#20

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With 40 years of musical experience and 20 albums behind him, Texan Joe Paul Nichols releases his newest offering simply called #20. An excellent vocalist and musician, Joe Paul Nichols performed on the Cowtown Hoedown at the Majestic Theatre in Fort Worth in the late 50's and on the Dallas based Big "D" Jamboree during the 1960's. In 1970 Joe Paul formed his own band The Five Pennies and today has one of the original line-up Royce Turney still playing bass with him.

#20 finds a wide and varied selection of country, western swing, cowboy songs and gospel numbers with seven new songs and five standards in the offering. The slow "Your Love Comes To Visit" starts us off in fine western swing style before continuing with a Marty Robbins styled "I Still Remember El Paso". The heart-rending "Mama, I Miss You So" brings a lump to the throat with a song that stirs up memories of a mother's love. The clarity of fine baritone vocals and the quality of the musicians involved is surmountable and underscores the ever-high standard that Joe Paul Nichols is well respected for. The legendary Hoot Hester plays acoustic guitar and fiddle as well as co-producing the album with Nichols. Dawn Sears who joined Vince Gill when he last performed at Manchester's Apollo theatre some 7-8 years ago aids by supplying vibrant background vocals.

Standing strong, "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold" will probably be associated with Bill Monroe, but was also recorded by the likes of Elvis, Merle Haggard, Jim & Jessie and many others, with Joe Paul offering a great version here. Likewise another early number to be found is "Love Letters In The Sand" a big hit on the pop charts for Pat Boon. The old style cowboy culture stands as proud as a dusty pair of cowboy boots with Hoot Hester's "The Gun" taking us back to the cowboy ballads. The patriotic "There's A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" denotes the strong feeling in America during these highly troubled times that the world is to going through. Joe Paul is a strong supporter of gospel music and brings #20 to a wonderful close with the gospelesqued "I Know He Can" soaring high above the clouds.

I've been reviewing Joe Paul Nichols' albums for the past 4 -5 years and find #20 to be one of the best albums released by Joe Paul. A richly textured album full of the traditions of what country music has long stood for, #20 is an album not to be missed!!!

www.joepaulnichols.com