Stoney Edwards was already in his early forties by the time he made his belated debut LP in the early '70s, and had only recently returned full-time to making music after an interruption of about 15 years. For all that, it sounds like a comfortable, assured work by an accomplished West Coast honky tonk singer, though it's modest and even-keeled in presentation and tone. Veteran country tunesmiths
Dickey Lee,
David Coe,
Harlan Howard, and
Wynn Stewart (as well as
Edwards himself) contributed material to the album, which tends toward staunchly optimistic tunes barely any faster than ballads, though he does pick up the gait and add specks of rootsiness for "Daddy Did His Best," "I Don't Believe I'll Fall in Love Today," and "You Can't Call Yourself Country."
Stoney had a hand in writing one of the better, more melodic tunes, "I Won't Make It Through the Day," where his stoic dignity remains to the fore despite the ostensible despondence of the story line. ~ Richie Unterberger