Loving Proof (CD - 1988)

Personnel: Ricky Van Shelton (vocals, guitar).

Audio Mixer: Marshall Morgan.

Photographer: Alan Messer.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Dennis Burnside; Dennis Wilson ; Roy M. "Junior" Husky; John Wesley Ryles; Larry Byrom; Mark Casstevens; Mark O'Connor ; Paul Franklin; Randy McCormick; Steve Buckingham; Eddie Bayers; Steve Gibson; Farrell Morris; Tom Robb.

Country crooner Ricky Van Shelton hit it out of the park his first time at bat with his 1987 debut album, WILD-EYED DREAM, which became a number-one country album. The following year, like any heavy hitter worth his salt, he repeated that feat with the follow-up, LOVING PROOF. For the most part, Shelton plays to his strengths here; the album is a bit more ballad-heavy than its predecessor, giving him plenty of melodic meat to sink his teeth into, but LOVING PROOF isn't strictly sentimental city, either. Listening to Van Shelton tear into the Saturday-night revelry of the rockabilly rave-up "Hole in my Pocket," you'd think he'd spent his life belting out nothing but Carl Perkins tunes. And as with his first album, Van Shelton pays homage to the country classics, with faithful, top-drawer renditions of Ned Miller's "From a Jack to a King" and Hank Cochran's "He's Got You." minimize