James House - Days Gone By (1994)

Between the traditional honky-tonk of Randy Travis and the raucous country-rock of Travis Tritt lies a middle ground of country-pop. At its worst, this is sentimental, easy-listening music--it's as if Barry Manilow had added a steel guitar. At its best, though, as in the hands of a Rodney Crowell or a Kathy Mattea, country-pop marries the storytelling craft of Nashville with the harmonic sophistication of the Beatles. Crowell is the obvious model on Days Gone By, James House's third attempt to make the transition from songwriter to artist. He doesn't quite rise to Crowell's high standards, but House comes close enough to make this a thoroughly enjoyable example of commercial country-pop. Like Crowell, House is a great admirer of Roy Orbison. The best song on House's new album, Little by Little, was obviously inspired by the operatic crooner in shades and it builds unstoppably from tentative efforts to forget an old lover to a big, climactic confession of undying love. Orbison's influence can also be heard in the brooding obsessions of such House compositions as "Silence Makes a Lonesome Sound" and "Until You Set Me Free." Producer Don Cook, who was never bashful about building a big wall of sound with the Mavericks or Brooks & Dunn, gives these songs the Orbison-like grandeur they require. No one would ever mistake House's voice for Orbison's, however. House does his songs justice with a solid tenor, but he has neither the powerful instrument nor the inimitable style that separate the special singers from the pack. Days Gone By is a useful showcase for a talented songwriter and a reliable performer, but songs like "Little by Little" and the title cut need someone like Raul Malo or Chris Isaak who can give these tunes the Orbison-like vocal they deserve. --Geoffrey Himes