Wilburn Brothers Show with Loretta Lynn & Harold Morrison

Personnel: Harold Morrison, Loretta Lynn.
Liner Note Author: Laurence Zwisohn.
Recording information: Bradley's Barn, Mt. Juliet, TN (12/17/1965).
Although the Wilburn Brothers have about half the tracks on this 1966 album, it's more of a variety show hosted by the Wilburn Brothers than it is a pure Wilburn Brothers project. The idea behind this was to re-create an episode of their television show for an album, including not just songs by the brothers, but also a couple by Loretta Lynn; a couple by Ernest Tubb; a number on which Tubb and the brothers perform together, and, least essentially, a comic song and monologue by Harold Morrison. There's some between-song patter and applause, but it's not from an actual broadcast, having been recorded with producer Owen Bradley at Bradley's Barn studio on December 17, 1965. Its piecemeal nature might make this a peripheral item even if you're a fan of one or more of the artists, but this is pretty good mid-'60s country with a low-key, homespun, honky-tonk flavor, avoiding the overproduction heard on many Nashville sessions of the time. Lynn's songs ("The Home You're Tearing' Down" and "Look Who's Lonely") are the standouts, but the Wilburn Brothers do nice, close harmonies on their somewhat folkier material. ~ Richie Unterberger