ARTIST: Junior Brown
TITLE: 12 Shades of Brown
YEAR RELEASED: 1990
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: None
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: My Baby Don’t Dance to Nothing but Ernest Tubb, Too Many Nights in a Roadhouse, Hillbilly Hula Gal
LINEUP: Junior Brown, Tanya Rae Brown, Steve Layne, Spencer Starnes, Mike Ballew, Donny Dolan, Tom Lewis
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: First album featuring the guit-steel innovator and husky baritone/bass and sense of humor.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Junior Brown’s legendary guitar and steel playing finally got a showcase of his own with this solo album. His guit-steel, which combines a lap steel and electric guitar, allows Brown the freedom to switch between both instruments easily during a song.
The songs are slight at times, and are more showcases for Brown’s firey guitar playing. He specializes in a Western swing theme (hence his name-check of Ernest Tubb) and doesn’t cotton to current Nashville trends (then or now).
It’s a fun album for the most part. When Brown gets serious, it suffers, but the light cuts will make you smile and the guitar playing will leave you in wonder.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: He created his guit-steel in 1985.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE: B: It’s fun (the best songs are the fun ones) and the guitar playing is fantastic.