got into High School and was into hard rock bands and Southern Rock I was still a lover of classic country, from Marty to Haggard, Jones and Waylon. Of course, comparing Donnie to Marty Robbins isn’t much of a stretch. His dad, Don Winters, was Marty’s harmony singer, and Donnie and his brother Dennis ended up working with Robbins. “Shake Hands with a Loser,” written by Don
Winters, is country to the bone, and “Do Me a Favor” countinues the classic country sound with a break up song set against a crying pedal steel. The lyrics are as great as the musuc. Donnie is quite a songwriter. “Do me a favor/Turn my picture to the wall and in just one last favor forget me once and for all.” You can actually feel the pain that the
character in the song is feeling. Now that is songwriting. “Sittin’, Derinkin’ and Thinkin’” was written
by Donnie and his brother Dennis. With pickin’ reminicent of Chet Atkins and a vocal that kind of brings to mind Toy Caldwell, it’s a good ‘un. There are just so many great songs here, I have honestly not heard a coun- try album of this magnitude in many moons. The family thing continues with a co-write
between Donnie and his cousin Randy Tucker called “Cowboys Go Down Brave.” I could easily run out of positive adjectives in this re- view, so I am gonna take a lesson from my own Daddy - “keep it simple, Michael.” So I shall. It’s simply another great country song. The instrumental “Mexicali Boogie” has the
perfect song title - with its Mexican beat and Donnie’s incredible salsa drenched acoustic lead. Get up and dance! Oh and “Shotgun Rider” has been a Winters Brothers favorite for years now, co-written by the brothers, and given a fresh new reading here. A classic Southern Rock/Country tune. “Dusty Winds,” penned by Joe Babcock, is
another song reminicent of Marty Robbins, and “Misery in My Soul” is a Winters brothers song with an original Marshall Tucker Band
vibe. I have been hearing Donnie play and sing
his song “Rosita” for years now, and the recorded version is my favorite cut on the whole album. The vocal is beautiful, and Don- nie channeled Papa Don with a perfect yodel at the end of the song. Again, Marty Robbins would have sang the living daylights out of this one, but it could have never beat Don- nie’s version. This is D0nnie Winters at his very finest. The country just keeps coming with “Urban
Renewal,” “I Ain’t Givin’ Up,” “Five More Minutes,” and another personal favorite, “If I’m Lucky.” Donnie returns with more yodeling with the
classic Sons of the Pioneers cowboy tune “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” performed solo by Donnie on vocals and acoustic guitar. Boy howdy, does that song take me back to my youth, the days of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. (And Gabby Hayes!) If an instrumnental can envoke tears, “Buf-
falo Road” will. Its a beautiful solo acoustic tune in memory of Donnie’s son Ryan, and a lovely tribute. Heartfelt. Honest. Real Country. Real Family deserves to me
heard by everyone who grew up country, and all who have missed the “cry in your beer” one minute and then “get up and line dance” the next true country music. Like David Allan Coe said. “If this ain’t country, I’ll kiss your (expli- tive deleted)!”
-Michael Buffalo Smith Various Artists
The Best of KUDZOO (Kudzoo) Kudzoo Magazine
has assembled quite a fine collection of tracks for their first ever compilation CD.
Any profits from sales of the CD will go to-
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