When Somebody Loves You (CD - 2000)

Personnel: Alan Jackson (vocals, guitar); Bruce Watkins (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, dobro); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Terry McMillan (Jew's harp, harmonica); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Gary Prim (piano, keyboards); Keith Stegall (piano); Glenn Worf (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Rhonda Vincent (background vocals).

Recorded at The Castle, Franklin, Tennessee and The Sound Station, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel: Alan Jackson (vocals, guitar); Bruce Watkins (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, dobro); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Terry McMillan (harmonica, Jew's harp); Gary Prim (piano, keyboards); Keith Stegall (piano); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Rhonda Vincent (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: John Kelton.

Recording information: Sound Station, Nashville, TN; The Castle, Franklin, TN.

Photographer: Russ Harrington.

Before talking about what a fine country album When Somebody Loves You is, there's a disclaimer: If you're a woman, or somebody who wants a great deal of change or evolution in an artist's music, this set won't do much for you. Here are 13 songs about love and being a blue-collar guy who doesn't mind being a redneck, digs the old hillbilly sounds, and hates sushi. Alan Jackson's been at these anthems for an entire career. He's also had the same producer for the whole run. But there has been some change. The truth of the matter is, as close to the line as Jackson has kept his brand of country, it's actually become more so. There are less and less canned sounds on every record, whether it's on a killer love song like the title track with its Spanish guitar overtones that are reminiscent of Marty Robbins or the slamming honky tonk of "The Thrill Is Back" with the rawest sounding fiddle on a country record in a decade. And on the dumbly titled "WWW.Memory," Jackson gets down into a place where the sad lyric fits the tinkling of the upright piano (it's probably synthesized but doesn't feel like it). "Where I Come From" is another redneck anthem, but it rocks a little harder with a ZZ Top-styled guitar. The point is simple: If you like guitars, banjos, pedal steels, and songs about simple things -- "I Still Love You" is one of those songs and one of the best Jackson's ever recorded -- then When Somebody Loves You is your kind of record. This is trad honky tonk country in a country-pop age. Jackson gets a vote not only for holding on to the tradition but because he is able to articulate its heart in a heartless age. As long as Jackson, Montgomery Gentry, and George Strait are hanging in there on the male side of things, country music won't disappear into the ether of pop music schlock. ~ Thom Jurek

It might seem ironic that traditionalist Alan Jackson would write a song about the Internet, but he's smart enough to realize that fans have always counted on country music to reflect their lives. With "www.memory," the first single from WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU, Jackson sets computer-age lyrics against the most traditional of arrangements, and comes up with a heartbreaking love song that techno-geeks and technophobes alike can enjoy.

Jackson's packed the rest of WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU with a mixture of down-home ditties ("It's Alright To Be A Redneck," "Meat & Potato Man"), and tender, romantic ballads. Listening to him croon "I'm liking how my Jack & water/mixes with your Estee Lauder" (on "Maybe I Should Stay Here") is worth the price of admission alone. But Jackson bites the hand that feeds him on the final track, "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song." This putdown of radio programmers who'd like to see all country songs reduced to feel-good romantic mush is hilarious and, sadly, all too true.

WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU is proof that real country still matters in the age of cyberspace and focus groups--and Jackson's the one you can count on to deliver it. minimize