Album Review: Josh Turner Live at the Ryman
I’ve never understood why artists record live albums and then exclude tracks from the live release. Once you’ve made a 14-track live album, the marginal cost of adding the rest of the set can’t be prohibitively great. I don’t know who selected the tracks for Turner’s Cracker Barrel release, but this album suffers greatly from poor track selection.
Josh Turner is not of sufficient accomplish to release a live album on a major label and he needs all the help that he can get on this release. The omission of “Me and God” and “Would You Go With Me” is unwise while the failure to include “Your Man” is nothing short of mystifying. A live album with only one recognizable original (“Long Black Train”) does not make for good entertainment.
Fortunately, this does not mean that the album is choke-full of Turner album cuts. Classic country covers are clearly the focus of the collection, and Turner’s take on “Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy” is nothing short of stunning. However, Turner’s versatility as a cover artist is extremely limited and most of the covers on the Cracker Barrel album serve to highlight his deficiencies rather than his strengths. I’ve never heard Turner sing a true heartbreaker, and perhaps this explains his excessively jovial take on “I’ll Never Get Out of the World Alive” and his laid-back and dispassionate approach to “Silver Wings.” “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is impossible to cover and, after recording it for a previous Cracker Barrel collection, Turner sings it with an undeserved sense of ownership. Songs that he’s previously covered on the Grand Ole Opry, such as his hero John Anderson’s “Swingin’,” would have been better choices.
The Turner originals on the collection are strong if obscure. “Loretta Lynn’s Lincoln” has been getting unrecruited spins on WSM since its release and is the most enjoyable song that Turner has ever recorded. “Backwoods Boy” and “Way Down South” are lyrically uncreative but elevated by Turner’s vocal skill and the traditional arrangements.
Still, I can’t help but mourn the loss of several songs and much of the stage banter from what was reportedly an electric show at the Ryman Auditorium. When one whole track is devoted to Turner’s introduction of his road band – the most boring part of any live show – why not include more songs?

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August 10, 2007 at 3:17 pm Permalink
I thought it was pretty ballsy not to use the hits as a crutch.
August 11, 2007 at 10:07 am Permalink
I wonder if label politics had anything to do with it. Turner’s “Your Man” has quietly sold more copies than any recent album by an MCA artist. Maybe MCA agreed to the Cracker Barrel project with the understanding that the live album wouldn’t be a pseudo-hits compilation that would more directly compete with his studio albums?
August 11, 2007 at 7:56 pm Permalink
That’s exactly why the live album happened. Cracker Barrel liked his addition to the ‘greatest country hits’ tribute and decided he should do a live CD for their base to buy. MCA won’t let their superhits be released on a live record unless they’re releasing it. Also all the hits that aren’t on it are on his current album of the time.
August 12, 2007 at 2:13 am Permalink
Chris: It would be if the covers were good. As is, most of the album sounds like the stuff that you can get on Lower Broadway for free.
Kevin and Matt: That’s a strong possibility that I didn’t consider. Of course, it doesn’t change the album’s quality.
August 13, 2007 at 8:03 pm Permalink
After hearing interviews and learning about Cracker Barrel’s marketing strategy, Josh (and CB) wanted 4 songs from the first album, 4 from the second, 4 cover songs. They wanted to be able to showcase strong songs that were previously unreleased.
Something to mention, Josh only did He Stopped Loving Her Today for the Songs of the Year tv concert, not for their previous SOTY cd. He knew that he had a challenge ahead of him when he first sang it for the SOTY show but George told him that he really loved his reindition of the song. It was after so many folks wanted to hear that song on an album that he put it on the live album.
Granted, the set list was originally over 20 songs, but it is really hard to put them all on a cd. His shows have changed quite a bit since he first hit the scene. In the beginning there were more cover songs and now there are fewer covers – just like any other established artist.
I really wish that there were more songs on the album and I wished that Cracker Barrel had thought to put a DVD out. However, there were no video cameras recording this historic event and a couple of photographers near the stage to take photos. There are so many “What ifs” on this project, but I do think it is a great addition to add to your cd collection for the Josh Turner fan unable to attend a show or to relive the concert experience.
Does anyone know the sales figures on this album since it isn’t reported to Billboard?
August 27, 2007 at 11:54 am Permalink
Thanks for telling it like it is, Matt C.– “this album suffers greatly from poor track selection” . . “most of the covers on the Cracker Barrel album serve to highlight his deficiencies rather than his strengths”. I’m a serious Josh Turner fan who could not attend the concert; so, I anxiously awaited the release of this CD and was extremely disappointed when I finally heard it. Unlike his two excellent MCA CDs which I play repeatedly for my own enjoyment and have purchased and given to friends as well, I played this live album only once and then put it with the discards. Doubt that I’ll ever go to the trouble of buying another Cracker Barrel production.
September 10, 2007 at 4:34 pm Permalink
when does his new cd come out
September 10, 2007 at 8:37 pm Permalink
email me back on when his new cd comes out
September 11, 2007 at 7:18 am Permalink
Hey Jacob, our August 23rd news roundup has a link to an article that says the new album comes out on October 30, but it doesn’t have a name yet, that I know of.
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