There are times that "good guys" finish first. Vince Gill is in country music one of the "nice guys". One of the current oldest stalwarts on country radio now, the Oklahoman was first known as the voice of Pure Prairie League's big hit "Let Me Love You Tonight" in the late 70s. His solo country success was slow building by today's fast-burn standards - his first hit, "Victim Of Life's Circumstances" barely scraped the country top-40 in 1984, and his first #1 didn't come until eight years after that. However, with 26 top-10 songs including such classics as "I Still Believe In You", "Tryin' To Get Over You", and "If You Ever Have Forever In Mind", Gill has one of the best catalog of work in country music.
With Vince’s latest, he sent shockwaves through
Nashville by released a box-set of all-new material called
These Days. Divided into four themed discs, the collection not only proves to be a palette of Gill’s diversity in musical style, but also one of the best, if not the best pure-country record released last year (Alan Jackson’s is neck-and-neck). I can imagine
These Days going perfectly in the stereo on a snowbound afternoon. As well as being a special event for its length, it also includes cameos by country and bluegrass stars, but refreshingly avoids the “overvamping” that goes on in the normal “Duet-style” albums that have flourished since the Sinatra volumes of the 90s. The spotlight is solely on Vince, with only peers like John Anderson and Rodney Crowell providing more than backing vocals.
The first disc, subtitled Working On A Big Chill, is his nominally “rock-influenced” set. With a Raitt-style groove, the title track gets things going at a vacationlike stroll. “Love’s Standin’” is straight-ahead pop, and his high tenor works wonderfully. Between white-bread raunchy numbers like “Cowboy Up” with Gretchen Wilson and “The Rhythm Of The Pouring Rain” – as in “boinkin’ to the” - Vince almost puts a Clintonian aw-shucks-ness to the down and dirty (could it be the water in Arkansas?). His loverboy persona wins over on “Smilin' Song” with Michael McDonald and “Bet It All On You”, while Gill proves he’s still got the knack for heartbreak numbers , even if their rollicking, like in “Nothin’ Left To Say” and "Sweet Thing". Rodney Crowell comes in for a duet of equals on "Nothin' For A Broken Heart". Nothing here is too hard, yet there's not a despondent note here on this disc.
The Reason Why, the second in the set, for me is the strongest of this bountiful work. Dubbed The Groovy Record, it’s not so much R&B influenced as adult-contemporary-influenced. Mind you, this is still country-lite music, noted by the fact that all three radio “singles” so far have come from this disc. “The Reason Why”, with Alison Krauss on delicate support vocals, is a classy, introspective tune that was criminally overlooked for the most part by country radio compared to his previous success. Between that and Alan Jackson’s “Like Red On A Rose”, I guess regular country radio isn’t into adult themes these days (now satellite radio’s a whole other story, and I give kudos for Sirius to play this). The women come out in droves for support, and while LeAnn Rimes did seem a little creepy too-young-still to be the love on “What You Don’t Say”, the focus is on Vince’s voice, with Leann on harmony vocals. A more established lady like Trisha Yearwood is a more apt counterpoint in the sadly sweet "This Memory Of You", while Sheryl Crow signs on for a didactic "What You Give Away". Diana Krall's duet on "Faint Of Heart" probably is the most daring of the set, putting Krall and Gill in a lounge setting, but neither oversings and the delicate love song works. Gill also put through a couple strong solo pieces, in the swirling cinematic "No Easy Way" with has a great soft-rock groove going, and the "Eagles' 'Sad Cafe'-ish" "How Lonely Looks, which showcases Gill's falsetto to the best. But the best moments on this disc are his collaboration with daughter Jenny on the encouraging "Time To Carry On" and newcomer Katrina Elam on "Everything And Nothing". The only misstep on this part is the lite-Christian plodder "Tell Me One More Time About Jesus" with wife Amy Grant, and for that mostly due to its incongruity of attitude and subject from the rest of the disc.
Disc three,
Some Things Never Get Old, is the "country-western" part of the collection, and with it you'll expect a lot of same-y shufflers, and you'd be right. The steel guitar rules here, and on songs like "
This New Heartache" and "
Out Of My Mind" deliver but don't gleam. Think of this set as a segue from the pop-inflected songs that proceeded it. The best of this bunch is the weeper "
The Sight Of Me Without You" and waltz "
I Can't Let Go" with Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski. Again, he has the cream of the crop in terms of female backup, with Patty Loveless on "
Out Of My Mind", Emmylou Harris on the
title track, and Lee Ann Womack on "
If I Can Make Mississippi". Gill pays respect to influences by having Phil on the Everly Brothers' pastiche "
Sweet Little Corrina". And John Anderson gets the honor of headlining the song "
Take This Country Back".
The final disc,
Little Brother, is set up as the "acoustic" record of the bunch, and as such contains the most reflective songs in
These Days. The best is the sweetest love song in "
Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve", which brings tears to my eyes hearing it every time. "
All Prayed Up" starts of this set in a raucous revival of religious glee that is a great cheerful expression of faith. On the flipside, the eerie "
Molly Brown" tells the tale of interracial love which is just about
never talked about let alone sung in country music. Del McCoury has the most appearances on the whole piece (with three), and with "
Cold Gray Light Of Gone" and "
Give Me The Highway" allows Gill's bluegrass chops to shine. The whole shebang closes with two of Gill's most personal statements, an ode to his late brother on the
title track and for his dad in "
Almost Home".
What else can I say than run out and get
These Days ASAP. Any lover of country or soft-rock music will find some of Gill's best work here. And now after this release, the only next step is a deserved retrospective of Vince's career. I mean, on MCA he has
one proper greatest hits that was from back in 1995,
Souvenirs, and one terminally short volume in the
20th Century Masters-Millenium Collection series. C'mon! I'll help! Until then, you can't go wrong with any of his past albums.
Grade: B+
Best Cuts: "Time To Carry On", "Everything And Nothing", "Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve", "The Reason Why", "Faint Of Heart", "No Easy Way", "This Memory Of You", "How Lonely Looks", "All Prayed Up", "Molly Brown"
Weakest Links: "Tell Me One More Time About Jesus"
These Days hit #4 country albums and #17 pop albums.
"The Reason Why" hit #28 country singles.
"What You Give Away" made #43 country singles.
Listen: Everything And Nothing [click link to listen]
Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve [click link to listen]
Buy: You can pick up
These Days at websites like
here and
here.
And here's the video for single "The Reason Why"...
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