April 8 to 14

I scored a box of assorted albums, about 100, and most of them were vintage C&W. There was also a nice cache of Canadiana amongst those albums; all in all, it was a good buy for only $20. Needless to say, I have been on a C&W binge this week. I am not going to give a review for each and every one of these. There was too much listening, leaving too little time for writing. I will mention a few standouts. The Best of Smiley Bates was a good traditional C&W listen; he plays a mean guitar. Patsy Cline is always a good listen, and she should win an award for the album cover. Just an old cowboy putting in his two bits worth. It’s Hard To Be Humble by Mac Davis was a modest hit and made me smile as I listened. I had never listened to Cowboy Copas previously; he is another traditional, old-timey Country and Western singer, and I liked it. Moving on from C&W to some rock, I relistened to Crime of the Century by Supertramp, and I still like their sound. I ended the week with Release Me by Engelbert Humperdinck. I have an adage saying I can’t criticize an artist or an album unless I have listened to it non-judgementally. I gave Engelbert a good, honest listen, and I was surprised at how much I liked it. Sure, it’s sappy crooner pop music, but it is good sappy crooner pop music.

Hoyt Axton Life Machine

Smiley Bates The Best of Smiley Bates