Junior Brown,
Live at the Continental Club: The Austin Experience



Label: Telarc

(3 out of 5)

Junior Brown played a regular Sunday night gig at the Continental Club for five years in the late 1980s and early 90s, and he still plays there whenever he's in Austin. So the venue is a natural setting for Brown's first live recording, Live at the Continental Club: The Austin Experience.

Recorded over two nights in April 2005, the album features a dozen tracks performed before wildly enthusiastic audiences. The sing-along to "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" (listen) is emblematic of the adoration bestowed upon his retro musical style and inimitable guit-steel wizardry.

Live, Brown's Ernest Tubb-influenced baritone is serviceable, but it's his guitar work that sparkles. An extended version of "I Hung It Up" (listen) provides ample room for fretboard free-play. And the closing "Rock and Roll Guitar Medley" (listen) displays Brown's indebtedness to such varied influences as 60s surf music, Bakersfield country, and the blues.

Hearing Junior Brown recorded live obviously pales in comparison to seeing him perform live. But for those of us who haven't had a chance to experience Brown first-hand, Live at the Continental Club is an adequate if unexceptional substitute.

Buy Live at the Continental Club: The Austin Experience from Lone Star Music for only $15.99.

October 6, 2005