Green Snakes
Until his late-'90s comeback, Johnny Bush was known mainly as the writer ofWillie Nelson's "Whiskey River." Though a mysterious vocal disorder in the early '70s interrupted his singing career, Bush has regained his voice and reclaimed his position as king of the honky-tonk barstool. This self-produced collection takes its title from one of Bush's cult classics of the '70s, as "Green Snakes (On the Ceiling)" has since become a Texas roadhouse anthem. The rest of the selection tends toward vintage material, with Bush sampling the songbooks ofFloyd Tillman("Driving Nails in My Coffin"), Harlan Howard ("I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today"), andHank Locklin("Glory Train."). The conjunto novelty of "Dos Tacos" and the retro swing of "Nobody's Business (But My Own)" fall comparatively flat, but when Bush applies his still-boyish tenor to ballads as strong as "The Next Voice You Hear" and "He Don't Deserve You Anymore," he shows why he was once billed as "the Country Caruso."--Don McLeese