If you want an album that pays tribute to classic country songs in only a way David Ball can, then this is an album you should buy. It was produced by Dan Frizsell and David Ball and also contains one new song ("Please Feed The Jukebox").
"Pick Me Up On Your Way Down," written by Harlan Howard, is about a man who has seen a woman he used to be with turn into someone completely different. He knows that she'll become bored of the glitzy lifestyle and he wants to be there when she does. "Underneath you're still the same. Yeah I know they're to blame," he says. I'm used to Patsy Cline's slower version of "Stop The World And Let Me Off," but David decided to give some life to the song by performing it faster than usual. It also has more of a country music sound than other versions I've heard.
"Heartaches By The Number," another Harlan Howard song, has more of a two-step beat to it and although "Sweet Dreams" is slower, it also makes you want to grab your loved one and move across the dance floor. After those two songs, David performs a song he wrote entitled "Please Feed The Jukebox." If you hear this one in a honky-tonk you'll want to keep dancing along with the upbeat tune. It has a sound you would be hard-pressed not to like and gives a nod to singers like Ernest Tubb and other classic artists.
What I like most about Heartaches By The Number is the fact David has taken classic songs and performed them a new way without making everything too modernized and "hokey." You can tell he respects the songs and wants listeners to as well.
Track List
- Pick Me Up On Your Way Down
- Stop The World And Let Me Off
- Heartaches By The Number
- Sweet Dreams
- Please Feed The Jukebox
- There Stands The Glass
- Faded Love
- What's Going On In Your World
- Half As Much
- Please Help Me I'm Falilng
- I'm Walking The Dog