JIMMIE DALE GILMORE
One Endless Night (Rounder)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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A perfectly fine songwriter in his own right, Jimmie Dale Gilmore is also an exceptional interpreter of others' music. On One Endless Night, he proves it by mixing his own work with songs from Townes Van Zandt, Willis Alan Ramsey, John Hiatt, Jesse Winchester, Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter and Kurt Weill & Berthold Brecht, among others.

Regardless of the source, by the time Gilmore wraps his twangy tenor around a song, he's made it something new, something special, and something very much his own. That applies as much to the output of his fellow Texans as it does to the Weill & Brecht number, "Mack The Knife." (If your familiarity with this one is limited to Bobby Darin and his imitators, you're in for a suprise. If you're aware of the original context, you'll be impressed and delighted by the Gilmore variation.) Gilmore's status as one of the most respected, if not best known, of the alt.country crowd is revealed in the lineup of sidemen that appear on this disc. They include Emmylou Harris, Buddy & Julie Miller, Darrell Scott, Jim Lauderdale and the Calloway Sisters, along with a similarly outstanding assortment of rhythm players.

More than a few folks have said that Jimmie Dale Gilmore is becoming what they wish Willie Nelson would have become (and it might be that Willie wishes the same thing). While I'm more than happy to give Willie big props for his work, I can see their point. But I'm happy to just appreciate Gilmore for himself, one of the best of a very fine breed.

Track List:

One Endless Night * Banks Of The Guadalupe * No Lonesome Tune * Goodbye Old Missoula * Georgia Rose * Your Love Is My Rest * Blue Shadows * Defying Gravity * Ripple * Ramblin' Man * Darcy Farrow * Mack The Knife

© 2000 - Shaun Dale