You Can Say That Again (HighTone)
As far as comeback albums go, Johnny Rodriguez has done pretty well. His song
selection is impeccable, having picked out gems by the cutting edge of modern
country writers, such as Dave Alvin, Lucinda Williams, and Robert Earl Keen.
Ironically, those songs are both a blessing and a bit of a curse — they show
his good taste in choosing material, but his renditions also sound like he just
picked the songs off of a tape (which he did). As such, his interpretations
lack a bit of the passion that those writers require. However, he also works
with more standard honky-tonk fare, such as a Merle Haggard number, and there
Rodriguez sounds as good as ever. Best of all, his Nashville studio musicians
actually play some country (hallelujah!), contributing some fine steel work;
towards the second half of the disc especially, one really begins to remember
what made Rodriguez such a sensation 20 years ago. Unlike so many comeback
attempts by his peers, Rodriguez has made a fairly solid effort for which he
owes no one any apologies, a sturdy piece of honky-tonk that could actually
reel in old fans and sell some records again.
HHH — Lee Nichols
This article appears in August 30 • 1996 and August 30 • 1996 (Cover).