Don Walser

Texan Don Walser has been called "the Pavarotti of the Plains," a title that may look good on a marquee but is really fairly wide of the mark. Walser's clear tenor was a remarkable instrument, certainly, but he wavered off-pitch enough (usually deliberately) to make the Pavarotti parallel mostly ridiculous. Specializing in a sort of stripped down western swing which mixed cowboy and honky tonk elements into a crowd-pleasing veneer, and always traditional to the core, Walser stood outside of the contemporary country scene, and by not embracing it, he actually managed to sound refreshingly different. This generous set collects the best of his 1990s recordings for Watermelon Records, including his signature "Rolling Stone from Texas," the bustling "Big Ball in Cowtown," a pair of unassuming story-songs, "Cowboy Ramsey" and "Fuzz Dixon," and an interesting version of the faux Appalachian ballad "Long Black Veil." It would be remiss not to mention that Walser also yodels freely through many of these tracks, further distancing himself from the world of contemporary country music. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide