K.T. Oslin Albums (5)
'Live Close by, Visit Often'
Release Date 3/6/2001
Tracks 12
Label BNA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Describing the collection of songs on Oslin's first album in five years as diverse is an understatement. It's always nice to hear from Oslin, but this comeback is bittersweet. Too eclectic to call country, too divergent to call pop, the 12 songs on Live Close By, Visit Often are an undefinable mix of various musical styles. Perhaps it was the influence of the Mavericks' frontman, Raul Malo, who served as co-producer. Either way, music doesn't have to be definable or categorized to make it good -- or even interesting -- and Oslin's unmediated vocals are always a pleasure to listen to, no matter what she's singing about. ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After quadruple bypass surgery in 1995 and a lengthy recording hiatus, the '80s lady came back in 1996 with updated yesteryear's music, an album of dance songs. Rockers and waltzes too. K.T. Oslin has always shown a degree of quality in her song selection, but she may have topped her own exacting standards here. Every song is a gem and no one track is exactly alike. The only issue is that this was marketed as a country album when the Nashville element isn't terribly conspicuous. Webb Pierce's "Pathway of Teardrops" is like a yearning mellow calypso, "Hold Whatcha Got" rocks so hard it could have shot straight from the Jerry Lee Lewis songbook, and Irving Berlin's "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" could fit snug into Maurice Chevalier's act. The closest Oslin comes to Nashville here is Jimmie Rodgers' "Miss the Mississippi and You," where Oslin gets in a little light yodeling, the hard-driving "Silver Tongue and Goldplated Lies," "My Baby Came Back," and "Down in the Valley," which she translated into blues. But, Oslin's greatest strength is her soulful ballad renderings, and she didn't fail to deliver them on Richard Thompson's "A Heart Needs a Home," the Delmore Brothers' "Sand Mountain Blues," and Wilma Burgess' classic "Tear Time." ~ Bil Carpenter, All Music Guide
'Love in a Small Town'
Release Date 11/6/1990
Tracks 10
Label RCA Records
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Oslin built this loosely defined concept album from 10 years of song, including the first one she wrote. Oslin sings of the guises romance wears in the small-town South: Nelda Jean Prudie waxes nostalgic about weekend dances of her Texas youth; a young girl enthuses about a pick-up-driving Romeo named Cornell Crawford; and people searching for perfect partner wind up lonely. Love in a Small Town also contains a low-key version of the 1946 standard "You Call Everybody Darling" and a cover of Mickey And Sylvia's "Love Is Strange." Oslin's coyness isn't always flattering, and the arrangements sometimes border on a new countrypolitan, but those moments are rare. On most of Small Town, Oslin displays her best assets: her worldly sensibility and complex maturity. ~ Brian Mansfield, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With her breakthrough album 80's Ladies, K.T. Oslin established a new voice in country music -- that of an upscale, middle-aged divorcee, trying to cope with the turmoils with life. The subject matter basically remained the same, but it was given a new viewpoint -- Oslin sounded like no other singer, in terms of viewpoint, in the late '80s. 80's Ladies suffered from a few weak tracks, but on the whole, it was an exciting, fresh change. ~ Rodney Batdorf, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
K.T. Oslin was at the height of her popularity when she recorded This Woman, which went platinum thanks to such major country hits as "This Woman," "Didn't Expect It to Go Down This Way," and "Hold Me." Definitely a late bloomer, the lady with the white gloves reached her commercial peak in her mid-'40s and was 45 when this album soared to the top of the country charts. Oslin is far from a honky tonker, and This Woman was hardly recorded with country purists in mind. The title song could have been done by Fleetwood Mac, while "Hold Me" and "Jealous" wouldn't sound out of place on an Eagles album. Make no mistake: "She Don't Talk Like Us No More," "Hey Bobby," and "Round the Clock Lovin'" have as much to do with pop and rock as they do with country. But for all its slickness, This Woman is a generally appealing release that successfully balances commercial and artistic considerations. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
