Things Go Better With Love

Regardless of whether Things Go Better with Love ever appears on CD, you'll want the original vinyl edition. The cover folds out to create a three-foot-high poster of Jeannie C. Riley in all her backwoods babe-aliciousness, clad in silver go-go boots and a glitzy red dress shorter than a Pentecostal preacher's patience. And you can judge this record by its cover, because Things Go Better with Love is big, bold, and brash. There's a bizarrely right-wing feminist anthem called "The Rib" that celebrates women's lib while placating the bruised egos of menfolk everywhere, as well as "The Back Side of Dallas," a similarly misguided attempt to recapture the biting social satire of "Harper Valley P.T.A." Only harebrained ballads like the title cut make any real sense — which is fine, because Jeannie's a lover, not a fighter.