Wynn Stewart - After the Storm (CD)

All Music Guide

Wynn Stewart was one of the great country singers and his influence was substantial, too, but his chart success never reflected the stature of his talent. During his early '60s peak on Challenge Records, when he was one of the architechs of Bakersfield Country, he had only one national Top 10 country hit, and when he switched to Capitol in the second half of the '60s, he scored a number one hit with the smoothed over country-pop of "It's Such a Pretty World Today." He had three other Top 10 hits after that, but they were glossy approximations of the light, skipping Bakersfield sound and then he pretty much dropped off the radar during the early '70s, until he signed to Playboy and turned out the fine comeback effort, After The Storm. It gave him another, final, Top 10 hit in the title track, but more than that, it gave him one of his better albums. At the time, Playboy was best-known as the home of Mickey Gilley, the singer that managed to give the rowdy, hardcore country of his cousin... Jerry Lee Lewis a bit of a softer cosmopolitan shine, opening it up to a wider audience. This was due in part to the contributions of producer Eddie Kilroy, who also helmed After the Storm and gives it the same production he would give Gilley, guiding Stewart to a selection of material that walks the line between honky tonk and country-pop, including several new Stewart originals and revivals of his classics "Wishful Thinking," "Big Big Love" and "Sing a Sad Song." These new recordings carry a nice, reflective maturity in Stewart's delivery, marking them as distinctly different versions to the originals, and the rest of the album doesn't pale in comparison, with Stewart's wry originals "Don't Monkey With My Widder" and the playfully dark "I'm Gonna Kill You" carrying the torch for Bakersfield country, with "After the Storm," "Lonely Rain," "It Always Rains on Me" and "It's Such a Pretty World Today" acquitting the pop side nicely. It may be a little slicker and softer than his Challenge recordings, but there's a wonderful lived-in feel to his performances that gives After the Storm a real resonance, making it one of his finer proper albums. Audium Records reissued After the Storm in 2003 -- marking its first appearence on CD (although it is including on Bear Family's comprehensive 10-CD box set, Wishful Thinking) -- with the addition of two bonus tracks, the singles "Just Now Thought of You" and "Seasons of My Heart." Both are fine straightahead honky tonk tunes, with the latter being an overlooked George Jones original that Stewart sings beautifully. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less