Billy Ray Reynolds saw
Hank Williams play the Grand Ol' Opry when he was only nine; spent close to ten years playing guitar with
Waylon Jennings' band; wrote songs for the likes of
Johnny Cash, Tompall Glaser, and
Tanya Tucker; and even penned a tune for
the Allman Brothers Band (the band never cut it, but "Atlanta's Burning Down" became the title track of one of
Dickey Betts' solo albums). Given his background, you might expect that
Reynolds' belated solo debut,
Whole Lot of Memories, doesn't sound much like a contemporary country album, and that's the best thing about it.
Billy Ray Reynolds' voice is a strong honky tonk instrument, buffed by years of bourbon and nicotine, and like his old buddy
Waylon, he knows how to sound soulful and sensitive when he isn't busy raising hell.
Reynolds' tunes are top-notch, whether he's making time with the ladies ("Whatever Turns You On"), earning the wrath of his wife ("She's Cleaning the House"), rescuing his true love during the Civil War ("Atlanta's Burning Down"), or just singing the honky tonk blues ("Tumbleweed").
Reynolds also rounded up some great pickers for these sessions, and
Merle Haggard stops by for a welcome cameo on "Two Step Me." While it's tempting to say
Whole Lot of Memories is the sort of country album Nashville doesn't make any more, the truth is even in the good old days, they rarely turned out LPs as consistently pleasurable as this, and it's nice to know that
Reynolds finally got to make a great solo album after close to 40 years in the business. I sure hope he doesn't have to wait as long to make another. ~ Mark Deming