Johnny Bush – Honky Tonic

Johnny Bush’s slowly rising star was shot down in the ’70s by spastic dysphonia, a rare neurological condition that impairs vocal chords. His voice has more recently been reconditioned to a remarkably robust state. Honky Tonic would conceivably thrust him into the upper echelons of country singers if the market for elderly honky-tonk statesmen weren’t so limited. The disc offers fresh treatments of classic country chestnuts such as “What Made Milwaukee Famous”, “Jones On The Jukebox”, and a couple of Ray Price classics, “I’ll Be There” and “Each Time”. Old pal Willie Nelson appears on the last two tracks. “Whiskey River”, Nelson’s signature song, is the only Bush original here; “I Gotta Get Drunk”, a Nelson original, is rather disposable. The presence of fiddler Bobby Flores assures the level of musicianship stays high.