Brad Paisley "Who Needs Pictures?" (BMG-Arista, 1999)
(Produced by Frank Rogers)
Back in the day, it was fashionable in the circles I run in (indie-billy snobs) to pooh-pooh Brad Paisley as the last gasp of the '90s prettyboy neotraditionalist "hat act" singers, and to mock him in comparison to real hard country singers like Dale Watson or Wayne Hancock. But see, I think Paisley's kinda cool; at least, I'd rather be listening to him than to cheeseballs like Billy Ray Cyrus or Collin Raye. Paisley's definitely got something... And while this debut album was undeniably slick and deliberately crafted, it's got some nice material. It opens brilliantly, with "Long Sermon," a goofy tune about a guy who wants to run wild on Sunday morning but, since he was raised "right," has to sit through the a slow-moving church service before he can go out and play. As an country music image-building exercise, it's a stroke of genius, since it shows both a boyish rowdiness, and a family values, god-fearing traditionalism. Plus it's funny. Funnier still is the follow-up tune, "Me Neither," where a would-be barroom Romeo tries to roll with the punches as each of his pick up lines go down in flames. It's on the novelty numbers that Paisley excels, straight-up romantic material generally doesn't fare as well, in part because he doesn't really have all that great a voice, and also because he just seems more into the smart-ass stuff. On the whole, though: nice album. Definitely worth checking out.

Brad Paisley "Part II" (Arista Nashville, 2001)
(Produced by Frank Rogers)
An uneven album in that some songs are great, while others drag on too long. When Paisley latches onto a good gag, his comic timing can be perfect -- "Wrapped Around" and "I'm Gonna Miss Her" are awesome, sterling examples of good-natured hard country novelty songs at their best. As noted above, his delivery on more serious material can be hopelessly obvious, even sluggish at times. Though his old-fashioned acoustic-based orientation is a welcome contrast to the overinflated popatronics of post-millennial Nashville, in all honesty this is a disc that's ripe to be picked apart by the "best-of" patrol. It's worth checking out, but chances are you can live your life just fine without hearing Brad sing those ballads more than once or twice.

Brad Paisley "Mud On The Tires" (BMG-Arista, 2003)
(Produced by Frank Rogers)
This disc starts off strong, with several good-natured, fairly straightforward hard country tunes, followed by a nice set of sensitive-guy, slice-of-life domestic portraits. Paisley considers the battle of the sexes more as a loosely organized game of tug-o-war rather than a bitter struggle to the death. His resolutely mellow, can't-we-all-get-along approach, and his affectionate embrace of his gal's human frailty rings a lot more true than the "Hey baby, I dig where you chicks are coming from, but check out my gun rack!" pseudo-macho contrivances of practically all the other cuddly studs on the current Country charts. The radio single, "Celebrity," is a funny jab at how the "reality TV" instant fame mentality has further cheapened the once-sacred traditions of stardom; unfortunately, this also also includes a song called "Famous People," which is an unnecessary rehash of the exact same theme, and signals the album's sideways slide during its second half. In some respects, the way the album unravels is admirable -- rather than try and pack every inch of disc space with hits, hits and more hits, Paisley is content to joke around and goof off. A duet with Alison Krauss (on Bill Anderson's cautionary tale of alcholism, "Whiskey Lullaby") sounds lovely, but is kind of a downer; Brad scores hard country cred points for covering Vern Gosdin's "Is It Rainin' At Your House," and his version of the gospel oldie, "Farther Along," while not electrifying, is still a nice touch. A couple of tracks falter -- "The Cigar Song" is boring, the semi-instrumental track with guest guitarist Redd Volkaert is goofy, but not that great, and "Make A Mistake" is a great concept that needs to be fleshed out and made into a real song. On the whole, though, this is a fine album, and a nice breath of fresh air from the boy band sound that's swamped Nashville in the last couple of years. Keep 'em comin', Brad!

Brad Paisley "Time Well Wasted" (Sony-BMG/Arista, 2005)
(Produced by Frank Rogers)
He's taking himself a little too seriously this time around, and occasionally goes overboard with the production, but Paisley still has a way with clever lyrics that'll keep his twang-cred intact... The album's comedic highlight is the lazy-paced hit single, "Alcohol," which describes all the virtues of the world's favorite drug (including "helping white people dance...") and other tracks like "You Need A Man Around Here" and "Flowers" help add a little grit, while some of the ballads such as "She's Everything," "Love's Never-Ending" and "Rainin' You" send me clickin' the fast-forward button... But that's par for the course for Nashville these days, and I guess we twangfans should just be glad Brad's still trying to keep it country in the first place. The album closes with Paisley showing off his chops as a Telecaster master, including "Cornography" a raunchy, blue humor track where he swaps licks with the great James Burton, and while this stuff is interesting (and probably fun to see live), it's not as much fun as when he sings a few great country songs. This disc isn't nearly as fresh-sounding or as fun as 2003's Mud On The Tires, but it's still got several really nice songs... Definitely worth checking out!

