Johnny Lee's earliest singles, released on a variety of indie labels in and around Texas in the '70s, have never been compiled on CD prior to AIM's 2006 release Country Candy Store, which rounds up 24 highlights from his career prior to
urban cowboy. This is by no means a complete collection of singles or hits: his 1976 side "Sometimes," released on ABC-Dot, is not here, presumably due to licensing reasons, but his other modest late-'70s hits are, including 1976's "Red Sails in the Sunset," "Country Party," "Dear Alice" and "Ramblin' Rose" (all three from 1977), and 1978's "This Time." Although
David Dawson's liner notes do a very good job of outlining
Johnny Lee's history and how this music fits within the story, it's hard not to wish that AIM included some track-by-track information, because there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the sequencing, and the collection seems to bounce from label to label and time period to time period. That said, beggars can't be choosers, and it's nice to have this music on CD, since much of it is good period-
country, pitched halfway between roadhouse
honky tonk and
country-pop with its eye on the charts, as on the weeper "Dear Alice" which would have been pure
honky tonk if it weren't for the keyboards and harmonies that gussy it up. That conflicting nature makes for some pretty good listening, as it bounces from the
old-timey rave-up on "Rocky Mountain Top" to the
Glen Campbell-esque smooth ballad "Frisco" (
Glen Campbell's presence looms heavily here, and not just on the rather pointless instrumental version of "Galveston") and it's hard not to be charmed by
Lee's rewrite of
Rick Nelson's "Garden Party" in "Country Party." So, this is pretty much an artifact of its time -- not quite outlaw, but proto-
urban cowboy in how it borrows the swagger of outlaw and tempers it with smoothness and
pop smarts and a commercial mind (all converging in a ridiculous way on a rollicking good-time remake of "Long Black Veil") but if that sounds good to you, you're bound to be satisfied with the music here, even if you'll likely wish it was presented with more care. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
