Big Boss Man

The Kentucky Headhunters exploded on the scene during the late '80s and early '90s, with such releases as 1989's Grammy Award winning Pickin' on Nashville, and were one of the few country-tinged rock acts to crossover during this era. But despite their initial accolades, the hoopla eventually subsided. Undeterred, the group continue to pluck n' riff the night away, as evidenced by such subsequent releases as 2005's Big Boss Man. With seemingly every single veteran rock act issuing an album's worth of covers around this time, the Kentucky Headhunters were next in line, compiling 12 readings of other artists' tunes. Interestingly, although they were embraced by the country crowd early on, the majority of Big Boss Man is bluesy rock -- very little of country's twang can be detected. Some of the tracks don't stray too far away from the originals' sound and approach, namely the Bob Dylan classic "Like a Rolling Stone," while others -- especially beefed-up versions of "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Hey Good Lookin'" -- have very little in common with the original. Sounding like a top-notch bar band, Big Boss Man is not unlike the multitude of other tribute albums by other artists -- obviously aimed at longtime fans. ~ Greg Prato