Come on Back
Here's the stuff honky-tonk heroes are made of: wistful heartbreak classics like Harlan Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," Johnny Cash's "Train of Love," Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On," Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor over You," and seven others sung by Jimmie Dale Gilmore, the Texas troubadour and member of theFlatlanderswho was born with a teardrop in his voice. There are no surprises onCome On Back, just rewards, as Gilmore and producer Joe Ely rely on tried-and-true arrangements that frame the singer's angelic warble with deft touches of baritone guitar twang, tasteful slide lines, and sparks of bright fiddle. But the disc's more than a Biblical reading of country's cryin' side. These tunes were also favorites of Gilmore's late father, a roadhouse guitarist who died from Lou Gehrig's disease. And that makes Jimmie Dale's readings of Hank Williams's "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" and the gospel closer "Peace in the Valley" all the more poignant.--Ted Drozdowski