Family Tradition

Producers: Ray Ruff, Jimmy Bowen, Phil Gernhard.
This is part of Curb's Bocephus series.
Audio Remasterer: Craig White.
FAMILY TRADITION is state-of-the-art late-'70s country music. In other words, this isn't exactly the sort of album that screams "Are you ready for some football?" Regardless, this is one of Williams' best, if least characteristic, efforts.
The strongest song is "I've Got Rights," a revenge fantasy written from the perspective of a man whose wife and child were murdered by somebody who later beat the rap on a technicality. It's powerful stuff, hardly conducive to getting rowdy. Elsewhere, Williams turns in a soulful reading of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody," does a slow and funky version of Bobby Fuller's oft-covered "I Fought the Law" (a smart choice, given Williams' public persona), and takes some good-natured swipes at his Nashville detractors in the title song.