Billy Bob Thornton: Private Radio : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

What kind of redneck wears pink panties and listens to Merle Haggard? According to his solo debut, Private Radio, Billy Bob Thornton does. The album's second track, "Forever," also finds him sitting at a Waffle House -- the holy pit stop of all road dogs -- in Texarkana, promising his girl in a deep, psychotic murmur that "the only thing standing between me and you now is 200 miles and a donut tire." This isn't some one-off vanity project, though; the "hillbilly Orson Welles" was a professional drummer and singer before he became an Academy Award winner. Produced by country star Marty Stuart, who co-wrote many of these story songs with Thornton (and adds guitar jangle to a decent cover of the Byrds' "He Was a Friend of Mine"), Private Radio is a pleasing Southern Gothic exploration in mid-tempo twang, bad-boy rockabilly revelries and dark balladry. Thornton is better when speak-singing ("Beauty at the Back Door") and whisper-singing ("Starlight Lounge") than sing-singing, delivering his lines like an actor rather than a singer, but delivering them convincingly. He treads some picked-over territory ("Walk of Shame"), and tosses off a few gooey lyrics worthy of country-pop cheese (you guessed it: "Angelina"). But hey -- it beats the hell out of anything Kevin Bacon and Russell Crowe have ever done.

MEREDITH OCHS
(September 24, 2001)