Robert Earl Keen,
No. 2 Live Dinner

Label: Rosetta Records / KOCH Records
Year: 1996 (reissued 2004)

(5 out of 5)

It's surprising that Robert Earl Keen's most popular album to date, 1996's No. 2 Live Dinner, had gone out of print. Koch Records fixes that problem with its 2004 reissue.

Unlike on reissues of No Kinda Dancer and A Bigger Piece of Sky, Koch adds no new bells or whistles here. Simply having the album available once again is benefit enough.

The 17 tracks on No. 2 Live Dinner find Keen at his sharpest. Taken from dates at the John T. Floore Country Store in Helotes and the Cactus Cafe in Austin, these tracks serve as a mid-career greatest hits collection.

All the early favorites are here: "Amarillo Highway," "Five Pound Bass," "Gringo Honeymoon," "Merry Christmas from the Family," "Rollin' By," "Dreadful Selfish Crime," and of course "The Road Goes on Forever.

At times the album feels more like a conversation than a concert. But with Keen manning the mike, that's a good thing. From tales of early stabs at jump-starting his career to recollections of losing his car and his date at Willie Nelson's second Fourth of July Picnic, Keen continues to regale the listener years after the tracks were recorded.

Keen's voice and guitar are as sharp as his wit. And he's ably backed by a five-piece band that includes producer and steel guitar virtuoso Lloyd Maines.

While No. 2 Live Dinner may have lapsed out of the marketplace, here's thanking Koch for returning it to its rightful place in the CD bins. No. 2 Live Dinner remains Keen's most definitive album to date.

Buy: Lone Star Music, Amazon

November 20, 2004