Consumer Guide Album

Gary Stewart: Out of Hand [RCA Victor, 1975]
This is the best regular issue country LP I've heard in about five years--which given my tastes may just mean that it's barely a country record at all. The wild urgency of Stewart's voice reminds me of both Hank Williams and Jerry Lee Lewis, communicating an unconstraint that feels genuinely liberating even when Stewart himself sounds miserable. Don't be misled by that mod look: this man has got to be a little crazy. A-