Brad Paisley "A Brad Paisley Christmas" (Sony-BMG/Arista, 2006)
A lively, likable Christmastime offering... Even when Paisley's playing it corny and slow, there's plenty of twang, and a more rugged feel than most of the over-orchestrated holiday albums that are out there. Some nice upbeat material as well... You can feel his sincerity and sense of fun on many of these songs. Recommended! (PS- for more Christmas music, check out my Hillbilly Holiday section.)

Brad Paisley "5th Gear" (Arista Nashville, 2007)
(Produced by Frank Rogers)
Once upon a time, Nashville was packed with artists who unabashedly devoted themselves to novelty songs -- Buck Owens and Little Jimmy Dickens come to mind right away. Although the country charts are still full of novelty tunes, for the most part, the big stars play it safe with tightly-crafted power ballads and by-the-numbers good ol' boy anthems, while the goofy stuff is more of a sideline. Singer-writer-guitarist Brad Paisley is the exception to the rule, a glorious throwback to the days when a country star could make a career out of making people laugh, and have a good old time doing it. Sure, he's got romantic material on here as well, but the heart of this album are his hilarious, intelligently crafted gut-busters like "Online" (about a geeky guy who has a studly self-image on MySpace), the bubbadelic "I'm Still A Guy" (where Brad's he-man persona casts a stink-eye glance at squishy-soft, fashion-obsessed metrosexuality) and "Mr. Policeman" (about a Smokey And The Bandit car-chase fantasy that devolves into an violent, OJ-style confrontation, although the mock-macho narrator is too clueless to realize how deep a pile of doo-doo he's gotten himself into). Possibly the best joke on here is "Ticks," a brilliant parody of Top 40 sensitive-guy ballads, in which Paisley opines how he's different from all the other guys and would like to take the object of his affection away from the sleazy bar scene, out wholesomely hiking in nature... and then give her a tick check when they're done. Paisley's ability to make fun of himself is certainly one of his greatest strengths as a singer -- the characters in his songs rarely know what total tools they are, so we get to laugh at them along with Brad, winking at each other about the bluster and bravado that make them so human and flawed. It's a brilliant formula, and Paisley's delivery is perfect, he lets the jokes play out nice and slow, and keeps adding layers of humor once you've already gotten the gag. His conversational style is unusual as well-- you really feel you're hanging out with a real person, not a polished star, and he's a really funny guy. Brad Paisley would be fun to hang out with, I'm pretty sure of it. There's a sincere side to his work as well -- "All I Wanted Was A Car" seems like a novelty song at the start, but shifts gear into a song about modest, middle-class American dreams, family life and the value of hard work; "If Love Was A Plane" -- a song about divorce rates -- takes a simple metaphor and blows it away ("If love was a plane/nobody'd get on"), and "When We All Get To Heaven" is a fine country gospel tune. As far as I'm concerned, Brad Paisley is the real deal -- his songs are intelligent, emotionally honest and bracingly unique, with a modern sensibility and down-to-earth humbleness that are sorely needed in today's too-slick country-pop scene. This album's another winner!

Brad Paisley "Play: The Guitar Album" (RCA-Nashville, 2008)
Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm a big Brad Paisley fan. (Honest: check out my old reviews!) But an album of guitar Brad Paisley guitar instrumentals isn't exactly the first thing you'll see on my Christmas list. Paisley obviously fancies himself a guitar hero, and he certainly has a lot of fun when he twangs away on his six-string, but the truth of the matter is that his instrumental outings are often the weak spots in his otherwise awesome albums, and have been for a while. His non-vocal tracks are sometimes funny, but in a limited way: I find his approach too linear and I'm not too fond of the actual tone to his Telecaster pickin', plus I'd really just rather hear the guy sing -- that's where his real wit and warmth comes out, loud and clear. Now, to be fair, this record isn't strictly an all-instrumental album... there are some nice cuts with Steve Wariner, Keith Urban, the late Buck Owens and even a blues duet with B.B. King and a silly voiceover from Andy Griffith. But most of it is the chicken-pickin' thing, and unless you're a diehard fan, a little bit of that probably goes a long, long way.

Brad Paisley "American Saturday Night" (RCA, 2009)

Brad Paisley "This Is Country Music" (Sony Nashville, 2011)
Another strong set from twangy chart-topper Brad Paisley, kicking off with the title track, "This Is Country Music," a cliche-packed Nashville anthem that seems meant to win back listeners who were miffed by the liberal views on the last album. Lots of guest stars on here, too: Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Don Henley on a very Eagles-y tune, and a trio of talent on the gospel tune that closes the album: Sheryl Crow, Carl Jackson and Marty Stuart singing harmonies on a stripped-down version of "Life's Railway To Heaven." The strongest, most radio-friendly song is probably the booze-soaked novelty tune, "Don't Drink The Water," with Paisley and Shelton swapping lines about a tropical holiday where they don't have to worry about the local water quality, 'cause it ain't water they're planning on drinking. Moe and Joe would be proud. Also nice is his sympathy for the working man ballad, "A Man Don't Have To Die," which describes how bad things can get when the economy goes sour... best of all (from my point of view) there's only one of his chicken-pickin' guitar hero solo songs, and it's a good one, this time a surf-y take on old spaghetti western music, appropriately called "Eastwood." All in all, another good one from one of Nashville's finest!

