music review

Jackson: A 'Good Time' will be had by y'all

Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic

Alan Jackson explored new territory on Like Red on a Rose, his stylized 2006 album produced by Alison Krauss, but he's closer to his twangy roots on Good Time.

When you can spin a country yarn with the charm that Jackson shows on Good Time songs such as "Right Where I Want You" and "1976," there's no need to mess with the procedure. The former is a delicate waltz about a wary man who finds love with a good woman, an idea encapsulated in a title that's actually a sly lyrical twist.

On that song, and many others here, Jackson wisely sticks to old-school country staples, a keening pedal steel guitar, some sweet fiddles and not too much else to get in the way. On "1976," he kicks the tempo up a few notches for a nostalgic tune that manages to explore the past without the heavy-handed preaching that Brooks & Dunn seem to embrace on their trips down memory lane. Instead, the bouncy tempo makes the song cheerful in the "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" mold:

"8-track tapes were still in style, and Elvis was still alive," Jackson sings. "Wonder Woman sure looked fine, Bionic Man was still prime time; and that girl I liked, we kept trying 'til we got it right."

Although Jackson isn't collaborating with a high-profile bluegrass star this time, these 17 songs produced by Keith Stegall feature the kind of stylistic twists that one might have expected out of Jackson's last album. There's a dandy bluegrass nod on "Long Long Way," a frisky ditty with solos for fiddle banjo and drums. The love song "Listen to Your Senses" follows the same trail, with a mandolin spotlight.

In another turn, the opening title track brushes ever-so-gently against the corner of Southern Rock; this is cool even if the song is too long at 5 minutes.

At other points, Jackson drifts too far into the melodramatic, on the soft, sad ballad "Sissy," about a woman "who flew up to heaven on the wings of angels."

Such missteps are easy to forgive when Jackson launches into a weeper such as "If You Want to Make Me Happy."

"If you want to make me happy," Jackson says, "Pour me a bourbon on the rocks and play every sad song on the jukebox."

When Jackson does a sad song, it's still reason for celebration.

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