Johnny Bush Albums (9)
'Kashmere Gardens Mud: A Tribute to Houston's Country Soul'
Release Date 3/6/2007
Tracks 16
Label Icehouse Music
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What The Critics Say
Although he's fairly well known in country music, it's Texas that's the heart and soul of Johnny Bush's sound, and here he pays tribute to his hometown of Houston, starting with the area where he grew up, Kashmere Gardens, on the opening title cut. Released in conjunction with his autobiography, Kashmere Gardens Mud covers the spectrum of Texas music, from shuffle to Western swing and beyond. It's definitely a mixed bag, with several guests, like old pal Willie Nelson, Floyd Tillman, and Dale Watson, and a crack band including Johnny Gimble and Buddy Emmons. There's no doubt that Bush, his voice much deeper with age, is happier with the uptempo material, and he should have stayed away from "Pancho and Lefty," to which he brings no real feeling. However, what he does cover is a set of Texas classics by artists like Moon Mullican, Nelson, and Hank Locklin, although he steers clear of his own biggest hit, curiously. What he's created, really, is a little curiosity. It's country, beyond a shadow of a doubt, but well away from any kind of mainstream, a disc made more as a labor of love than anything, a throwback (and there's nothing wrong with that) that can be lovely at times (as on "Bloody Mary Morning"). You do have to wonder, though, about the mishmash that's "Kashmere Gardens Reprise," and seems tacked on to fill out time. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
'Texas on a Saturday Night'
Release Date 2/16/2007
Tracks 15
Label Heart of Texas
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'Texas State of Mind'
Release Date 7/11/2006
Tracks 13
Label BGM Music Media
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What The Critics Say
Legend has it that singer and guitarist Johnny Bush couldn't get a record deal in the early days because he sounded too much like his boss at the time, Ray Price. Sadly, Ray Price stopped sounding like Ray Price around the time of big orchestral pop hits like "For the Good Times," but Bush has kept his honky tonk roots at the forefront of a long and productive career. Texas State of Mind is the Houston native's umpteenth album, and it's filled with teary ballads like "Has It Been That Bad for You?" and good-hearted shuffles like "I Can't See Texas from Here." The arrangements are timeless country, free of Nashville meddling and pop crossover attempts, so the songs are filled with quicksilver fiddle runs, steel guitar solos, and good old-fashioned tack piano, and Bush is in typically fine voice throughout. Often, it's a mild insult to say that an album just offers more of the same, but in this case, it's the highest recommendation. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
'Green Snakes'
Release Date 11/13/2001
Tracks 15
Label Texas Music Group
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What The Critics Say
Johnny Bush has been around Texas forever -- or maybe it just seems that way. Certainly, the man with the massive tenor has been a legend since he started up as a frontman in the '60s, and the renewed popularity of his 1972 song, "Green Snakes," about a man with the DTs has brought him back into the spotlight and pulled a new disc from him. He's re-recorded that classic and offers material both old -- like "Driving Nails (In My Coffin)," which was a hit for Floyd Tillman -- and much newer, like the very funny "Dos Tacos." Bush sticks to the straightforward Texas honky tonk style that's been his trademark throughout his career, even on the gospel tune "Glory Train" (which is followed, ironically, by the adultery ballad "Cheatin' Fire," a wonderful duet with Leona Williams). Particularly interesting are his spoken reminiscences of the late, great Moon Mullican, coming right between Bush's versions two songs associated with Mullican: "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry," given a rocked-out Western swing treatment, and "The Pipeliner Blues," performed in neo- rockabilly fashion to round out the disc. But that's far from being all -- a bonus EP contains nine songs demoed in 1965 by Bush (who was already 30 then), with friends Willie Nelson and steel guitarist Tommy Morrell. The sound quality's far from great -- calling it muddy is kind -- but the songs themselves are wonderful, especially "Between Heartbreak and Dawn." It's country music for a time before country was big, raw, heartfelt, and vibrant -- like Bush himself. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is a repackaged version of Time Changes Everything, an album with a curious history. It represented a comeback attempt for Johnny Bush after years of vocal problems. He organized a session in which his regular band, the Bandoleros, was augmented by a horn section to record a tribute to Bob Wills and cut it at Willie Nelson's studio in the early '90s. Unfortunately, that was just when Nelson experienced his troubles with the I.R.S., which seized all the tapes at the studio, Bush's included. It took two years to free the material for release, and then it was little heard. This is a second attempt to present it. After all that trouble, it turns out to be a brief, sturdy, minor effort, a welcome celebration of Wills that begins and ends with tributes to the great Western swing bandleader, leading off with Merle Haggard's "Don't Sing Me No Songs About Texas" and closing with "Bob Said It 'Aw' (And Called It Western Swing)." In between, Wills favorites such as "Time Changes Everything" (a duet with Nelson) and "South of the Border" are revived in appropriately lively fashion. The big-voiced Bush makes a good frontman for this music, and the performances are obviously heartfelt. There are many tributes to Wills, and this is not the best one, but it is good and enjoyable. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
At age 65, a rejuvenated Johnny Bush continues to purvey styles of country music that had begun to go out of fashion before he was 25. He begins with "The Same Ole Me" (aka "The Same Old Me"), which was a number one country hit for Ray Price in 1959, and which he no doubt played as part of Price's backup band in the early '60s. Going even further back, there is a version of the 1950 hit "I'll Never Be Free," originally sung as a duet by Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford, here performed by Bush with Leona Williams. (Just to reiterate the point, there is a second version of the song included as a hidden track, complete with scratchy sound as if transferred from an old single.) Bush isn't always reviving 1950s chestnuts, but his choices among more recent material reflect his vintage sensibilities, notably on the title song, a ghost story in which a man travels back to a barroom where Hank Williams and Bob Wills are holding forth on the bandstand. In the past or the present, Bush never gets too far away from a bar, and the songs are drenched in alcohol and tears, though they often proceed at a danceable pace. Despite the vocal problems of the past, Bush is in good voice here, especially for his years, and anyone with a taste for old-time honky tonk country is advised to have a listen. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Johnny Bush's second album after a 1994 comeback from an obscure neurological disorder that affected his voice finds the honky-tonk singer challenging his voice with a set of uptempo, tenor-led songs. In the opener, a Ray Price nugget named "Please Talk to My Heart," Bush places his voice front-and-center, proving it's just as expressive as it ever was, and possibly a bit stronger. Originals like "The Cheatin' Line" and "It Sure Feels Good (Not to Feel So Bad)" show no concessions to contemporary country, and Bush's backing band -- including Floyd Domino on piano, Jimmy Day on steel guitar, and Bobby Caldwell on electric guitar -- forge a clean, crisp honky-tonk that accentuates every song. Talk to My Heart isn't just an excellent comeback album, it's a superb country album. ~ Earl Simmons, All Music Guide