Rissi Palmer "Rissi Palmer" (Mighty Loud, 2008)
A nice set of pop-country, 2000's-style, with traces of soul and perky pop woven into prefab Nashville themes. Pretty cool for an indie release, and pretty surprising that Ms. Palmer didn't go a lot further on the strength of this record. She has a very nice voice and a feel for the style -- fits right in with stuff by other gals like Martina McBride and Sara Evans... Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy that style.

Lee Roy Parnell "Lee Roy Parnell" (Arista, 1990)
(Produced by Barry Beckett)
Parnell's rather rootsy debut set him up as a '90s version of roadhouse roots-rocker Delbert McClinton, fusing country vocals with bluesy, old-school R&B, sometimes with a 'Fifties doo-wop edge. The use of saxophone and piano triplets may have quashed any hopes of major success on the country charts (this disc had three singles in the back 'fifty...) but folks who like McClinton's work, or perhaps Conway Twitty's or T. Graham Brown's stuff in the '80s, should find a lot to like about this album. What's more, none of these early songs were included in the 1999 Arista best-of, Hits And Highways Ahead, so fans should definitely track this one down.

Lee Roy Parnell "Love Without Mercy" (Arista, 1992)
(Produced by Scott Hendricks & Barry Beckett)
Thank goodness the folks at Arista had faith in Parnell after his poorly-performing debut, 'cause this followup record was mighty fine. His debt to Delbert McClinton is still pretty obvious, but there's a slinkier, softer side in there as well (a wisp of Ry Cooder, perhaps?) and an interesting, pop-melodic update of the Southern rock sound... A couple of songs are duds ("Road Scholar?" Yawn.) though mostly this is a pretty funky, soulful album... Parnell's vocals, are particularly appealing... He's really into it, singing with grit and subtlety, throwing himself into every song and investing this album with a level of passion and immediacy that you don't often hear coming from the jaded confines of modern-day Nashville. He also scored his first big hits, the soft-edged "Tender Moments" and the more rollicking "What Kind Of Fool Do You Think I Am," which both hit #2 on the charts, the first of a handful of Top 5 hits he had in his career. Nice record; definitely worth checking out.

Lee Roy Parnell "On The Road" (Arista, 1993)

Lee Roy Parnell "We All Get Lucky Sometimes" (Arista, 1995)

Lee Roy Parnell "Every Night's A Saturday Night" (Arista, 1997)
A rollicking later album by this roots-rocking, slide playing neo-honkytonker. Parnell dips into a bit of roadhouse blues, with a prominent barroom piano, and some dirty, crunchy guitar. He also tilts into smoother, more commercial sounds, with ringing guitars (as on "Tender Touch"), and even some soft-spoken schmaltz (the acoustic based "Better Word For Love"). Overall, this is a pretty rich sounding record, with a wide variey of styles, and a welcome recognition of both the Nashville and Austin sides of the street. Plus, anybody who covers Guy Clark ("Baton Rouge," with Clark joining Parnell on the last chorus...) is alright by me. Check it out.

Lee Roy Parnell "Hits And Highways Ahead" (Arista, 1999)
Whiteboy roadhouse soul. Like a kinder, gentler Delbert McClinton; Parnell acquits himself well on this greatest hits package, though very few of the songs really grab me emotionally. The tightly crafted production feels kinda flat, for some reason... plus I've never been a big fan of talky lyrics, and this album's full of 'em. I know I'm supposed to like this guy, but his attempts at building up country-rock anthems never really seem to take off. Character flaw on my part, I'm sure. (Parnell's albums are also reviewed in my Commercial Country section.)

Lee Roy Parnell "Tell The Truth" (Vanguard, 2001)
Twang takes a back seat to romp and stomp on this one, a houserockin' blues and soul set, with guest artists like Bonnie Bramblett, Keb Mo and Delbert McClinton adding some bluesy oomph to the proceedings. It's not my bag, but if you go for modern blues, this disc might really turn you on. Sounds like Little Feat at times, particularly on softer numbers, like the title track, which offers a welcome moment of contemplation amid the general high volume level of the rest of the album...

Lee Roy Parnell "Back To The Well" (Universal South, 2006)
A strong set of smoky southern soul and roadhouse blues-tinged twangy pop... It's not really my kind of music, but I can tell this is a pretty strong record for the style. Fans of Delbert McClinton, Gary Stewart and Little Feat are gonna want to check this one out. There's grit, fire and the passion of a true believer, along with some really solid musicianship. Worth checking out!

Dolly Parton - see artist discography

Johnny Paycheck - see artist discography

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Hick Music Index

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