When I first looked at the CD and saw a song called “Shiner Bock and Vicodin” I thought it had possibilities. Then I listened to the song, which featured a naked guy in a wedding, and knew that Stand Up Man couldn’t miss. Then I remembered that Grant Langston was the guy who dared to do a Country cover of “Fat Bottom Girls” and even made it work. Talk about an oddity, a Honky Tonk Freddie Mercury song sounds more like a bad porno, but it is hilarious. “Burt Reynolds Movie Brawl” is a tongue in cheek reference to the obligatory donnybrook that always seemed to be included in Reynold's movies. In that song Langston referred to, “The guy in the L. S. U. T-shirt that looks just like Terry Bradshaw” and I almost drove my car in a ditch. Langston also provides a fresh perspective on aging in “The King of Sunset Hills,” which is the story of man who finds renewed vigor when he is sent to a retirement home as a “Thoroughbred champ turned out to stud… The doctors they cannot believe their eyes, he’s lost 14 pounds and his prostate’s the normal size.”
If humor was all there was, Stand Up Man would fall short. Fortunately there is so much more. The melodies and musicianship are great and there is a mix of traditional country and modern roadhouse sounds. I highly recommend this CD, but I don’t recommend going naked to weddings. Do us all a favor and save the nudity for the honeymoon.
Check out the title cut.
This review also appears on Twangville
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