Review by Mark Deming

Jimmie Dale Gilmore's self-titled sophomore effort boasted a less aggressive sound than his Joe Ely-produced debut, and that suited Gilmore's wavering tenor and impressionistic lyrical style just fine, though the album also sounds like an attempt to blend a traditional country approach with Gilmore's rather individualistic style. This time out, Gilmore wrote (or co-wrote half) of the album's ten songs, while old friend Butch Hancock ponied up two tunes of his own, and the production (by Bruce Bromberg and Lloyd Maines) generates a laid-back honky tonk vibe that recalls the feel of a Texas dancehall without forcing the issue. The album rescues one classic tune from the long-lost Flatlanders album ("Dallas"), and "Deep Eddy Blues" and "Beautiful Rose" prove he had plenty of other great songs at his disposal, which marks a major improvement over the covers-heavy debut. Sometimes, however, the spunky tempo and precise accompaniment of the music seem to be working against the grain of Gilmore's often world-weary songs, though Jimmie Dale himself accompanies these arrangements with grace and confidence. Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a fine album and a step up from Fair and Square, but in retrospect it sounds most like a stepping stone on the way to his definitive recording, After Awhile.

Tracklist:

Honky Tonk Song
The Doors are Open Wide
See the Way
Beautiful Rose
Dallas
Up to You
Red Chevrolet
Deep Eddy Blues
That Hardwood Floor
When the Nights are Cold
White Freightliner Blues
Honky Tonk Masquerade
Fair & Square
Don't Look for a Heartache
Trying to Get to You
Singing the Blues
Just a Wave, Not the Water
All Grown Up
99 Holes
Rain Just Falls


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