Rex Allen Jr. plies a combination of contemporary country music and Western nostalgia on
Ridin' High. "Can You Hear Those Pioneers" features vocal support by the
Sons of the Pioneers and
Rex Allen Sr. on a song in the vein of Roy Rogers' "Hoppy, Gene and Me" and the
Statler Brothers' "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott," both of which were hits in 1974.
Allen's version of the cowboy standard "Streets of Laredo" drives home, for anyone who hadn't already noticed, how similar his voice is to his father's. "Play Me No Sad Songs" and "Teardrops in My Heart," along with "Can You Hear Those Pioneers," were the album's hits, but an excellent cover of Thom Bresh's "Homemade Love" makes one wish that
Allen had gotten his hands on the song first. Whether Western music and contemporary country have much of a shared audience is debatable, so it is possible that many listeners will find themselves strongly preferring one half of
Ridin' High over the other. ~ Greg Adams