Track Listing

1. Gotta Get Up Every Morning
2. Darlin' I'll Do Anything You Say
3. I Hung It Up
4. I Want to Hear It from You
5. Semi-Crazy - Junior Brown, Red Simpson
6. Hong Kong Blues
7. Venom Wearin' Denim
8. Parole Board
9. Joe the Singing Janitor
10. Surf Medley

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36451 in Music
• Released on: 1996-05-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
Almost every article ever written about Junior Brown has compared him to Ernest Tubb and Jimi Hendrix. Brown does sing in the bottomless barroom baritone of Tubb and does pick his guit-steel (his invention, a combination of Telecaster guitar and a tabletop steel guitar) as if he were Hendrix in a brim-turned, straw cowboy hat. What few observers point out is that Brown writes songs like Roger Miller. That gift for exaggerated lyrics is more obvious than ever on Brown's third full-length album, "Semi-Crazy." Brown is less interesting when he gets serious, as on the sentimental romantic plea "Darlin' I'll Do Anything You Say." No matter what he plays, though, Brown always entertains with his buttery, deep-voiced purr and his sudden bursts of picking virtuosity. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

REAL country, REAL country guitar - no fake cowpoke!
In a country scene where we are deluged with people rewriting '70s Fleetwood Mac songs and singing them with phony country accents over backdrops created by studio musicians and ProTools, this guy stands out from the dull Nashville Garth/Shania clones and shames them all with his down-home songwriting and fiendish guitar playing. I docked this one star for the fact that it's too damn short; 35 minutes of this guy is definitely NOT enough. Junior is a walking encyclopedia of 50s and early 60s country and rock styles, but the amazing thing is that he manages to invest them all with his own wryly humorous twist. Even on the depressing ballads, like "I Want To Hear It From You," and "Parole Board," he manages to maintain a sincerity that carries these songs through, where other artists would simply sound maudlin and contrived.

The insanely stellar guitar work can't go without mention. He's like Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant all in one body, and is probably one of the wittiest guitar players I've ever heard. The things he does with the lap steel (NOT TABLETOP STEEL, thanks very much) neck on his dual-neck monstrosity are worth your attention alone. Never mind the lightning quick regular guitar leads and fills, which leave a lot of what passes for guitar playing these days in the dust.

To sum up, if you like REAL country music, Junior Brown is your man. If you are sick of homogenized, synthesized, syrupy phony country created by record companies to sell units to overweight sleepy yuppies, Junior Brown is the perfect antidote.

Very, very good.
I saw Junior play at Bumbershoot festival this week, expecting a blues show. Luckily I got right up front, against the crowd barriers and I ended up hearing a helluva a show. Immediately I went and bought Semi Crazy from the music booth next to the stage (and got it signed). I was expecting more guitar--because with two or three of the guitar solos found on "I Hung It Up" on *every* of his live songs, it was hard not to. Less guitar on this one, but an excellent album nonetheless.

Ignore the listener from Massachusettes. "Venim Wearin' Denim" has probably the best lyrics on the whole album. I dare you to find wryer words on any song. (Allusions to snakes throughout: "She'll tell you lies with beady eyes / On a big, long fork-ed tongue. If you give that gal a diamond ring, / you'll get a diamondback. / She just denim wearin' venim, boy, she's always making tracks."

His baritone voice is wonderful to listen to and the guitar is amazing. Don't let the term "country" turn you off. I'm not a country fan at all and was expecting Junior to be a bluesman. My musical interests are Dylan, the Dead, Santana, Waits, etc.... This is a wonderful surprise that COUNTRY can sound GOOD.

This album is reccommended, but if you are aiming for more guitar, get "Guit With It." (It's next on MY list.)

Track # 10 is worth the price of this CD
If you like 60's instrumental "Surf Music", then purchase this CD just for track #10, the Surf medly. I first heard this rendition on XM satellite radio and immediately went to the display screen to see who it was. I immediately purchased this CD, even though I am not a "country/western" music fan.

Great recording with excellent steel guitar playing!