Town & Country
Studio album by
Webb Wilder
Released1995
LabelWatermelon
ProducerR. S. Field
Webb Wilder chronology
Doo Dad
(1991)		 Town & Country
(1995)		 Acres of Suede
(1996)

Town & Country is an album by the American musician Webb Wilder, released in 1995.[1][2] He is credited with the NashVegans.[3] Town & Country was Wilder's first album for Watermelon Records.[4] Wilder supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Jason and the Scorchers.[5][6]

Production

Wilder decided to record an album of covers due to acquiring a new backing band.[7] Produced by R. S. Field, Town & Country was recorded in Nashville between November 1994 and January 1995, in a garage and using vintage equipment.[8][9][7] Wilder considered the album a celebration of regionalism and included a map detailing where the songs originated; he also thought it was his least slick album since his debut.[10][11] "Talk Talk" is a cover of the Music Machine song.[12] "I Ain't Living Long Like This" is a cover of the Rodney Crowell song.[12] "My Mind's Eye" was written by the Small Faces.[8] "Original Mixed-Up Kid" was originally performed by Mott the Hoople.[6] "Nashville Bum" is a version of Waylon Jennings's first RCA single.[13] "To the Loving Public" includes a monologue devoted to Wilder's musical philosophy.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Edmonton Sun[15]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[16]
Orlando Sentinel[8]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[17]
Rolling Stone[18]

The Orlando Sentinel wrote that "Wilder's deep voice has a golden resonance on twangy numbers such as Waylon Jennings' 'Nashville Bum' and Harlan Howard's 'Too Many Rivers'."[8] Trouser Press determined that the album, "a wide-ranging collection of covers, works beautifully... Wilder's at his authoritative best."[3] Rolling Stone opined that Wilder "flat-out rocks... Suggesting a loopier Jason and the Scorchers, the Nash Vegans manhandle country rave-ups."[18]

The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "a well-played if mildly interesting spin around his various influences, but Wilder's wiseacre delivery works better in a bar than in repeated listenings on disc."[5] Stereo Review said that "Wilder's a gregarious type with a Foghorn Leghorn bellow of a voice, his band's equally adept at twang and thrash, and the songs they've chosen are, for the most part. worth reviving."[19] The Press-Telegram noted that the songs are delivered in "a big, bawdy, beefy style by a mess of expert musicians."[20]

AllMusic wrote that "the disc falters mostly by Webb's own high standards; overall, these sessions still make decent, high-volume highway accompaniment."[12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Stay Out of Automobiles" 
2."Nashville Bum" 
3."Slow Death" 
4."(I'm a) Lover Not a Fighter" 
5."To the Loving Public" 
6."Honky Tonk Hell" 
7."My Mind's Eye" 
8."Too Many Rivers" 
9."Goldfinger" 
10."Hissy-Fit" 
11."Talk Talk" 
12."Streets of Laredo (The Cowboy's Lament)" 
13."Short on Love" 
14."I Ain't Living Long Like This" 
15."Original Mixed-Up Kid" 
16."Rockin' Little Angel" 

References

  1. ↑ "Webb Wilder Biography by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Terrell, Steve (7 Apr 1995). "Town & Country by Webb Wilder". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 20.
  3. 1 2 "Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Ryan, Shawn (March 9, 1995). "Wilder Bringing New Songs to Birmingham". The Birmingham News. p. 2D.
  5. 1 2 Dickinson, Chris (7 Apr 1995). "Webb Wilder, Friday at the Coronet Theater...". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. T.
  6. 1 2 Boehm, Mike (14 Sep 1995). "Their Nashville-based touring partners, Webb Wilder and the Nashvegans...". Los Angeles Times. p. F7.
  7. 1 2 Allan, Marc D. (25 Jan 1995). "Wilder disc has choice tracks". The Indianapolis Star. p. C3.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Gettelman, Parry (24 Feb 1995). "Webb Wilder". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 8.
  9. ↑ Norman, Michael (January 28, 1995). "Wilder Has a New Band, Label and Life". The Plain Dealer. p. 8E.
  10. ↑ Hoekstra, Dave (April 5, 1995). "On the Wilder Side". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 2:60.
  11. ↑ Gajewski, Gail (27 Jan 1995). "A Look Through the Glasses of Webb Wilder". Weekend. The Tennessean. p. 18.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Town & Country Review by Roch Parisien". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Hawkins, Robert J. (February 23, 1995). "Wilder and Co. spin a wonderful Webb of quirky cover tunes". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 8.
  14. ↑ Bumgardner, Ed (10 Feb 1995). "Delightful album revisits oldies that shaped Webb Wilder's sound". Winston-Salem Journal. p. D4.
  15. ↑ Griwkowsky, Fish (April 12, 1999). "Wilder Side of Covers Is Attractive". Express. Edmonton Sun. p. 32.
  16. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 730.
  17. ↑ Cristiano, Nick (19 Feb 1995). "Country". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. N10.
  18. 1 2 Evans, Paul (Apr 6, 1995). "Reviews". Rolling Stone. No. 705. p. 64.
  19. ↑ Milano, Brett (Jun 1995). "Town & Country by Webb Wilder & the Nashvegans". Stereo Review. Vol. 60, no. 6. p. 88.
  20. ↑ Grobaty, Tim (February 10, 1995). "Gettin' Wilder". Press-Telegram. p. W2.
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