Ellen McIlwaine

• Honky Tonk Angel [Polydor, 1972] B

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Honky Tonk Angel [Polydor, 1972]
McIlwaine falls into all the overambitious traps--she dramatizes, she vaunts her range, she improvises when she should just sing--and yet she gets away with it, because enough of her grand attempts work. It's good to hear a woman play bottleneck guitar (in an appropriate context, too) and the two times she goes up an octave on "God" in "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" almost justify a whole side. B