ROBIN & LINDA WILLIAMS
Visions Of Love (Sugar Hill)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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There was a time, long before Nashville became "Music City," when country and folk music were synonymous terms. Over the years, country has become more a pop category than a reflection of the music made by folks who live in the country, but homage to the original performers like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers has kept at least some of that old spark alive. So have more contemporary performers like Robin & Linda Williams. Widely viewed as folk performers, there's always been a deep country core to the music of the duo, a core which is brought to the surface on this album, which finds them performing songs made popular by the Carters, Rodgers, Lorretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard and other country pioneers and mainstays.

Produced by Garrison Keillor, who gave the pair their first national audience on his Prairie Home Companion radio program over a quarter of a century ago, the songs are really country, performed in a style that's real folk, but even fans of modern country pop should find something to like about performances this true, this good. The Williams' have written some great songs, and I'm looking forward to their next set of originals, but this collection of covers is enormously satisfying and highly recommended.

Track List:

I'll Twine 'Mid The Ringlets * After The Fire Is Gone * You're Running Wild * Ramblin' Man * Wasting My Time, Wasting My Love On You * Too Late, Too Late * Mississippi Delta Blues * The Blues Come Around * Hungry Eyes * Wash Me In Thy Precious Blood * Keep The Homefires Burning * Wandering Boy * If I Should Fall Behind

© 2002 - Shaun Dale