In a New Dimension/If the Whole World Stopped Lovin'

Personnel: Roy Drusky (vocals); Jerry Kennedy (guitar, dobro, sitar); Harold Bradley, Ray Edenton (guitar); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Buddy Harman (drums).
Liner Note Author: Alan Cackett.
Recording information: Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (1965-1966).
Photographer: Craig Baguley.
Any singer who earned the nickname "the Perry Como of country music" isn't concerned about either authenticity or grit, and such is the case with Roy Drusky, a country-pop singer who racked up hits in the '60s. Hux's 2013 two-fer In a New Dimension/If the Whole World Stopped Lovin' pairs his two 1966 albums for Mercury, neither of which has his biggest hits but both are appealingly luxurious easy listening albums, so smooth they almost slide out of country classification and are simply straight-up middle-of-the-road pop. At times, Drusky's warm tones recall those of Burl Ives, but there isn't any folk here at all; it's all sweet, melodic pop and country, songs that are appealing for their immaculate construction and Drusky's easy delivery. The songs are either familiar -- "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Unchained Melody," "Almost Persuaded," "Look into My Teardrops" -- or are state-of-the-art craftsman pop of the '60s, never quite transcending their time but also representing some of the attributes of the era, as the songs are sturdy and the productions are appealingly robust. There is comfort in the polished, rounded edges of the two albums and Drusky is similarly soft and comforting, turning this two-fer into an enjoyable totem of what the middle of the country road sounded like circa 1966. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine