You don’t hire T Bone Burnett to produce a vanity project.
Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for playing a ragged country singer in “Crazy Heart”, but his aspiration to do it for real is more than fantasy. His new album
is credible, distinguished by talented players and songs from fine Americana music writers. It’s also uneven and not particularly interesting.
The album starts strong with “What A Little Bit of Love Can Do,” a jangly tune written by the late Stephen Bruton. If Buddy Holly had lived to 2011, this would have been his new single, “It’s So Easy” revisited.
From there the album shifts into a different gear, dominated by slow and even draggy songs (the interminable “Slow Boat.”)
The best tracks are John Goodwin’s contributions “Maybe I Missed the Point” and the Guy Clark-flavored “The Quest,” along with Greg Brown’s “Blue Car.”
There’s a lot of talent here, including guest vocals by Rosanne Cash, Ryan Bingham and Sam Phillips, but “Jeff Bridges” the album just isn’t in the same league as Jeff Bridges the actor.
