Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

One tends to forget that The Beatles, besides being heavily influenced by American soul, were also heavily enamored with country music. Ringo Starr, especially, was a huge fan of the genre, singing lead on the band’s take of “Act Naturally,” Buck Owens tune. Later incarnations of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers picked up on this, as did Pure Prairie League through the Vince Gill days, but I don’t think I have heard a band in quite a while that incorporates rock sensibilities into a faithful country format in the way that Dave Gleason’s Wasted Days does on JUST FALL TO PIECES.

JUST FALL TO PIECES is an intriguing, versatile mix of cry in your beer weepers (“The Good’s Been Gone,” Since You Went Away“), angst-laden peddle steel and fiddle tunes (“Take Your Memory Too”). “Look At The Way You’ve Become,” however, is evocative of The Beatles’ tune “Ticket To Ride,” while the verses of the title track are reminiscent of “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” There’s also a 1950s-style instrumental, “Campin’ With A Cat,” that sounds like a theme for walking down a dark alley, drunk, at 2:30 a.m. The true spirit that haunts JUST FALL TO PIECES is that of Owens. Owens seems to be undergoing a posthumous revival of sorts, with tribute albums slated for release from The Derailers and Dwight Yoakam, among others. The Bakersfield sound that Owens popularized has never really gone away, however, and Gleason breathes new life into it, giving it a fresh spin and vision. If there is a flaw anywhere on JUST FALL TO PIECES, it is on the last track, “Wildfire (In Your Eyes), ” a Poco-influenced track where Gleason’s reach perhaps exceeds his grasp.

It’s impossible to listen to JUST FALL TO PIECES and not have a good time doing so, even during the weepers. And don’t miss the six string and steel call and response on “Neon Rose.” This is great, great music from beginning to (almost) end.