CD REVIEW: LONNIE SPIKER – FIVE – BY CHRISTIAN LAMITSCHKA FOR
COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE AND RADIO SHOW
Nowhere To Go But Crazy
Naked in Spanish
You’ll Always Be My Cinderella
Powder and Paint
Behind the Clown
Beaten Jack and Blue
Paying for This Wall
All Her Memories (Are in Ft Worth)
Haggard All Night
Lovin’ on a Rainy Day
There’s Only One
The First to Say Goodbye
Wish I Had a Home
Those Who Left Too Soon
Right or Wrong
This fifth offering from multi-award winning honky tonk specialist Lonnie Spiker kicks off
just the way any good honky tonk album should with a great shuffle. “Nowhere to Go
But Crazy” brings you the full rich vocals Lonnie is known for sitting nicely over a track
that will make the folks in Texas salivate the way they do for a Lone Star Beer.
Lonnie Spiker might fill a dance floor every night of the week in Texas but this CD shows
a growth of maturity as an artist that suggests he is ready for a spot on the stage of the
biggest venues in country music.
The second track “Naked in Spanish” written with famed Nashville songwriter Gerald
Smith would fit as nicely on any Kenny Chesney album as it does right here and shows
Lonnie’s sense of humor as artist as he plays skillfully with the lyrics to create a catchy
and memorable that will have people leaving the venue happily singing the chorus over
and over.
The surprises here are the ballads with the help of producer Curt Ryle, Lonnie has
found some very powerful songs and written one himself “Those Who Left Too Soon” to
give this album an emotional depth well beyond his previous offerings.
Never let it be said however that this CD lacks what Lonnie is famous for. If you want
honky tonk this album has it in spades. The award winning single “All Her Memories
(Are in Ft Worth)” the multi- award nominated “Haggard All Night”, the Chuck Cusimano
penned “There’s Only One” and another Spiker co-written song “Wish I Had a Home”
will delight dancers from all corners of the globe and may even give inspiration to the
creation of new dance floors which the world needs more of.
Lonnie enlists the help of some of the very best in Nashville to finish out this album. Cowriting
and singing with country music legend Margie Singleton on “Lovin’ on a Rainy
Day” and brining in the all-star band known as the “Swangers” to help him on a classic
Bob Will cover “Right or Wrong” featuring the legendary Hyram Posey on fiddle.
Produced by Curt Ryle at Big Matador Recording using a crack band of session players
Lonnie Spiker has truly made a record that rivals the best that Nashville has ever
produced.