She Was Country When Country Wasn't C (2006)

Product Summary Label: BNA/SBME UPC: 00886970018227 Release Date: 10/17/2006 Buy.com Sku: 203030633 Item#: M36JLV Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool - Kenny Chesney/Reba McEntire ~ Various Artists 2. Sleeping Single In A Double Bed - Terri Clark ~ Various Artists 3. If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right - LeAnn Rimes ~ Various Artists 4. In Times Like These - Brad Paisley ~ Various Artists 5. Midnight Oil, The - Gretchen Wilson ~ Various Artists 6. Crackers - Sara Evans ~ Various Artists 7. This Time I Almost Made It - Willie Nelson/Shelby Lynne ~ Various Artists 8. I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today - Blaine Larsen ~ Various Artists 9. That's What Friends Are For - Lorrie Morgan ~ Various Artists 10. Fast Lanes & Country Roads - Dierks Bentley ~ Various Artists 11. Years - Randy Owen ~ Various Artists 12. He Set My Life To Music - CeCe Winans ~ Various Artists   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Tributee: Barbara Mandrell. By 2006, country music's eternal sweetheart, Barbara Mandrell, was a little bit out of the spotlight. This loving tribute album places her back in her rightful place, with reverent and straightforward covers of her best material. While most of the arrangements replicate the originals almost exactly (albeit with powerhouse singers like Gretchen Wilson, Shelby Lynn, and Terri Clark at the mic), there are some nice surprises: LeAnn Rimes turns in a sultry and soulful reading of "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right," and Dierks Bentley reworks the sprightly "Fast Lanes & Country Roads" into a pistol-hot outlaw country rocker. Barbara Mandrell is an excellent candidate for a tribute album: at her peak, she was a huge star, but these days, about 25 years after her heyday and about ten after she stopped recording regularly, she tends to be a little bit forgotten, so it's time to have the spotlight swing back her way via a superstar-studded album like She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool. As if to prove the boast of the title, this tribute is filled with musicians with a stronger country pedigree than Mandrell ever had -- newcomers like Terri Clark, Brad Paisley, Blaine Larsen, Gretchen Wilson, and Dierks Bentley, who all have a harder country background than Barbara. Combine this with a couple of legendary superstars in Reba McEntire and Willie Nelson, and She Was Country has a stronger country kick than a tribute to this country-pop star should have, which also helps reveal how strong her songs were. Of course, there's a fair amount of pop here, too, coming from the likes of Sara Evans, LeAnn Rimes, Alabama's Randy Owen, and Kenny Chensey, while CeCe Winans manages to infuse "He Set My Life to Music" with a dose of authentic contemporary gospel. So, this is a more diverse set than it might initially seem, and it's also quite entertaining, since everybody involved gives a loose, enthusiastic performances that pays tribute without being overly respectful, and the result is a whole lot of fun. Unlike a lot of tribute albums, it never feels calculated or assembled with the charts in mind -- the music is at the forefront, and everybody turns in a good performance, winding up with an effective tribute to Barbara Mandrell that's also a strong album in its own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine   Technical Info Release Date : 10/17/2006 Original Release Date : 2006 Label : BNA Number of Discs : 1 Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00886970018227    Related Videos Lost Highway: Willie Nelson