Whitey Morgan and the 78’s released their fourth studio album on october 26th, named “Hard Times and White Lines”… and it’s very difficult for a country music lover not to love it at first listen. This is surely one of the best country albums released this year.
Hard not to think about Waylon Jennings while listening to beautiful “Around here”, maybe the best piece of this album and indisputably one of the best country songs we have been listening this year.
“Bourbon and the Blues” is absolutely awesome. Its final instrumental part is great. An excellent song that we could easily consider as actual outlaw country.
“Fiddler’s in” is a beautiful ballad, in which pedal steel guitar and fiddle join to make us enjoy all the beauty of country music genre.
“Tired of the rain” and “Wild and reckless” are splendid songs that we could listen all day long. They are very representative of the band’s distinctive sound.
“Honky Tonk Hell” is a dark and bewitching song. Its rhythm, along with Whitey Morgan’s deep voice, make it particularly fascinating.
“Carryin’ on” is another outstanding song. Whitey Morgan’s version of Dale Watson’s beautiful song is really excellent, and the truth is I can’t help listening to it since the album was released.
Difficult, of course, not to speak about “Just got paid”. ZZ Top’s song is perfectly arranged. Heavy guitars are here, but with Whitey Morgan’s specific sound, making it somewhat darker. The result is one the best pieces of this album. Brilliant!
I’m also particularly impressed by the way Whitey Morgan sings “What am I supposed to do”, written by Detroit singer and songwriter Don Dutrie. This is maybe my other favorite song of this album, along with “Around here”, if it’s possible to talk about a favorite song when all pieces of this album are really outstanding. It’s very catchy.
We had excellent country albums all along this year, but this one stands out particularly. In a perfect world, each song of “Hard Times and White Lines” could be a single and would be played by country radios from dawn to dusk.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 