Reviewed by Martin Mackenzie

  This is a secular album with only two gospel tracks – “Sun Setting Time In Your Life”, written and sung by Bill Neely, and “Turn Your Radio On” by Rose Maddox.  The eight-page sleevenotes, which are packed with information, tell us that Bill Neely was a Texan who rode freight trains in the depression before settling in Austin where he came under the influence of Jimmy Rodgers and Mance Lipscombe.  You’ll definitely hear this one on UCB Cross Rhythms’ Country Music Box.  The notes also inform us that the freight train ride that a young Rose Maddox took with her family during the Depression “is one of the epics of country music history”.  Ten of the tracks are instrumental and I’ll certainly be using some of these in the programme as well.  This is a superb piece of country music history and I have marked it down only because of the lack of gospel content.  On musical, historical and technical grounds, it deserves a nine!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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