Album Reviews

Blond country hitmaker Patty Loveless dares to let her roots show on the rich Mountain Soul. The East Kentucky native's twangy contralto is the perfect instrument for this down-homey repertoire of old-time country & western: "The Boys Are Back in Town" is a bluegrass romp; "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" a Celtic-colored ode to her coal-mining daddy; "Soul of Constant Sorrow" an emotive Stanley Brothers homage. She is equally at home in the lusty honky-tonk duet "Out of Control Raging Fire" (which finds Travis Tritt and Loveless perfectly re-creating the sound of George Jones and Melba Montgomery) as she is on the gospel-quartet standards "Daniel Prayed" and "Rise Up Lazarus." And Loveless sings her heart out on the mournful "Sounds of Loneliness," which she wrote in 1972 at fourteen. Deftly produced by Loveless' husband (and former Elvis Presley and Emmylou Harris bassist), Emory Gordy Jr., the album dazzles with its crunchy acoustic textures (provided by Dobro, banjo, mandolin and fiddle) and its flawless harmony singing. Together, its fourteen tracks form a shining diadem of country music past and present.

HOLLY GEORGE-WARREN
(RS 877 - September 13, 2001)