently played it on his radio show. From there we went back nearly 16 years to her debut album Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame for Please Be San Antone.

Loretta Lynn gave her some song writing advice and she told us about it in reverential tones,  ‘write what you know baby!’ It wasn’t what Sweeney expected but after reflection she did and this explains her several marital break up songs. This was the introduction to another song off Married Alone, Leaving Is My Middle Name! I hoped she’d play Lavender Blue and she delivered along with the other crowd sing-a-long Poets Prayer – a wonderful heartfelt song about the life of an artist on the road with their insecurities, deprivations and yet the irresistible draw of taking their artistry far and wide. 

During the song introductions Husbands sat quietly occasionally contributing to stories. The best was when Sweeney declared ‘she was here to tell you how to get free gas’. A hilarious story where they were two hours past the petrol station before they realised they’d driven off without paying. ‘You paid for the gas, right? Err… no I thought you did’. The story ended up with her calling the head office of the petrol station to try and pay. This probably explains why you can never get fuel in the USA unless you pay in advance or at least surrender your credit card.

All good things come to an end and soon she was signing off with From A Table Away and Can’t Let Go. She then disappeared to the ‘merch desk’ where fans were exhorted to buy four CD’s for the price of three as she was tired of lugging them around the country! Me? I pulled up my collar and disappeared into the Manchester rain having had a memorable evening and having ticked off another country favourite.

(Just a brief mention in despatches for Northern Ireland’s Gary Quinn and his earlier support spot. He’s an established, talented and very authentic country artist who’s making music that has a wide appeal. It was my first listen and I’ll be keeping an eye on how he’s doing.)

Various Artists – A Tribute To The Judds

Girls Night Out (Reba McEntire, Carly Pearce, Jennifer Nettles & Gabby Barrett) / Mama He’s Crazy (Lainey Wilson & Dolly Parton) / Why Not Me (Megan Moroney) / Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days) (Cody Johnson & Sonya isaacs) /Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain (Ashley McBryde & Shelly Fairchild) / Young Love (Strong Love) (Ella Langley & Jamey Johnson) / Have Mercy (LeAnn Rimes) / Love Is Alive (Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton) / Had A Dream (For The Heart) (Wendy Moten & O.N.E. The Duo) / I Know Where I’m Going (Mandy Barnett, Shelby Lynne & Emily West) / Let Me Tell You About Love (Carl Perkins & Raul Malo) / John Deere Tractor (Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley & Molly Tuttle) / Cry Myself To Sleep (Wynonna Judd & Trisha Yearwood) / Love Can Build A Bridge (Jelly Roll, K Michelle & The Fisk Jubilee Singers)

Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna, had considerable success from the mid 1980s to 1991 before disbanding. Wynonna then pursued a solo career whilst Naomi dealt with hepatitis C, joining her daughter for occasional reunions. Success meant 14 number one singles and numerous awards including five Grammys. Such was their profile that their lives became a soap opera in the US tabloids, as personal strife seemed to define their relationship. Naomi had climbed a literal mountain in pushing the Judds to pre-eminence. Their story has the usual episodes of fortune but also a lot of tenacity, resilience and ambition. The tribute is overdue and, sadly, was kick started when Naomi died by her own hand in 2022. This release is a partnership with the US National Alliance of Mental Illness.

The Judds were coached, crafted and produced by Brent Maher and Don Potter, not least their signature harmonies. (Potter also played guitar and arranged the songs.) Their sound was ideal as radio friendly country pop. It’s easy to comprehend why the duo have a special place in the history of country music and the hearts of millions of older fans. Naomi strove for a decade to get the break and when it came it came quickly. It must have been a remarkable feeling to suddenly find yourself rich and top of the charts at the age of 38 after previous penury.

There is alchemy present in the Judds’ legacy: the commanding and expressive voice of Wynonna (who took all the lead vocals), Naomi’s harmonies and excellent songs split between uplifting movers and ballads and their acoustic foundation. Keeping it simple and country was a winning formula and their legend was assured. The selection here includes the major hits and most arrangements are broadly faithful to the originals, helped by having Maher back producing it show cases the Judds’ original sound. There’s nothing here that doesn’t do justice to the project except Meg Moroney’s version of the iconic hit Why Not Me. She doesn’t have the voice or phrasing.

The contributors are galactic but I particularly like, the roots/bluegrass with Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley and Molly Tuttle on John Deere Tractor and Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton on Love Is Alive, seeming to be completely in sync; Stefani has the perfect pitch for the tune. Young Love (Strong Love) finds the ideal voice with Ella Langley. Chet Perkins with Raul Malo really rock and pick the hell out of Let Me Tell You About Love. Perkins may seem a surprise contributor however he played guitar (along with Mark Knopfler on the track he also contributed!) on 1989’s River Of Time album. However, the radically different sounding Love Can Build A Bridge with Jelly Roll and K Michelle make it the best track of the collection and it would sit comfortably in 2023’s charts. Wynonna sings on her own album with Cry Myself To Sleep and it’s considerably more electric and bluesy than the relatively chaste original.

If you’re a Judds fan this is a very enjoyable record; even if you’re new to the duo, then this may help you understand their importance to 80s country music.

Chris Stapleton – Higher

Chris Stapleton can do no wrong.  Since the Kentucky born songwriter went solo and started to release Grammy nominated albums (alongside duets with Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran and Adele) he’s become sizzling hot property in the Nashville music machine.

You can therefore imagine my excitement when Country Music People was offered an exclusive pre-release streaming link for the new record. Words such as ‘confidential’ and ‘embargoed’ were writ large on the email with a link promised to only one person. Being the lucky recipient I radioed back to the mothership, advising that ‘the eagle has landed’. During my training I never imagined a mission so exciting.

The good news is that Stapleton doesn’t veer off his well trodden path and uses the same producer and key band members to back him. He composes or co-writes the songs himself, often with his wife, Morgane, who lends her voice here and there. His yearning and powerful rasping roar is a sound of enormous beauty, pathos and dismantling sincerity. He’s captured millions of followers with these pipes and their release isn’t anytime soon.

Despite the fawning of the country music industry this record is predominantly the poppier end of Southern rock with large doses of blue eyed soul, which explains the enormous commercial success as Stapleton, via cross over, reaches a much larger audience. Country wise then What Am I Gonna Do, Trust, The Day I Die, Crosswind and It Takes A Woman are true to the genre (often with cloying sentimentality.) However, Hall & Oates could perform Think I’m In Love With You and pure rock is evident on the thunderous outings South Dakota, White Horse and The Bottom.

Lyrically the 14 track selection are mainly love songs that take the perspective of a forlorn lover who’s eternally grateful for the affection of a woman he places on a pedestal and forgives his multiple failings. When he slips those tropes he can delight; with the Outlaw romp of Crosswind he’s an 18 wheel trucker “picking up speed on a mission to feed” and “trying to keep all the rubber on 65”. The bass lines, from J T Cure, are worth the price of entry alone.

With this voice he can soothe any heart, touch you with raw emotion and he’s been helping grown men to express their feelings since 2015.  Resistance is futile; this will rightly soar up the US country charts and sit there, unassailable, well into 2024.