Barbara Fairchild - see artist discography

Shelly Fairchild "Ride" (Sony-Columbia, 2005)
(Produced by Buddy Cannon & Kenny Greenberg)
Blechh. In the wake of Gretchen Wilson's redneckin' breakthrough debut, Ms. Fairchild was hailed as another back-to-basics bad girl, part of a "new generation" of kickass country gals... Yeah, right. She just sounds like another warbling, overwrought wannabee soul singer to me, with bad, loud, clunky, overly-obvious, power chord-heavy musical backup. This is just bad music, and her vocals are really mannered and really irritating. Sorry, folks, but listening to this record is like having my teeth pulled by a blind tree sloth. I'm sure she'll be fabulously successful, but for an old-school country fan like me, this disc doesn't offer much that's worth revisiting.

Donna Fargo - see artist discography

Narvel Felts "Drift Away: The Best Of Narvel Felts" (Bear Family, 1996)
One of those improbable, goofy-voiced singers that you marvel had a chart-making career, Arkansas native Narvel Felts was an ex-rockabilly rebel who moved into country music in the 1960s and finally struck gold with his rousing version of "Drift Away," which cracked the Top Ten in '73, and was followed by a string of hits that lasted 'til the end of the decade. Like many commercial country singers of the '70s and '80s, Felts started to tilt towards soul-tinged R&B covers, recording songs like "To Love Somebody," Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops," and even Paul Simon's "Love Me Like A Rock" and a disco-y rendition of "Everlasting Love." While this soul stuff doesn't do as much for me as his more twangy material, I still gotta check Felts off as an oddball artist that I have a soft spot for. He's also one of the success stories of country music's last gasp of indie label hitmaking: "Drift Away" came out on the independent Cinnamon label, where he stayed for a few years before signing with ABC-Dot... The material on this collection comes from those three labels.

Freddy Fender - see artist discography

Rick Ferrell "Different Point Of View" (Dreamworks, 2001)
(Produced by James Stroud)
Terrible. Poppy crap that sounds like a mildly countrified version of Toto. Or something like that. The arrangements are just too cutesy and lightweight for me (hate that tinkly electric piano!) and Ferrell's voice seems pretty thin... Usually I can find something on a Nashville album that I find okay... Not here, though.

Charlie Floyd "Charlie's Nite Life" (Capitol, 1993)

Charlie Floyd "Sounds Of Home" (Country Boy, 2010)

Flynnville Train "Redemption" (Evolution, 2010)
(Produced by David Barrick & Flynnville Train)
Over the last few years, the classic Southern rock sound has found a new venue in the country Top 40, championed by bands like Montgomery Gentry, et. al. On their second album, this Indiana-based quartet ups the ante with a headlong rush into classic a Lynyrd Skynyrd/Johnny Winter/Allman-esque guitar attack. Lots of blue-collar, middle-America, heartland nostalgia as well: the opening track, "Home," follows a familiar path of extolling the virtues of the American family farm, although the Flynnville boys do it with way louder guitars than most of the Nashville bands. "Preachin' To The Choir" is a political number that puts a harsh spotlight on the current economy, probably more from Glenn Beck's perspective than Paul Krugman's, but a legitimate, heartfelt blast of frustration and anger, nonetheless. (Note to the band: the one line here I don't really like is the one that condemns "all" politicians -- I think there are real differences between the parties, and individuals on both sides of the aisle that are working in good faith to solve our problems; voter apathy and anger definitely are not going to help us get out of this hole... But paying attention to voting records and putting people's feet to the fire will help. Anyway, enough preaching from me... back to the music...) This is a really strong record, with many different textures and talents on display... If you like a more rugged sound than what's coming out of Nashville, you might wanna check this album out.

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Hick Music Index

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