Bobby Bare

The Moon Was Blue (Dualtone)

A country outlaw long at large, Bobby Bare has been whiling away his golden years fishing as his legend drifts into memory. No more. Thanks to his son Bobby Bare Jr., the 70-year-old Bare Sr. has emerged from a quiet retirement with this dignified collection that resurrects an old-school genre scarred by red-state jingoism. Things kick off with a slow one, “Are You Sincere,” which drips Sunday afternoon country-politan, followed shortly by an easygoing version of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talking,” which retains the original’s subtle grit. “Yesterday When I Was Young” is particularly powerful, the confessions of a man with more time behind him than in front. The sole misstep is “Fellow Travelers,” cheesy with dorky lyrics (“We all are fellow travelers sailing across the universe, living aboard the good ship Earth”), and a chorus of children at the end. Only when you helped write the book can you get away with crap like that. Otherwise, the Bares have hung the Moon.

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This article appears in November 18 • 2005.

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