STEVE Young, first and foremost, is a songwriter. He wrote the classic outlaw country song, Lonesome, On'ry and Mean.
Waylon Jennings recorded an album of his tunes to kick along the outlaw country movement and even the Eagles had a hit with his tune Seven Bridges Road.
Long Time Rider was released on cassette only in the mid-1980s, though two songs, Have a Laugh and My Love, were completely reworked for his Switchblades of Love (1993) CD.
The songs on Rider, in Young's style, are real, possibly autobiographical, about failure, excess, loss and, yes, redemption.
They are beautifully crafted and delivered by a master troubadour.
There's sparseness, a musical cinemascope of open spaces, like the lonesome road on the cover, stretching out into the distance on a sun-setting plain.
This is Americana, big and wide; the songs shimmering and moving. A resurrected gem.
More info
