While
James Talley probably never qualified as an Outlaw in the mid-'70s, his rootsy country sound was closer to
Willie Nelson and
Waylon Jennings than say
Larry Gatlin. Even then,
Talley was never an easy artist to pigeonhole, and it's hard to imagine an artist as idiosyncratic recording for Capital today.
Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got a Lot of Love was
Talley's debut, and make no mistake about it: it's real country, with fiddles, dobro, and mandolin. The album was reissued in 2005 on
Talley's own Cimarron label with the addition of a second disc comprised of a promotional interview from the time.
Got No Bread kicks off with a tasteful bit of western swing on "W. Lee O' Daniel and the Light Crust Dough Boys" before dipping into the buoyant title track, with snappy electric guitar underpinning
Talley's country-flavored vocal. The arrangements are -- compared to today's country standards -- spare, with small variants custom-made for each song. Lyrically,
Got No Bread is an ode to another place and time, an album that never forgets country music's working class origins and rural roots. The folks that populate these songs still wear Sunday suits, chew tobacco, and dig in the sandy land for taters, and it must have been an attractive vision for the complicated '70s, especially enticing to all of the ex-hippies who had gone back-to-the-land.
Got No Bread is a solid album filled with original songs and great playing, and will be a real treat for anyone who appreciates the authentic sounds of honest-to-god country. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.