A really unusual album from actor Jack Palance – unusual in that it may well be his only vocal performance on record, and even more unusual in that it came out during a very hip stretch of
Warner Brothers at the start of the 70s! Yet the pairing of Palance and the budding genius of
Warner maybe makes perfect sense – as the aging actor is a great fit here for the sorts of moods that you'd find in the bluer songs of Van Dyke Parks, or the subtle drama of Neon Philharmonic – even though the whole thing is less of a Los Angeles affair overall – as it was produced by Buddy Killen in Nashville, with some arrangements by Bergen White. You could call the record a country album, and there's definitely some country elements here – but Jack kind of sing/
speaks, and maybe presents the whole thing as a meaner, more mature take on modes that some of the other cowboys on the screen were recording a decade before. Palance also wrote some of the songs – including "The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived" – and other titles include "Goodbye Lucy", "Blackjack County Chains", "A Little Bitty Tear", "Love Can Only Mean You", "Dancing Like Children", and "Brother River".