Tom Russell Band - Poor Man's Dream (1990)

One of Russell's best albums, Poor Man's Dream is dominated by inspired folk/rock performances and by songs that sound like classics that have been around forever. In fact, Russell wrote 11 of the dozen tracks within a few years of the disc's release (though he had help on a few numbers from the likes of Katy Moffatt, Nancy Griffith, and Ian Tyson). Picking standouts on an album this strong isn't easy, but if pressed you might name "Walkin on the Moon," awhich is about falling in love; the melancholy "Spanish Burgundy"; "Gallo del Cielo," about a man trying to win the money to buy back his father's land; and "Navajo Rug," a nostalgic look at old times and an old love. Today many of these songs sound like standards; someday, one suspects, they will be.