It is hard to determine where this album fits into the recording career of this journeyman country singer and songwriter. He made most of his records in a 15-year span between the early '60s and the late '70s, developing a style so clearly his own, and so completely unchanged over the course of his career, that each of his albums has a sense of timelessness to it. Although only one of
Dudley's songs was a number one hit, he recorded much music of comparable quality to the famous "Six Days on the Road," handling the lyrics gingerly with a voice that many a male country singer would gladly trade their soul for. A majority of the songs here deal with life in the country, with only "Old Shep" tilting the sentimentality meter. The best part of
Dudley's music is, of course, the lead guitar sound, which sounds like the instrument is being picked with a wet oil can spout. The fly-by-night company that released this must have thought the song "It's My Lazy Day" was for them, and didn't bother to identify any of the songwriters, musicians, or year of release. ~ Eugene Chadbourne