Nothin' But the Taillights

Clint Black

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1997)
• Original Release Date: July 29, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002X47
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #184,495 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When Clint Black neared the end of his 1995 tour, he realized he had been on the album-tour-album-tour treadmill for seven years without a break. Even Black had to realize that he risked repeating himself and losing the freshness that distinguished his 1989 debut. To his credit, he was smart enough to shut it down for a while--he stayed home for two years and recharged his batteries. Nothin' But the Taillights, released in 1997, is not, despite the wishes of many of us, a return to the hardcore honky-tonk sound of his first album, but it is a top-notch pop-country recording and represents Black's best work since 1992's The Hard Way.

The most obvious key to that achievement is Black's willingness to reach beyond his own insular camp to collaborate with other country-music talents. The singer and his longtime songwriting partner Hayden Nicholas teamed up on five of the new songs, but Black cowrote the seven other songs with new folks, who have injected some new juice into the Black formula. When he wanted to write a sequel to "Cadillac Jack Favor," his real-life saga of a rodeo champion serving time and trying to preserve a marriage while imprisoned on a homicide charge, Black knew he'd need both a woman's perspective and a outsider's viewpoint. Matraca Berg of "Strawberry Wine" fame provided the former, and Marty Stuart, a member in good standing of country-music's outlaw wing, supplied the latter. The resulting bittersweet ballad included both the male and female angles on the story, so it made sense to do it as a duet with labelmate Martina McBride. That song gets the full pop-country treatment, but the singer proves he can also thrive in a stripped-down bluegrass arrangement when he joins Alison Krauss & Union Station on "Our Kind of Love." While he was camped out at home, Black spent a lot of time wood-shedding on the guitar, and he shows off the results by playing a lot of electric guitar as well as acoustic on the new album. No one would mistake Black for Chet Atkins, Steve Wariner, Larry Carlton, Dann Huff, Hayden Nicholas, or Mark Knopfler, but he has improved sufficiently to hold his own with those six gentlemen as they all take guitar solos on "Ode to Chet," a tongue-in-cheek song about learning guitar to impress a young woman.

Nothin' But the Taillights isn't a perfect album, with two tracks lapsing into maudlin schlock that tempts Black into over-singing. Nonetheless, the singer seems reinvigorated by his layoff, his new partnerships, and his new guitar chops even as he's hung on to the best qualities of his early career. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Too Bad, Better Than His Last Two, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This album is considerably better than his last two but still not as good as his first three. I was wondering when Clint was gonna find new writing partners for something different. He teams up with Steve Warnier and Marty Stuart among others for an album that at least sounds more original than One Emotion and No Time To Kill. Martina McBride teamed up with Clint on "Still Holding On" which is considerably better than his duet with Wynonna or even "When I Said I Do" with wife Lisa. The first three singles, the title track, Something That We Do, and The Shoes You're Wearing are all winners that sound fresh. Other songs like "What I Feel Inside", "You Know It All", and "Bitter Side Of Sweet" are also very good. The Chet Atkins song could have deleted the stupid little conversation at the end. Anyway- this is a solid record that any Clint Black fan should have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothin' But Clint, February 20, 2002

By	J. M. Zuurbier (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Clint Black's 1997 album NOTHIN BUT THE TAILLIGHTS proves to be one of his most overall satisfying albums to date. He found success with hits before, but this album provided even more memorable music in his growing CD catalog. The title track is one of his best songs yet, its irresistible in its mix of attitude, country and well sung vocals. The duet with Martina McBride "Still Holdin On" should have been a monster hit, but country didn't warm up to it. Martina and Clint compliment each other well on this song about two lovers who are torn apart, but still holding onto each other, and the love they once had. There are also some excellent ballads on here. "Something That We Do" is a beautiful, heartfelt ballad which is a well deserve hit for Black. Elsewhere, the beautiful "That Something In My Life", "Our Kind of Love" and others prove to be beautiful ballads. There is also other great songs such as the upbeat "Loosen Up My Strings", or the hit "The Shoes You're Wearing". If you've followed Clint up to this album, you know you'll want this, it provides just as much as his previous albums do, beautiful ballads, great uptempo songs, but overall great songs with a voice that is incomparable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clint is awesome on this one, December 19, 1999

By	Ken Schoonover, Jr. (Springdale, AR United States) - See all my reviews

Clint Black is one of my favorite country artists because, with every album he's done, he has never made a record that sounds exactly like the previous one. On Nothin' But The Taillights, his 1997 release, Clint did a couple of things to make sure his music remains fresh--and the result is an album that in my opinion is awesome.

For one thing, Clint and co-producer James Stroud used songs that Clint co-wrote with several different writers. On this record, Clint used five other co-writers in addition to his longtime friend and lead guitarist, Hayden Nicholas. Nicholas was Clint's co-writer on five of the songs, but on Nothin' But The Taillights, Clint also enlisted the help of Steve Wariner, his co-writer on the title song and "You Know It All"; Matraca Berg and Marty Stuart, who co-wrote "Still Holding On" with him; Skip Ewing, his collaborator on "Something That We Do"; and Shake Russell, with whom he co-wrote "You Don't Need Me Now" and "Our Kind Of Love". Clint has always made excellent music, and he's never strayed too far from his country roots. However, Nothin' But The Taillights, with all the different co-writers Clint used on the album, sounds more original than its predecessors--and Clint in my opinion has always made music that is fresh and exciting.

Another thing I like about this record is the musicianship. For the first time, Clint does most of the lead guitar work--and he does a fine job, not just on "Nothin' But The Taillights" but also on "Loosen Up My Strings" and the concluding number, the bluesy "Bitter Side Of Sweet". In addition, Clint plays some great harmonica parts on that song. Also, Clint invited some other noted musicians and singers to join him. Alison Krauss and Union Station back him up on "Our Kind Of Love"; Martina McBride duets with him on "Still Holding On"; and noted guitarists Wariner, Chet Atkins, Larry Carlton, and Mark Knopfler, along with Nicholas, join Clint in "Ode To Chet", a tribute to Atkins.

I have to hand it to Clint Black. He never makes the same kind of record every time, yet he always comes up with excellent music. Nothin' But The Taillights is definitely a five star performance.