Neal Mccoy
Neal McCoy got lucky onNo Doubt About It, for Muscle Shoals  legend Barry Beckett, who has produced everyone from Bob Dylan to John Prine,  took charge of production. Beckett chose some catchy songs and presents them  straightforwardly in the no-nonsense Texas-country style of Willie Nelson and  George Jones. "The City Put the Country Back in Me" and "Small Up  and Simple Down" tackle the same theme--forsaking the crazed pace of urban  living for the simplicities of rural life--with the same infectious strategy:  hard-rocking honky tonk and sing-along title chants. Al Anderson co-wrote one of  the best ballads, the Buddy Holly-ish "I Apologize," and Bonnie  Raitt's favorite country writer, Mike Reid, co-wrote the other, the soul-tinged  "Something Moving in Me." No matter what the song, McCoy sings with a  natural ease that's delightful in its simplicity.--Geoffrey Himes