The 25th Anniversary Album

Fair or unfair, Tommy Cash was always destined to be compared to his brother Johnny Cash. That's a hell of a lot to live up to, but while Tommy doesn't have his sibling's track record, he is an excellent singer in his own right. The early 1990s found him on the small, Miami-based Playback label, for which he recorded his impressive though little-known The 25th Anniversary Album. In contrast to the very pop-flavored country that had been ubiquitous in the 1980s, cuts like "Old Memories Are Hard to Lose," "All By My Lonesome" and "Too Little, Too Late" are pure, unapologetic honky tonk. Pop considerations aren't nonexistent on this CD, but they certainly aren't paramount either. To be sure, Tommy sounds a lot like his brother, but when the siblings form a duet on "Guess Things Happen That Way," seasoned listeners will be able to tell them apart. For one thing, Tommy's voice is a bit deeper. Uniting Tommy with Johnny, Tom T. Hall and George Jones, the single "Thoughts On the Flag" addresses the flag-burning controversy of 1990 and expresses patriotism without being jingoistic. It's ridiculous that an album employing those legends as guests, as well as Connie Smith, was generally ignored by country radio.