Search - Kendalls :: Love Is a Long Hard Road

Highly pleasing reissue of latter-day Kendalls LP

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/16/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By the time of this late-80s recording, this father-daughter duo had already hit their peak popularity on the charts (documented nicely on Varese's 1999 collection "16 Greatest Hits") with breakouts like 1977's "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" and 1984's "Thank God for the Radio." Jeannie's lead vocals rendered in a fetching, high-lonesome voice, blended magically with her father's baritone.While producer Buddy Killan (who worked with Doug Kershaw, Joe Tex, and many others) moved Jeannie more to the foreground for the sessions that resulted in this album, the familial harmonies are still the music's selling point. The mix of classics (including Buck Owens' "Crying Time," Harlan Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," and Felice & Boudleaux Bryant's "Bye Bye Love") and then-contemporary songs from the likes of Max D. Barnes (including the fine title track, and a reworking of the Kendalls' earlier hit "Thank God for the Radio") and Kevin Welch ("I'd Rather Dance With You") show how broadly the duo's hard-country harmonies could succeed.Though the album's chart success was minor (a cover of Don Gibson's "Blue Blue Day" reached #69), this is a perfect example of how artists can remain vital even as the spotlight of popularity fades. It's especially impressive that the Kendalls' and their producer didn't chase after commercial success by changing their sound. Instead, they retained the integrity of their vocals, loaded up the tracks with fiddle, pedal steel and twangy guitars, and produced one of the best albums of their career. Hats off to Varese for rescuing this one from the vault!"