Search - Ranch Romance :: Blue Blazes

Western Cowgirl Swing with a wild edge.

08/29/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used "Blue Blazes" as my test CD when I was shopping for a boom box, and every time I played it, the sales person nearby would go, "Wow! Who is THAT?" "Hey, it's Ranch Romance," I would reply, and they'd say, "Gosh, never heard of them." The band is now gone as the western wind, but "Blue Blazes" plays on as one of the most delicious, infectious, hot, funky, soulful, and swingin' "real country music" albums I've ever heard. Their sound combines flavors of Swing, Tex Mex, Cajun, Women's music, and Rock. Unlike many other Western Swing groups (e.g. Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel), which sometimes sound a bit hokey, overly sweet, or slick, Ranch Romance dances with spurs on their boots, and the sparks fly.It was very sad that Ranch Romance broke up after only recording three albums. This, their second album, is their most perfect, with every song being compositionally strong and a wonderful musical world unto itself.The title track, "Blue Blazes", is one of the hottest Western Swing tunes anyone has recorded. Other swing tunes on the album include "Heartaches, "What's Wrong with You", "Cuttin' A Rug", and "Trouble". Blues tunes include "Indeed I Do", and "Lost Heart". "Buckaroo" has a Bo Didley beat, while "Arizona Moon" is a romantic heartache waltz, "Racin' Burnin' Bridges" is a hard driving polka, and "Babydoll" is a two-step.The album closes with a song I understood was about K.D. Laing's life on the road. It takes the listener on to the stage with her before her thousands of fans, and then back into the loneliness of her empty motel room after the show, and evokes the longing for home and family in a stunningly beautiful performance."