(Curb) Hank Jr. ruled the airwaves in the 80's when he shifted gears from trying to fit into his legendary Daddy's shoes to finding a pair of his own, and began blazing his own trail with his own brand of Southern-country-rock blue collar anthems and good time partying songs. However, after being named Entertainer of the Year at the close of the 80s, the man who explained "Young Country" to the country music establishment, ironically soon found himself among the group of established country music vets being pushed off radio by a new wave of young country artists. Throughout the 90s, Hank continued to release albums, though most were uneven, none reached the heights of his 80s work and he moved dangerously towards becoming a bombastic, over-the-top parody of himself. The new millenium found Hank shifting gears again, and in 2002, he released the well received Almeria Club, a more stripped down, rootsy album of acoustic, folk, country and blues material.

While there was a great deal of fanfare given to the release of Almeria Club, Bocephus has returned with his follow up, I'm One Of You, which was very quietly released with virtually no PR whatsoever. The reason behind that one remains a complete mystery, because I'm One Of You is Hank's unmistakable announcement that he's BACK- a triumphant return to his hard rockin'-honky tonkin' glory days.

Produced by Hank Jr. and Doug Johnson, I'm One Of You includes only two songs penned by Hank, with the balance of the songs being written by others that he manages to nicely make custom fit. The disc kicks off with a strong, swampy cover of Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses," and he provides a soulfully gritty-blues take on Joe South's "Games People Play." Liquor flows plentifully throughout the album. The Overstreet/Hemby penned "Liquor To Like Her" is cleverly funny, "What's On The Bar," a Hank original, is a drink-away-my-troubles honky tonker that incorporates sax along with fiddle and steel, while he asks the music question "Why Can't We All Just Get A Long Neck?," a Cajun inflected two-stepper that ends with a revved up Cajun rendition of "Jambalaya."

He offers up a couple of driving Southern-country-rockers via David Lee Murphy's "Just Enough To Get In Trouble" and Troy Seals' "Guitar Money." He chastises computer potatoes to get their butts out from behind them and get out and live, in Tony Stampley's "American Offline." In his second original, Hank pays tribute to Waylon in the standout, "Waylon's Guitar." Far from being the teary eyed sort of homage, Hank delivers it in Waylon's trademark rhythm pounding style that does Ol' Hoss proud. Two ballads round out the rest of the disc. The title track, Neal Coty's "I'm One Of You" is a soaring blue collar anthem. Bobby David's affecting "Devil In A Bottle" is another disc highlight that finds Hank covering himself, as he previously recorded this one back in the 70s (and was also a hit for TG Sheppard). Hank takes this one to new gutwrenching heights, perhaps due to age and wisdom, and in the process he blows away and leaves his own original version in the dust. 

I'm One Of You has Hank sounding completely rejuvenated and totally in command. His vocals are strong and confident, the band is tight as the music crackles and pulsates. If Bocephus was out to prove something with this disc, it would seem he's sending out the message loud and clear not to count him out yet...he ain't quite done- so crank it UP and party on!              

Standout Tracks:  "Liquor To Like Her," I'm One Of You," What's On The Bar," Waylon's Guitar," "Devil In The Bottle"

On The Web:  www.hankjr.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack February 2004