Robert Gordon

Gordon's final album for RCA, and in fact last major label release, found the rockabilly revivalist trying to walk a tightrope that kept him more contemporary but didn't lose the fan base he had attracted through his previous roots work. To do that, he enlisted three songs each from upcoming songwriters Marshall Crenshaw and Mark Johnson, and added his own co-written "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die," a minor classic of the genre that is one of the most incendiary rockers he recorded. Like Elvis, Gordon effortlessly straddles country and rockabilly with his best tracks, such as this album's rolling "Driving Wheel," falling between the two. His first release not produced by Richard Gottehrer, the band -- led by late guitarist Danny Gatton -- is augmented by occasional horns and backing vocalists, but the sound stays true to Gordon's influences and is far from slick. Nine bonus cuts are added to this reissue, three of them previously difficult-to-find live versions of Springsteen's "Fire," "Black Slacks," and "Red Hot," with guitarist Chris Spedding tearing it up live. That trio of tunes is inexplicably reprised in their studio versions as added filler (certainly the compilers could have chosen three other tracks), along with another triad of studio hits, all of which still doesn't push the playing time over 50 minutes. Regardless, this is a solid and successful release that found the singer expanding his scope in interesting directions that should have led him to a longer-lasting career. It was, however, the swan song for Robert Gordon's national prominence, and as of 2002, also his last studio release to feature new material, proving that talent alone is not enough to stay alive in the music industry. ~ Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide