JUNIOR BROWN
Down Home Chrome (Telarc)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

---

I've listened to Junior Brown's Down Home Chrome on Telarc and can't describe why I like it. I'm usually the first one to gush about a CD I enjoy, but Junior Brown's work is pretty hard to classify. It's most certainly not traditional blues, but there's a 10-minute blues scorcher called "Monkey Wrench Blues" that is as every bit as good as any of the longer blues jams I've ever heard (think "Loan Me a Dime," "Good Morning Little School Girl"). Pig Robbins' extended piano solo on "Monkey Wrench Blues" leaves me speechless. I'm not ordinarily a fan of contemporary country music, but I enjoy the likes of the Flatlanders, Waylon Jennings, or Johnny Cash. Junior Brown belongs in that league, thanks to his honeyed baritone of a voice and command of the steel guitar. It's no ordinary pedal steel, though. He's fashioned a "guit-steel" instrument, one with guitar and steel guitar necks. I've always had a soft spot for rockabilly music and there are touches of Link Wray, Robert Gordon or Glasgow's Shakin' Pyramids woven into this CD. Down Home Chrome is not for everyone, but if your musical tastes range from hillbilly country to smoky blues, all sung by a spot-on baritone crooner, Junior Brown, you'll enjoy this. Telarc took some risks in polishing Down Home Chrome, but it's quite a feat to package a throwback like Junior Brown who'll likely expand his audience from country and western over to the blues with this debut. You'll hear Junior Brown's main man, Ernest Tubb, throughout Down Home Chrome, and I've learned to appreciate Junior's quirkiness. Find out why the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, and The Nashville Network have long honored Junior Brown's work - Down Home Chrome is a great ride.

Track List:

Little Rivi-Airhead * It Hurts When I Do That * Where Has All the Money Gone? * The Bridge Washed Out * Hill Country Hot Rod Man * Jimmy Jones * Let's Go Back * Two Rons Don't Make It Right * You Inspire Me * Are You Just Cuttin' Up? * Foxy Lady * Monkey Wrench Blues

© 2005 - Eric Steiner