Johnson debuts at the top

Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

When ace country songwriter Hank Cochran died in the summer of 2010 it didn't take long to establish who could pull off a fitting tribute to the man who penned timeless classics like Eddy Arnold's Make the World Go Away and Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces. Country outlaw Jamey Johnson, who had bonded with Cochran during his final years battling pancreatic cancer, stepped up to the challenge. And boy, has he delivered. Rounding up the likes of Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, Merle ...

That Lonesome Song

The beginning of Jamey Johnson's second CD has little to do with today's typical country fare. The sound of footsteps are heard with someone telling him, "Mr. Johnson...you're free to do whateve r you want to do. Just stay out of trouble." He's leaving jail, but maybe the jail was the handcuffs he may have felt in life, including musically, because his semi-hit, "The Dollar," did not prepare listeners for this. The Alabama native gets mighty personal on ...

The Dollar

Jamey Johnson counts traditional country, new country and southern rock among his influences, and the Alabama native melds them together in a unique way with special emphasis on traditional sounds on his 11-song debut album. Johnson is a great storyteller, whether that song is going to cause laughter or tears depends on one's perspective. The self-titled track is about a family spending time together, written from the child's perspective while "Flying Silver Eagle" is a tale of a superficial ...