Many people may not have heard of Billy Yates but they will certainly have heard his music. He wrote the George Jones hit songs 'I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair' and 'Choices, plus many more that have been recorded by top country artists.

Billy was born on a working farm in Doniphan, Missouri and got his musical routes from his family.
He had his first hit with 'Flowers' and signed a contract with Columbia but with very little success, so he decided to go Independent like many stars have done, due to the attitude of the major recording labels where country music wasn't the main criteria.

'Down At The Station' gets the album off to a fast moving pace, a story about a man meeting his wandering lover, knowing that as usual it will end in heartache. This is followed by 'What We Don't Have' explaining it doesn't matter what possessions we have, they mean nothing if the relationship doesn't have love.

'Me, Marie' is a nice little western swing type number, which is followed by a few numbers where Billy seems to be reminiscing about the past with 'Daddy's Radio' being one track that I really enjoyed..
Tracks 9, 12 and 13 are nice love songs and the final track 'Let's Go' tells us that at times it is best just to follow our feelings and relax from the normal pressures of life.

The title track sums up perfectly what this CD and Billy Yates are all about 'COUNTRY'.

This is a superb album and there is not a bad track on it. The production is faultless and the musicians have obviously been carefully selected to give this album such a beautiful sound.
The one thing that makes this album stand out from most that I have heard this year is that it is PURE COUNTRY, a rarity these days.

Reviewed by: Don Hay
for Metro Country

E mail: don@metrocountry.co.uk