Dead Girl Walking

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Like Tammy Wynette, Lorrie Morgan has always been good at translating the pain of her life into song. And what a roller-coaster of a life it's been. Born Loretta Lynn Morgan, her father, George, was a country crooner and Grand Ole Opry member (since his death in 1975, she's released two tracks with him dubbed in). Her second husband Keith Whitley, an incredibly bright light in country, died of alcohol poisoning in 1989, leaving her and their young son. Morgan has gone bankrupt, battled health woes, dated famous men (actor/Senator Fred Thompson; NFL star Troy Aikman) and, during the making of this, her 14th solo album, lost her longtime producer Richard Landis. She completed the project in his honor, and it's a callback to the romanticized Nashville Sound of the past. Tracks like "Days Like These" are go-down-easy countrypolitan with glissando and smooth choral vocals, while "Me and Tequila" is the kind of slow burn that recalls the classic '80s radio days of stars like Dottie West. Morgan shows a keen sense of adult-contemporary pop balladry on the title track, written with Kelly Lang, who has several credits on the album. With a power bridge, hot-licks guitar solo and memorable melody, it's so Diane Warren-like you can imagine Cher embracing it. "I Almost Called Him Baby by Mistake," written by Larry Gatlin, likewise goes for throwback '80s-style production, with a sax solo that's  like a hot knife cutting through butter. Morgan sounds great on a pretty faithful cover of Ashley Monroe's sexy soul-meets-country "Hands on You" (which happens to be co-written by Morgan's fourth husband, producer Jon Randall). She smolders on a cover of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," wisely pulls back on the high-drama torch song "Mirror Mirror," and soars on the chorus of "What Will I Do," an old-style country weepie. But it's got nothing on "I Think You're the Greatest," a ballad co-written by the singer's brother Marty Morgan and told from the POV of a dog. It's like "Cat's in the Cradle" for pet owners. "Mama came in, shaking her fist/ Pointing at the mud on the floor/ Tail 'tween my legs, I tried to pretend/ I've been a real good boy/ Sent me to the dog house/ Took away my treats/ Called me every name in the book," Morgan sings. "'Til you calm down/ I just lay around and give you that look/ 'Cause I think you're the greatest/ Even when you put me in my crate ... it melts my heart each time you call my name." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz