Rodney Crowell
Album: Ain't Living Long Like This/But What Will The Neighbors Think?/Rodney Crowell
Label: BGO
Tracks: 29
Website: http://www.bgo-records.com

Rodney's always considered himself primarily a songwriter, and his songs have been recorded by virtually every country luminary you can think of - and all manner of folks besides. Even so, his skills as record producer have also been celebrated over the years in his work with (in particular) Emmylou Harris (it was through a song on her Elite Hotel LP that his songwriting got a kickstart in terms of profile, and he quickly joined her Hot Band in the mid-70s) - and of course Rosanne Cash, to whom he was married for over a decade in the 80s. And he's been no slouch as a recording artist (singer and guitarist) in his own right, releasing a virtually continuous string of albums from 1978 on through to the present day. His Warner debut, Ain't Living Long Like This, was an assured collection consisting mainly of original compositions with a pair of choice covers. Stacked with classy country songs like Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight, I Thought I Heard You Callin' My Name, California Earthquake and Song For The Life, the album provided cover-worthy material for a whole host of fellow-artists across the spectrums of country and rock, and Rodney's own "master's voice" renditions are brilliantly realised with a dream team of session musicians including Dr John, Emory Gordy, Jim Keltner, James Burton, Ricky Skaggs, Albert Lee, Hank De Vito and backing vocalists including Emmylou Harris and Nicolette Larson. And Rodney's straight-country take on A Fool Such As I fits in just fine too.

This solid, impressive debut was followed in 1980 by But What Will The Neighbors Think?, which proved a less satisfying collection simply because Rodney seemed to be trying to embrace the turn-of-the-decade musical fashions like New wave and LA Rock, epitomised for starters by the opening rock-radio-friendly Here Come The 80s. The stylish playing from his backing crew (including Gordy, Lee and De Vito) didn't entirely redeem what turned out to be a more uneven batch of songs, although its second side contained the future hit Ashes By Now and a pair of dashing covers: one of mentor Guy Clark's Heartbroke and the other of Hank De Vito's somewhat Buddy-Hollyesque Queen Of Hearts, then the curiously folk-baroque-pastoral The One About England. In the end, however, the remainder of the album is probably best summed up as a respectable enough rock-with-a-dash-of-country effort.

The final album of Rodney's Warner contract was the eponymous 1981 set, on which his now-regular support crew was joined by Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash and Booker T. Its alternation of better-than-decent ballads like Victim Or A Fool and 'Til I Gain Control Again with uptempo numbers like the storming Stars On The Water and Old Pipeliner and the breezy All You've Got To Do felt just a touch contrived, although the quality of the self-penned material was an improvement on the previous record, and once again several of the songs were to gain greater recognition in subsequent cover versions by other artists. A respectable enough record, then, but like its predecessor uneven in invention. But for anyone catching up on Rodney's early solo career this well-appointed BGO double-disc reissue is just the job, coming as it does with a good booklet essay and full notes and lyrics.

David Kidman