John Wesley Ryles - John Wesley Ryles

All Music Guide

John Wesley Ryles is best known for "Kay," the 1968 pop and country hit that established him as a hitmaker. He went on to score dozens of country hits for a variety of labels, and John Wesley Ryles comes from his late '70s period on ABC Records. The album contains "Once in a Lifetime Thing," which made the Top 5 in 1977 to become the highestcharting country hit of his career. The country ballad "Fool" was also a chart item and typifies the sort of material Ryles gravitates toward on the album. Befitting his crossover style, he covers a pair of soul songs, "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "Tell It Like It Is." Three songs were written by the album's engineer, Terry Skinner. John Wesley Ryles is very much a product of the '70s, from Ryles' blond bowlcut hairstyle and countryrock voice to the effectsladen electric guitars that whoosh and swirl around him.

- Greg Adams, All Music Guide