Bill Anderson & Mary Lou Turner - Billy Boy & Mary Lou

All Music Guide

The rating for this album averages out lows and highs. Vocalist Mary Lou Turner comes up with a convincing performance on every track, sticking to a somewhat superficial commercial sound that is more fitting to the material than Bill Anderson's attempts at naturalism, which are at times unintentionally funny and at other times just plain out of tune. Oh, there are good moments on a typically slick, beautifully recorded Nashville outing, the rhythm section kicking off the first track with a loping two-beat shuffle that seems to present the essence of country and western. Unfortunately, any discussion of the essence of this genre would touch on the type of songwriting here, much of which suffers from a variety of illnesses."Country Lay on My Mind" is not just an example of a substandard theme in countrysongwriting, i.e. songs about just how darn country the artist is. It drags in sexual metaphors and it is hard to believe these performers weren't aware of what they would wind up with--ta...ke another look at the title to get the point. This number would actually fit in on the Ween country satire, perhaps the brothers should take a look at it. "I'm Way Ahead of You" is a rare example of a romantic cheating song, but despite another strong Turner vocal doesn't go anywhere that the listener won't be way ahead of by the time it comes up. Read more Less